My Alignment settings------hard left steering

Increase leanout till you get neutral steering. You might tighten the neck bearings so the front end doesn't just flop from side to side. That will help some. If head shake is a problem the guzzi damper isn't firm enough to control it.
Installing raked triple trees to reduce trail is the least expensive option to control the nose wiggle and also make the turns a lot easier.

Lonnie

There is no "perfect" setting for all road crowns, speeds, loadings. It is always remains somewhat of a compromise at best. So you want to set your rig to the way you drive most of the time. It often takes a fair amount of tweaking and then it still might not be totally right. My rig drove great the way I had it set but then it wore through a pusher tire in 3500 miles and the tire wear was to the right of center so I had to tweak the setup again.

As Lonnie said raked triple trees are a good investment. I used to get some slow speed wobble and after the trees it disappeared. It also makes steering in all conditions easier. Even with the raked trees it is important to have the rig set to the "best place" for most of your riding. Then the raked trees will just make it even better.
Personally I would give your rig a little more toe in..5/8 to 3/4 inch and add more lean out. Make the lean out adjustment with the bike and hack loaded as you will be "normally" be riding. I did this with sand bags for weight or people work also if there any around that want to sit on the bike . You might have to level your hack after the lean out adjustment and again check the toe in.

Hope this helps.

Thanks Lonnie, I didnt know raked trees were available for Moto Guzzi California( tonti frame) bikes.

Thank you Scrinch, I will try your suggestion to increase the toe in a tad and see how it handles. How much toe in did you have on your rig when it ate up the pusher tire? The stock steering damper on a Guzzi is pretty weak, its friction, not hydraulic. What do you think about adding a VW bug steering damper from the hacks front upper mount, to the forks? are there any other automotive type steering dampers/ shock absorbers that you recommend? what are the symptoms if you have TOO MUCH dampening in the steering? My hack came with a very big, stiff automotive shock absorber , and the linkages to install between the fork, and hack upper mount, but I thought this shock may be too stiff. My hack was originally on a harley road king( If that makes any difference) Thanks again, Rick.

That large damper that came with the CSC II has about the same steering resistance as the VW steering dampers that are widely used. The main difference is the VW damper only has a 6 1/2" or 7+" working length which limits their placement and usage. The large, longer damper will allow full lock to lock steering with no limits.
Any damper, while reducing wobble, will also increase steering resistance to some extent, especially at slow speeds.
If increasing toe-in check your sidecar tread wear pattern after a few miles to see if there is any sign of scrubbing (rounded edges on one side of a groove and maybe a little rubber feather on the other side).
If traces of abnormal wear are apparent reduce the toe-in and increase the leanout.
A small amount of tweaking can add thousands of miles to the sidecar tire and rear bike tire.

Lonnie

Bigbikerrick - 11/5/2009 10:29 AM

Thank you Scrinch, I will try your suggestion to increase the toe in a tad and see how it handles. How much toe in did you have on your rig when it ate up the pusher tire? The stock steering damper on a Guzzi is pretty weak, its friction, not hydraulic. What do you think about adding a VW bug steering damper from the hacks front upper mount, to the forks? are there any other automotive type steering dampers/ shock absorbers that you recommend? what are the symptoms if you have TOO MUCH dampening in the steering? My hack came with a very big, stiff automotive shock absorber , and the linkages to install between the fork, and hack upper mount, but I thought this shock may be too stiff. My hack was originally on a harley road king( If that makes any difference) Thanks again, Rick.

I thought it was 5/8 toe in but then when I rechecked it very carefully it was 1" toe in. I reset it to3/4 inch. I found that Aluminum Roof edging makes a good straight edge and is quite inexpensive .

I have never run a piston type steering damper on my rigs

Hey scrinch, thats a great idea regarding the roof edging, I will have to get some, I have been using tubular steel, how far in front of the bikes front tire, and how far behind the bikes rear tire do you take the measurement? I have read different places to measure, some recommend in front of the bikes rear tire, I am just thinking, the measurement will increase the furter out you measure. thanks Rick.

Ya, some say from hub of wheel and others say in front and back of tires. They would give slightly different readings, but not much. I don't think it really matters that much as long as you are consistent. I found it impossible to measure from the hub so I went the other way. The nice thing about the drip edge is it is flat and has 2 straight edges to measure from so you can hook a tape over it.
.
Here is what I do. I set cement blocks on end by the front and rear wheels of the bike. This is to get the straight edge up near the center of the wheels. I never could measure along the wheels except at the very bottom due to saddle bag guards, engine guards, mufflers, fenders etc. I then take a stick cut to about 12" and arc it from the center of the wheels to set the straight edge. The front wheel is a trick but it is straight when the arc measurement is the same on the front and rear of the front wheel. I use the wheels and not the tires as a reference. When it is right I clamp the straight edge to the cement blocs with spring clamps. Then I do the same on the hack side. This gives me 2 fixed straight edges to obtain accurate measurements in front and behind the bike tires.

Excellent idea, measuring using the rim instead of the tire, I will have to .rig that up , and do the same., should be more accurate than using the tires. Last night I took my wife for a 50 mile ride up to the mountain town of Bisbee Arizona for dinner, she was comfortable, except she would like a bar or something to place her feet on, so she could feel more secure. I ran the rig from 60- 75 MPH, pulled great except for constant push on handlebars due to crown on road, hopefully with the measuring system you describe, and adding a little more toe in, all will be great! I would like to post a few pics of my rig, if I can figgure out how to do it. Thanks alot, Rick.

Bigbikerrick - 11/6/2009 11:39 AM Last night I took my wife for a 50 mile ride up to the mountain town of Bisbee Arizona for dinner, she was comfortable, except she would like a bar or something to place her feet on, so she could feel more secure. ... Rick.

Make a duckboard, like they sell for Urals. Either space it so she can dig in her heels, or make one or two boards bigger than the rest.

http://changjiangunlimited.com/tb2113.htm

Or check out a local kayak shop. Lots of choices there.

http://www.nrsweb.com/shop/product.asp?pfid=1653&utm_campaign=shop_comp&utm_source=pricegrabber&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=pg_NRS_MaverIK_Kayak_Foot_Braces-1653

http://www.pakboats.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=98&Itemid=155

Rick,

I just mounted a Dnepr car on my '98 Guzzi V11EV and went through some nasty low-speed head shake problems. I cured it by replacing the stock steering damper with a Matris hydraulic damper from MG Cycle in Wisconsin. Expensive ($330) but bolted right on using the stock mounts and provides serious damping power. Nice click stops, I turned it up about 2/3 of the way and the headshakes are no longer a problem.

Thanks Mike, I think some of the kayak foot rests may do the trick. thanks for the links, The duckboards look real classy as well, and my bro in law makes oak furniture, and he has alot of scrap pieces that I could probably make some from. I am going to show my wife the options and see what she prefers.

Hi Lars, I hooked up the automotive shock /damper that came with my sidecar, and it helped tremendously, with the head shake, and kick back in the bars on a bumpy road, but its a little too stiff, with no adjustment. you can feel that the compression damping of the shock is alot stronger than the rebound also. I wish I could find something stiffer than the lame guzzi friction damper, but that is not so expensive as the one from MG cycles you put on, as with the holidays coming up, its hard to justify spending $300. when there are alot of presents to buy for the kids! 🙂 Rick

Check out some of the choices on ebay. You might have to play with it or alter a mount, but there are a lot of choices. http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?_nkw=steering+damper&_sacat=0&_trksid=p3286.m270.l1313&_odkw=steering+damper&_osacat=0&_rdc=1