I read somewhere that the side car wheel should be between 8-14” ahead of the rear bike wheel. I assume this is a centre of wheel to centre of wheel measurement. Trying to calculate the geometry for proper handling.
Yes, axle to axle or contact patch to contact patch. They are pretty much the same thing. The actual wheel lead isn't a fixed number, rather it should be about 10% to 15% of the distance between the tug's front to back axle measurement.
Oh, that is interesting and makes more sense than a fixed value. The calculation will be different for different bikes. Thank you, I have learned something.
So....... if the wheelbase on my 1991 FLHTC HD is 63”, the sidecar wheel will be between 6-10” ahead of the rear bike wheel?
If you place your side car axel between the motorcycle rear wheel and the tire tread. You should have the sidecar seat where your can tell you what you or doing wrong.Rudyr
I’m trying to follow.......... That’s a calculation?
For bikes spending most of their time on pavement we go with 10-15% of the wheel base of the bike, off pavement bikes we go with more wheel lead. The more wheel lead up to about the 1/2 way point the more stable the bike is however the harder the steering and the worse the tire life. More wheel lead also tends to make it harder to not have a front end shake. So yes a 63 inch wheel base would put you at 6.3 to about 9 1/2. As an exact number is not all that critical you can kind of "eye ball" it. The front of your rim BTW is at 8 inches where the tire seats. We normally figure out where we want to put wheel lead, put a piece of masking tape on the muffler at this point and eye ball it.
Jay G
DMC sidecars
866-638-1793
www.dmcsidecars.com
Thanks Jay, that answers my question.
