Going to put a Ural on a R11XXGS. From the trials of others, it seems that I am going to need to increase the trail. This will be my only vehicle and I would like to take it on some sloppy logging roads. That might be too much to ask for but one can always hope.
Here are some options:
1) Anyone have any thoughts on this, 
, option from dauntless?
2) put a smaller wheel up front i.e. 17" and increase the Torsion arm in back.
Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated, Need to have this running by FALL and it always takes a while as most of you know.
Thanks - yellow
I've an R1100GS/Ural mounted with a Dauntless subframe. It is tough. All I've broken so far is the sidecar's spring-over-shock. It just came apart after a really rough section. Keep a good off-road tire on the rear as you can get stuck in the soft stuff.
Are you sure you don't mean decrease vice "increase the trail"? With the stock front wheel trail the rig is rather hard to steer. It is just proves tiring on hard surfaces. But, in the soft stuff (sand/mud) becomes nearly impossible at times.
I reduced the trail on my rig using the Leverite kit from Side Effects, B.C. (WWW.Sidecars.ca) It is a little cheaper and a lot easier to install/remove than the ball mount plate Jay sells at Dauntless.
I'd stay with the 19" wheel. Smaller with just make steering in the soft stuff tougher... BounderDan
R1100GS/Ural
K1100LT/EZS
BounderDan - THanks for the catch....was thinking about it wrong. Do you have any pictures of the Leverite? I have not seen it nor could find pics on SideEffects webpage.
I was not too excited about going smaller up front for a offroad reasons - good to hear someone who has taken their rig thru some rough stuff echo this concern.
Did you stay with stock shocks? What mods did you do to the sidecar? disc brakes, trim,.....
Thanks - andy
Anyone have experience with the ball joint mod from Dauntless? or even just know a dog that rode in a rig that had the mod?
Hello All,
I also have a R1100GS with a Ural Rig and want to decrease the trail. From this thread and others I have learned that there are two options -the Dauntless and the Leverite. Here are the differences as I understand them. Dauntless: Costs $800 (for R1100GS) and replaces the front fork telelever brace moving the ball joint forward and up. Leverite: Costs $600 and Danny mentions that it is a lot easier to install.
Danny: Can you tell us why it is easier to install? I am definitely going to buy one of these two units and I would like to know if there are any other diferences, ie: Is one more robust, etc. Finally, does anyone have a picture of the Leverite? I am sure that would help us to decide which one to go with.
Thanks, Matt
Matt,
I have the same setup.
There is a third way to reduce the trail on the GS, look at this thread, last post.
http://www.sidecar.com/megabbs/thread-view.asp?threadid=4331&posts=7
I have tried the Leverite, but after a couple hundred miles, I had to send it back.
With the Leverite kit, the angle of the fork was too much, the beak was touching the front wheel on each bump, the fork tube was rubbing against the front frame, the strering damper was touching the tank,.....
Well look at the picture and you will understand.
http://twintwin.smugmug.com/gallery/2764352#147083721
I'm not the only one who has tried the Leverite and had to send it back. This try was one year ago, maybe (and I hope) Peter since then has modified his system.
I will keep you updated on the third way as soon as I will get back my modified telelever and new extended lower bridge from Europe.
Thanks for the info and photos TwinTwin. The Dauntless unit also raises the telelever balljoint up which should (I think) alleviate the problems you show with the lowered front end and rubbing. Did you look into the Dauntless unit and see how it compared to the Leverite? Also, do you have a close up photo of the Leverite for clarity? I look forward to seeing how the new system from Europe works.
Good Luck! Matt
Matt,
Just sent you a email with some explanations.
Didier
