Can anyone tell me the correct way to adjust lean?
Is it with no load in sidecar or on motorcycle?
is it with load in sidecar and on motorcycle?
or is it with load in sidecar but not motorcycle?
or is it with just load on motorcycle and not sidecar?
I have heard it all. Who is correct?
I originally set my lean with loaded sidecar and motorcycle
on a level concrete garage floor 1 degree leanout.
I have checked my lean out on differant areas just within my driveway,
in the street , down the block , in a parking lot. What I have noticed
is that the leanout changes slightly depending on the road surface it is
resting on. How can one decide just what is best? Or is the lean out on the level ground the ideal choice?
Thanks CM
How does it handle? As I understand it, the lean out is a compromise. The leanout compensates for the drag of the sidecar, and the "crown" in the road. The rig should be set up on a level surface. Depending on how much leanout the bike will track straighter at certain speeds, tend to "pull" to the right at a higher speed, and "pull" to the right at a lower speed. I have a Harley Ultraclassic with a Harley sidecar. If I recall, Harley recommends setting it up at 0* with no load, then the riders weight will bring it to a leaned out setting. (Harley sidecars have no suspension). I've found with mine I actually put a little "lean in". When I sit on the bike it leans out, (maybe because I weigh a few pounds extra?). Anyway the bike tracks straight at 50-60 mph or so, and feels comfortable.
I'm no expert, but this is the way I understand it. When I set it straight up, it still tracked fairly straight but felt uncomfortable and tippy in righthanders.
I see we're kinda neighbors, what kind of rig do you have?
Thanks for the info,
I have not had her out on the highway yet I just aligned her the
other day and went for a test ride. She seemms to be handling quite well.
I really had no pull right or left and no wheel wobble issues. Top speed
thus far was 40 mph. I have no experience riding with a sidecar this is my
first. I have a 2004 HD Road King Classic. The rig is an all steel model
purshased from Trans-Moto of Canada. Modeled after a ural sidecar. It is
a heavy unit of about 300lbs which is good match for my bike. I think you are right about a zero lean or a slight lean in. When I am driving the rig
I feel like I am still leaning more to my right. The only problem I encountered on my test ride was I lost control coming down a slight hill
that curved to the right. I could not get the rig to follow the curve to the right. The rig wanted to keep going to the left. I pushed hard to the
right but continued on in a straight line until I was now crossing the
doouble yellow line. I finally had to aply the brakes and stop in the middle of the road. Lie I said before this is my first time driving a sidecar most likely the problem had nothinig to do with the lean but all
to do with my inexperience in driving this setup. Yes we are neighbors
I live in Nutley. How long have you been driving a sidecar rig. I wolud
be happy if you can share your experience with me. As far as I can tell
it is going to take alot of getting used to to drive this thing. How did you learn? It There a coarse you can take in NJ. I already have the book on order on how to drive a sidecar outfit.
I got the sidecar to take my kids for rides but I will not dare put them in it until I feel 100% comfortable driving this rig. Any help you can
offer will be greatly appreciated.
Chris Martino You can email me at ckmart@optonline.net
Correction: The rig does not feel like it leans in to the right
like I stated. It feels like it leans to the left. I set it up with
one degree of lenout.
Set it up according to how it will go down the road. My sidecar is usually empty, so I align mine with my weight on the bike and an empty sidecar. Your mishap sounds like you need to add some weight to the sidecar. The sidecar wheel was off of the ground and as you tried to correct, you were actually countersteering the bike in to the left lane.
My sidecar weighs 300+lbs on its own. I had
a 80lb bag of sand straped in the sidecar seat
at the time of the mishap. I was only traveling
20 miles an hour down a slight downward road that
curved to the right. I was very cautious approaching this
section of road because I travel on it all the time when
I am out riding my motorcycle. I know it well and believe
me it is not that steep of a road.
My bike is a 2004 Harley Road KIng. I adjusted the lean with me
on the bike and the 80lbs in the sidecar to mimic the weight of
my son whom I plan to take on rides as soon as I get the skills
to drive this rig. I am not sure if the wheel came off the ground
if it did I never relized it. Anyway I will keep playing with the lean until I hit the sweet spot. So I assume that I did adjust the lean
correctly with a loaded bike and sidecar that is the way I plan to
drive her.
Thanks for your help. CM
When I have that problem on occasion a quick firm application of my rear brake helps quite abit. My rear brake and sidecar brake are tied together. The bike will want to pivot to the right around the sidecar tire. If sidecar does not have a brake, get one this is too heavy of a load for just the bike brakes in my opinion. The steepness of the road is not usually an issue with me. The acuteness of the turn is. I went to a mall parking lot late at night and rode circles left, right and figure 8's for hours getting used to the handling at low speed. I have finally quit trying to lean on curves going down the interstate. I now take both boys ages 4 and 11 for cross country rides. Ths summer we clocked 45 hundred miles in a week and a half. Was a blast
the lean should be straight up or "just" out loaded on a hd hd rig - the wild card is the sidecar, if it has suspension then it can change on its own.
if you cant steer right, either you have the lean too much, going too fast, brakes not right.
i always go about 5 mph slower than those turn speed signs on the road - if i try and go exactly what they say im "on the edge" basically cant turn any faster than a large truck can.
with a hd bike the front end has a stock trail of over 5 inches - its a lot. if you adjust the lean to get the steer neutral on a two lane high crown road it will not turn right on flat or crown left surface - been there done that.
first time sidecar drivers tend to scare them selves silly a few times until they learn that its not a bike when the sidecar is attached.. all the turning skills used with two wheels cause you all sorts of trouble with three wheels.
after a couple of years of riding around with a stock front end i installed a raked tree - world better, really worth the bux now i set lean to be straight up loaded and its perfect.
to
I purchased my rig (99 GL1500 Daytona 2+2 sc) from an individual that weighed more than I do and his sc load was lighter than I normaly carry. The roads around here are heavely crowned in the center and this kept a constant pull to the right. This was kind of hard on the shoulders and arms after a while. I had the wife sit in the car and adjusted the lean out to about 2degrees. This has corrected the constant right hand pull. When I ride by myself I lower the electric lean to adjust for no weight in the sc and the rig handles so musch better. Bottem line seems to be to adjust the lean for each rig with the weight it will carry. Be safe and enjoy your rig.
Roy
The purpose of the electric lean is to accomodate different loadings and road crowns.
Raising or lowering the suspension with the switch also increases or decreases the lean of the bike to eliminate left or right pull.
One shouldn't have to adjust the sidecar mounts if the rig was properly set up to begin with.
Lonnie
Northwest Sidecars
