If you find that you need a steering damper to control excessive wheel wobble, the best mounting position is at 90 degrees from the fork angle. This will eliminate the bump steer effect.
Lonnie
OK thanks, I will try it without it first
time ask for help, I am working on getting the mounts on mybike, it is a 97 1500 SE Goldwing
I have the front top mount installed, had to remove the fan to get the bracket in.
I see I have to drill a hole in the gussett webbing just below the seal for the top rear mount
I see I have to drill a hole in the frame webbing just behind the swingarm bolt for the lower rear mount
the thing I don't get is the bottom front mount, the instructions say to use an existing bolt hole and just enlarge and tap it, the only holes I see is for the crash bars and the one that goes into the cross tube frame that goes from each side frames
so what am I supposed to use for that lower mount
OK so I got it figured out, after Isted I went back out to mount the other 3 and after looking again it made sense
I now have the car mounted and just need to get it adjusted. I took it for a little spin around my neiborhood,I knew it wasn't set up right but it looked close so I made a quick maiden
the hadlebars shake at very slow speed then smooths out, it had a very bad vibration that felt like the car was bouncing at about 25 mph, when I went past it would smooth out. is this from toe adj.
new question, when I make the original adjustments should I do it with the air system empty or at the pressure I will be riding
Congratulations on getting the initial "plumbing" done.
ALL adjustments should be done with the rig loaded as it will be [most of the time] while you are riding. That means with the air adjusted to normal riding position AND the bike and sidecar loaded as well. You need to come up with a way to simulate your weight and the weight in the sidecar. Many folks will get a little help from a friend and while they are sitting on the bike, have the friend use ratchet straps to tie the suspension down so it will stay at the "loaded position" when you get off the bike.
Your wobbles are common and can be caused by so many things that it's not even worth starting here. First get the alignment right. Some of the wobbles will go away by themselves. After that we can start making suggestions to minimize the rest. Not many rigs are COMPLETELY wobble free.
Don't forget to get your air pressure up to snuff [maybe a bit in the high side] and make sure your steering head bearing is well adjusted, also maybe a little bit on the tight side.
I've built 4 rigs now (Triumph T-Bird, KLR, GL1200, Harley XR1200) and every one of them needed a steering damper due to a 25-30mph wobble. Slower, no problem. Faster, no problem. With the steering damper (Motorvations is the best, albeit rather pricey) no problem at any speed. Another advantage of the damper is that on high speed corners with bumps in the middle, the damper keeps the forks/wheel from responding to the bumps by trying to turn.
You might want to list your setup numbers; others may be able to help; but I could never get the slow speed wobble you describe to go away without the damper; not from lack of trying. On the Valkyrie I'm using 53" track (outside bike tire to outside hack tire), 9" lead, and 1/2" toe-in. These numbers worked well on the GL1200.
Have a an F2 on GL1200 for about 4 years, maybe 30,000 miles. Great hack. So good, that I'm upgrading the tug to a Valkyrie, and am fitting another F2 to it.
One thing REALLY important - be sure you are setting the rig up on level ground. Part of my shop patio has a 1.5" slope in about 6 feet for rainwater control. If you are in thus situation, you can get a couple pieces of 6-7' STRATGHT tube or flat members, and put them on the ground at hack wheel to pusher wheel, then hack wheel to front wheel. Then place spacers under the bike to get the two bike and hack wheels at exactly the same elevation. I ended up with a 3/8" piece of flat steel in front, and a 8" length of 2x4 with a couple shims for the back. You do not want the bile level fore-aft; let the bike float as it wants. Sounds like a pita, but it prolly took longer to type this than to do it...
Not to divert your thread, but did you pull the torsion bar to lube the bearing ends? I had to pull my adjuster yesterday in order to rotate the spline gear piece a couple notches; that part is easy. But my hack frame sat in a field for apparently several years, and the torsion bars bearing in the frame bosses are very tight. I don't know enough about the torsion bar to just go beating it out of the frame with a hammer. I'd HATE to get it clear of one side then hear a big TWANG.... like maybe the pre-load on the torsion bar being released? Is there a preload on the torsion bar?
While Gary at Motorvation is very helpful, cannot call him on a Sunday... Has anybody pulled the torsion bar from the frame to grease the pretty crude bearings?
I haven't done any measurements yet, I hope to get to that in the next day or 2 and get it adjusted and start riding it
I am a little unhappy that I will have to cut 3 separate panels for 3 of the mounts and the 4th I will have to cut the seat base under the cover to allow the seat to bolt back on
I'm tempted to buy 3 used panels and just paint them to match the bike and cut them instead of the ones on it, that way if I find this isn't for me I can put them back un undamaged
Yep I would not like the thought of a spring loaded torsion bar coming apart, I haven't greased anything yet but plan to take care of all that as well as check wheel bearings
AJ, I did purchase sacrificial panels for my 82. I wanted to be able to sell it as perfect as I can without the car if I ever decide to switch. No time soon.
I'm really hoping the car works out good for us.
Well, I got no timely answers to my torsion bar question, so went ahead and ...carefully...slowly tapped/hammered the torsion bar/swingarm assembly out of the bearings. No problems, no TWANGGGGGG.
Biggest problem was the bearing grease was hard as metal. had to wire wheel it off, followed by carb cleaner and steel wool. Cleaned it all up, threw a lite coat of grease on the bar (the original grease on the bar was in excellent shape), some more in the bearings, and re-assembled.
If you need to do it, it's a piece of cake. Be sure to check the side play as well. I believe it's supposed to be set with shims, and held in with a 0.25" roll pin on the outside of the plate that slides onto the splines - my other F2 hack had this. But this one had quite a bit of slop, held together with a rusty cotter pin...
Definitely check the wheel bearings; mine had a lot of play as well; should be easy to find at a decent bearing house.
Good luck on the rig. They can really be a lot of fun.
I rode the rig to work today so I could have it on level concrete and set it up. WOW even with it out of adjustment it rode great. I pumped up my front shocks to 6PSI and put my rear at about 70
that took that bad wobble out completely, it does have a slight shimmy at low speed and a vibration right at 53 MPH, could be tire balance
once on good level ground I can see it is leaned in a good bit, but it barely pulled
I was impressed with how smooth it rides, the side to side movement from road conditions took a minute to get used to but weren't unsettling
I did find the wind coming off the car windshield was a bit more than I expected, was hitting me right in my right shoulder and helmet, just enough to create bad wind noise inside the helmet
I'm hoping when I get the lean set up correctly it will reduce that
First impression,,, I like it 🙂
SO I have the first adjustments and alignment done, the vibration went from 53 MPH to 58 MPH and is now about half as noticeable. I now have a slight pull to the right when accel. and a slight pull left when braking,
what should I look at adjusting to correct that. I do plan to have a couple coworkers sit on bike and in car and recheck everything again today. I may have the lean out set too far out
the wobble at very slow speed got worse, but really only if I ease up on the bars when taking off, once I hit 3rd gear it's gone. is that what the damper corrects
If you have a rig set up right. It well pull toward the side car when accelerating and pull the other way when braking. The faster you go the more it well pull toward the car. "They all do that"
+1. What he said.
Yep, the damper takes care of exactly what you describe. Also, mine were worse if you are coasting down a hill slowing to a stop; again, the damper solved it.
The height of the windscreen also affects the wind blast onto the bike. Tall hack screen, lots of wind. Short screen, less wind. I cut my screen down to about 8": just enough to give the dog some eye protection. Could not get her to wear doggles, no matter what we did; must have been a Harley rider in a previous life...LOL.
thanks for the replies, it makes me feel better as the pull is very slight. I am curious though, I know if it was toed out it would shake like mad as the car and bike would fight each other, but how can you tell other than fast tire wear if it's toed in too much, is there some tell tell sign I can look for
mine is almost 1 1/2 inches now. I read the heavier cars could need up to 2 inches, is that correct
do you guys run a second battery in the car tied to the bike, I am considering putting a battery behind the seat to reduce the load on the bike from the extra lights. I already have a higher amp alternator but I have 55/65 W headlights so they really pull on their own, now I have added lights of the car and I do pull a camper and cargo trailers quite often
