I set up my car to have 1 1/4 inch toe in on my champion escort attached to 03 gl1800 wing and after a 50 mile ride when I checked it it was 3/4 inch toe in so I know something changed. However I still have to lean my bike out with the t.i.l.t. quite a bit to get the car to run straight without pull to the right. What is causing the gentle pull to the right?? I am talking about running on the freeway with the throttle just maintaning speed.
If the settings changed while riding I would wonder if the mounts actually flex at some point when underway. In other words it is possible that even though you set it up to a certain place in the shop it may be changing while on the road. If you began at 1 1/4 toe in and after 50 miles it changed to 3/4 or whatever apparantly something is amiss. Who is to say that you rrig was not running with maybe toe out when on the road undr load?.
This type of thing can drive a person nuts as far a what the rig is doing as related to how one thought the setup was. Make sure the mounts are triangulated well so that they all work hand in hand to create a situation that allows no movement when underway. The sidecar and th ebike need to be one unit with no ability to move or flex in relation to one another...none.
Agree with Claude. Mounts should not slip. Something is wrong. Why? Evidence of slipping/sliding/rotating? Has to be pinned down. Unless this can be resolved you canna drive it. Have you checked problem with dealer? May need special extra heavy duty clamps - the GL1800 is no lightweight. Lots of forces to be transmitted. Like Claude said, need lots of triangulation.
When the word triangulation is mentione we mean that the strusts should ideally be placed so that they cannot move fore and af nor up or down because to do so they would be working against one another.
A good example would be if the upper struts were placed so the bike ends were futher apart than the sidecar ends with the front one running up and forward and the rear one running up and to the rear....or even visa versa. 'Optimal' is not alway sposibel but th ecompromises needed shoudl be as minimal as possible. Strut positions should also be far apart rather than close together. If you are having trouble making this happen and do not have a subframe get one made up. This is one of the advantages to a decent subframe in that it allows mounting points for the struts to be placed at more optimal positions. A good subframe also allows the lower struts to be spaced apart more than what is possible other wise in most cases.
Mike, I made a larger foot board for an ez’r and safer entry into the hack, simple enough, right??
Well in doing so it created more leverage on the two parallel frame components when stepping on the pad and provided enough torque to twists the connections and change the set-up, causing a pull to the right. my point is, a simple modification as this by a “FOGGED UP” hacker such as myself can goof things up, pronto. You described a significant change in the toe in dimensions after the 50 mile test, did the rig behave differently, or change it’s handling characteristics during the test? And by chance did you enlarge the foot board:)
Btw speaking of "FOGGED UP"
(I’ve been described as being Fogged up}, Our best friends and riding partners actually don’t ride a cycle, they tour with us in a VW Bug convertible, we ride the HD rig…
Duck…..always in a fog:)
I had the same thing happen to me while replacing my Dnepr with the Ural. I had things set up and aligned properly, and took it for a low speed test ride. Everything went well until I took my first left turn at driving speed. The pinch bolts on the front sleeve on the sidecar were not as tight as I had thought and the lower mount pulled about 1/2 inch out of the frame. Fortunately, I was able to push it back in, tighten it up, and get back home to realign everything. Check all your mounts. I'm guessing one of them moved.
