Good Morning folks, I just purchased a side are for my wife and daughter to use this summer. we bought a used set-up out in Vancouver BC and I drove it home on Tues night 1340 km. The bike is small, it is a 883 sporster, but it workes really well and cruises nice at 120km/hr. But I would like to make sure the unit is 100% ready for wife, I notice that there is headshake, I attrubute this to the fact that there is no steering dampner and also it does not have raked trees. also there is a slight pull to the right, not much, but after 8 hours of riding it felt like a feight train on my left arm. When looking at the back of the ride, it appears that the car and bike lean into one another? I assume they should be level? the tire on the car is slightly worn on the inside edge, the tires are new on the bike so they show no wear yet. what procedure should be used to align the car to the bike? Level the car and then the bike to it? other way around? does it matter? I got a alot of questions so I will stop here for now and hope for a response. Thx in advance!
It appears that the car is toed out a bit and the leaning in is most of your problem. Should be: toe-in/lean-out.
Check out some of the available info here on the home page Books, Links.
There is a host of rigging and handling information available there.
Lonnie
Thx
Way,
first thing is to unattach the rig, level the SC out with jacks or blocks. then attach lower mounts snug, but loosely.
then check toe-in to start , it should be about 1/4 to 3/4 " less in front of the front wheel than behind rear wheel. move adjusters in/out to obtain a close figure.
after toe-in is set, lean the bike out, away from the SC slightly. this amount will vary depending on the sidecar weight, load, roads and speed.
reattach upper mounts. then you will have to test it seat of pants til you can let go of bars at 60 MPH or so and maintain a straight ahead shot. If it still leans . go home and lean it out some more and test.
this is just a fundamental lesson,, more details if you need them.
I know this sidecar well as the sidecar was our first demo sidecar for the Sputnik. We sold the sidecar to a guy in BC who had the exact same Sportster as our demo. I know it was for sale as a Harley dealer phoned for a estimate on what it was worth on trade. You can find photo's of it on our web site www.dauntlessmotors.com
To set up the bike first compress the suspention to where it is with you on the bike. you can then strap the bike down with cargo tie down straps. Once this is done then set the sidecar leval. You then set toe in. This is how much the sidecar wheel is pointed in. It is messured along the length of the bike using a straight edge up against the back tire and another one up against the sidecar tire. You messure from just ahead of the front tire of the bike across to the sidecar straight edge and again just behind the back tire. Set the front about 3/4 of and inch less then the rear (or in Canadian 19mm) Next set lean out. The bike needs to lean away from the sidcar as you are setting this up on leval ground. The road has a crown and you want the bike straight up and down while on the road. You can set this with a square up against the rear tire of the bike. Set it so that the top of the tire is leaned out about 1/2 an inch or so. If you want we can send you the printed infromation on how to set this up. We also make a steering damper kit for this bike that is 100% bolt on.
We have an automotoive tire that will fit the rear of the bike which is also a bit smaller in diameter which will help with the gearing.
Let me know if we can be of help.
Jay Giese
Dauntless Motors Corporation
www.dauntlessmotors.com
866-638-1793
