I posted my numbers earlier in this thread - 1/2" toe in. Gary at Motorvation suggested 3/8" - 1/2"; which is what all my rigs are. I've never seen any numbers greater than this recommended - maybe someone else can weigh in?
Other than direct measuring, tire wear is your best indicator that all is well, or "WTF is causing that?"...
I carry a group 24 battery in the hack - it only powers the air horn compressor. Between the battery and the air horn comp/2 gallon receiver tank, have never needed to add additional ballast. The horn is used so seldom, I recharge the battery maybe three times/year. I run the sidecar light from the bike electrical system. I run all LED driving lights (2 on bike and 1 on hack) and have not had a problem with power. This was after running PIAA's in halogen (I think); those babies were less bright, and drew about 3X the power; that 4" lens cover looked impressive though...
well I guess I better go get that toe in down closer to 1/2 right away then. I know my bike batt is getting old but I just figured 2 working together would be good
I have air horns as well and rarely use them either but for the short burst here and there I just run them through a relay being fed direct from battery and use a momentary button I mounted under the stock bike horn button
I need to get a couple shots of the rig and post it, the more I ride it the more I'm liking it 🙂
something else I noticed this morning riding in to work, I put the rag top on this morning, wanted to see if it would change wind flow. I quickly realized my right mirror was almost useless
after looking at pictures of MANY other rigs I only see a few with mirrors on the car, what is your take on adding a mirror
AJ,
Sidecar mirrors are for the monkey to look at. Distance and vibration would make them somewhat useless for the pilot.
My old MGTD had front fender mirrors which were cute, but soon removed for this reason.
Lonnie
yeah I kind offigured it might be hard to use anyway. so here is apic of the rig. still working on fine tuning the adjustments. the big thing now is I have to figure out how to wire up the elec. lean
Add a little dust and sand and those nose "bras" shimmy around and make good sandpaper to dull the paint finish.
Found that out years ago with Judy's V Dub.
I prefer a few small rock chips to the bras. A small daub of paint on a toothpick will take care of those.
Lonnie
I agree, I took it off today
I got out and adjusted everything again today because I had totally overlooked the part about the car tire leading the bike rear tire, WOW I checked and it was like 2 inches
so I loosened everything and shifted the car forward. I had to work at readjusting everything of course to get this new change to work. I also moved the toe in from around 2" in to 1"
I'm going to ride it then recheck all my measurements again
I will say other than pulling to the right and leaning a lot when turning left with a passenger in the car it handled really nice as it was
I know the leaning was due to lack of lead in the car, and pulling is a given I guess, it wasn't that bad anyway
I know my wheel camber was off so when I moved the car forward I also leveled it better so now it's level with a person on the bike
I'm having a little trouble getting the nose up to make the car level front to back, how important is that and what is the secret to getting it there
Oh and my measurement from frame bike frame to car frame is just under 14" I guess that is OK or should it be closer to 12"
I'm afraid if I moved it closer then car top would hit my right mirror when raised and the car would be crammed against my highway board
I've had a Motorvation Formula about a year and a half. The sidecar was installed at the store. Only trouble I've had was that my grandsons turned the electric lean switch on in the garage, then ran off when it started to chatter at the end of the throw. The switch toggle did not have "return to off" springs for the ups and downs. So when I found out what happened, the motor had burnt out and didn't survive. Through Motorvation, I found the company that makes the linear actuator and ordered a new motor. It was very easy to install. I found a switch on the internet that is on off on, and the switch cannot remain on. The new motor and the switch costs over $200 with shipping, ect. I supplied to labor. I removed the old switch and installed the new one on the left side hard bag. It really works well.
Also, I took the bike battery completely out of the bike (Kaw 1600 Nomad) and mounted a new deep cycle 12V battery behind the seat (with cover). It is all wired up and really works well. I got the knowledge to do that from this forum. Ain't is great?
And A.J., now you can ride in the snow!
Just curious, why would you use a deep cycle battery vs a good standard car battery.
good to here you were able to replace the motor, at least all that happened was a burnt out motor, good thing it didn't start melting wiring as it burnt out.
I wired mine to a on/off/on switch and mounted in on my handle bars under my horn, that way I can make adjustments and not have to reach for the switch.
Not much chance of having to ride in the snow around here and I try to plan trips to avoid it as well, I like to see a good snow but I'm not a big fan of dealing with it anymore
Hi:
I have had that little switch burn out or break lugs twice. I found a replacement at Radio Shack that looked like the one they had sent to replace the original. It is pea green and has 6 lugs on the back and returns to off when released. AND it is cheap and I got it without waiting.
I could have used a regular car battery, but I figured the deep cycle battery was made for lots of discharges and subsequent charging so it would last longer than a regular car battery. I may be wrong but it works good for me. And it's heavier and even more likely to hold the sidecar down in right turns. And also, if I ran the rig into a lake, I could just connect the handy trolling motor and drive back to shore. It's easier than using a paddle.
BTW.... I installed the new battery several months after I fixed the actuator.
rocker
The old switch was originally installed near the horn button, which is probably the most handy place for it. But the new rocker switch is an "on/off...off...on/off" type that will not stay "on" when you release it. It is spring loaded so there is no chance of it staying on and ruining the linear actuator motor (which happened to me.) I mounted the new one on the left hard bag because the switch was too big for any space I had on the handlebar. I can reach it easily.
You will probably find that you will not use the actuator all the time. You'll set it for what ever crown of the road you are driving on.... then leave it alone. It's the same for wind direction. Set it and leave it alone, until the wind or road changes.
I just posted some of my photos in the Albums section for everyone's viewing pleasure.
yeah I went with a spring loaded on/off switch as well. I was going to put a car battery in my car but I think instead I will put an exact match of the bikes battery in there. I will be installing a gas tank to replace the one that it came with so I won't have room for a big battery. the car came with a 3 or 4 gal tank, I am going to replace it with either a 6 or 8 gal.
Hi Ace:
I have seen Motorvation sidecars with a gas tank under the sidecar. The tank is enclosed in the frame and is quite thin top to bottom. I don't know about the capacity. I would have to look at my literature. It is a factory job and doesn't take up room in the luggage area. We use that area for luggage when we travel.
Give Mary Sontag a call at Sibley and maybe they still do the "under the fame" tank.
I think you have some great ideas, Ace. I carry a 2 gallon can in the car, but I've been in situations where the tank was about empty and wondering if I'd make it to a gas station if I had to use the spare gas. But never had to do that. You might consider that gasoline weighs about 6.5 pounds if that would be an issue. But from the looks of your beautiful bike, I don't think that would be a problem. My best to you and your efforts.
BTW.. if you can take some photos of how your spare gas tank looks, I'd sure like to see them.
I think I'm going to give 1 good effort to clean out the gas tank that came with the sidecar before I toss it and buy a new one. I'm going to use carb cleaner and some kind of medium like small washers or marbles to act as a scrubber inside the tank. I looked at it again and I think it's just sludge in there and not rust.
I'll take some pics of it this weekend when I put the cleaner in it.
