We are traveling across the NW on a 2007 GL1800 with a Champion Escort sidecar. The bike is fit with a Dunlop runflat rear tire but the front tire is still stock. Right now, the radius contact patch doesn't perform correctly with this sidecar configuration; the front tire will loose traction during tight turns.
Questions:
How might an auto tire on the front of the motorcycle effect steering.
If it is appropriate to put an auto tire on the front, what size is correct?
I thank you in advance for any assistance.
Dale
Go to:
http://www.emlsidecar.com/starteng.htm
And look at their ExtensoDive.
This is one of the very few Car Tire setups for the GL1800 and will set you back BIG $$$$$.
However it is the best of the Car Tire Mods short of Hub Center Steering that will cost even MORE $$$$$$$$.
Other than that you can try what a lot of us do with a Rear MC Tire on the Front. I use a BT45 in 140/70-18 for Summer time and some Knobby types in the Winter time.
The advantages of using a Rear MC Tire on the front is a slightly harder rubber that has a flatter profile and almost twice the tread depth for 2 or 3 times the wear. Some run lower pressures for "Traction" but with years of use on my 1800 I have standardized on 40-41 lbs due to the actual weight that the front tire is carrying as verified on a scale. I am right at the SVWR with the OEM tire and a 130/70-18 Rear BT45 so I went with the 140 series to add that extra margin.
Weigh your rig full on a local Home & Garden Scale or Sand & Gravel scale, normaly free, at each wheel to find out if you are carrying enough ballest on the side and what your tires are actually carrying. After finding out what I had at each wheel with the Escort on our 1800 fully loaded for trips with all 3 dogs in the hack and the wife on the back I went to a heavier duty Rear Car Tire and the 140 up front.
It would be nice if a Car Tire would work with the OEM Rim but I have never found one. The option would be to have a custom wheel made but you would still be limited by the narrow fork width.
Other than the ExtensoDive above you may be able to find a Leading Link that will take a wider rim but the ones I have seen all take the OEM Wheel and won't permit me to change the Trail for safe 2-Wheel mode thus I don't have one.
When the time comes that I can't ride in 2-Wheel mode at times I may either buy or build a Leading Link with a 14" Car Tire for a Dedicated Rig or even go all the way with a custom frame and Hub Center Steering for a real Performance Hack. Now that would be "Trick" with an 1800 engine and even better yet with a Rocket III. 😉
This isn't the tire it's about:
loaded for trips with all 3 dogs in the hack **and the wife on the back** I went to a heavier duty Rear Car Tire and the 140 up front.
I'm under the impression that it's not a good thing to do in fact it's down right dangerous, is Dave Houge(sp) wrong? or did I read it wrong??
Well Ted you have to look at the total LOAD at EACH WHEEL to make a decision on what is Safe or Do-able in your specific situation and application. One very common thing I have found is that most Sidecar Folks don't actually know how much weight they have at each wheel and thus how much ballest is present or missing on the side.
In our case the Wife is less than 100 lbs and all I have to do is load the rig in such a way that the heavy stuff is in the side trunk in addition to the weight of the 3 Cattle Dogs that totals 145-150 lbs. Add to that the bag of Spares and Tools under all the other stuff in the side trunk and the whole thing is well balanced.
Many folks with Wings and Hacks that I know carry more weight on the Bike than we do with the wife on the back and only light stuff in the Wings Luggage.
A lesser rig may not be able to take two on the bike but a fair number of Wings and HD Ultra's with Hacks do just that and have for many years with no problems when loaded in a safe manor.
There are even a number of Sidecars that are called by the generic name of 2+2 meaning that they were intended to be used with 2 on the Bike PLUS 2 in the Hack. Those are aimed at the larger bikes like the HD Ultra's and Wings as well as a few other's like the Rocket III or even the V8 powered rigs.
The PRIME Point I was trying to make is that simply adding a side to a Wing will put the bike at the edge of GVWR on both the front and rear tires when loaded for a trip. I have even seen some Wing Trikes with front tires that are at or over their GVWR and the owners are even going so far as to run Low Pressure to Gain Comfort at the expense of Safety. Would you beleive that I have also seen the same thing with a few Hack
Riders that call themselves "Experts" too?
