Hey everyone.
I am hoping to get a bit of advice. I had to do a bit of welding on my lower mount this week and it seems to have been fixed in the same place before I got it. In trying to figure out what is causing the stress, I have started to wonder if my car is mounted too far away from the bike. From rear bike wheel to car wheel measures 50 inches on mine. Everyone who has seen it has commented that it is farther than they are used to seeing. Any thoughts?
Sam
http://wildguzzi.com/forum/index.php?topic=68036.0
There are photos of my rig and problem here if you'd like visuals.
Sam
I don't think 'how wide' is the issue. There is something loose or just wrong in the rigging that is over stressing that area,,,,,and maybe the last weld repair was not done as good as possible. I'd suggest you need professional help,,,no, not that kind,ahahahahahah! Me or someone like me to go over the whole installation,,,,,in the shop,,,not the keyboard.
Sknapp351,
I am in the process of installing a Motorvation Spyder to my bike. I am a complete, total neophyte when it comes to sidecar knowledge, so please bear this in mind. This is in reference to your comment about the distance of your sidecar from your bike and is quoted from the Motorvation Engineering Sidecar Mounting Instruction Manual (I assume that it may pertain to all, or most, sidecar installations):
"Track is measured from the center of the rear motorcycle wheel to the outside edge of the sidecar wheel. Please see the Toe-in Measurement Instructions sheet to see the setup for measuring the track width. Most of the Spyder sidecar rigs have a track width measurement in the 45 to 53 inch range. The Formula sidecars may have width measurements of 57 to 64 inches. Many factors including motorcycle saddlebags will affect how close a sidecar can be placed to a motorcycle. There are no absolutes."
It sounds to me like your 50 inch measurement is right in the perfect range. In the Motorvation manual, the other comment about how far from the motorcycle one should install the sidecar had to do with the experience level, handling characteristics of the rig and personal comfort of the rider. I'm sure that you know that the closer the sidecar is installed to the motorcycle, the more nimble and easier to steer the rig becomes. It is, in a manner of speaking, much the same way as dihedral affects the positive stability of an aircraft and negative dihedral, or anhedral, affects the negative stability, or instability, of the same machine, i.e. high performance, or fighter type aircraft, are designed with a fair amount of inherent instability (anhedral) because one desires extremely high roll rates as opposed to that of larger air transports or carrier type aircraft where positive stability is much preferred over high or nimble performance, thus more dihedral is applied in the design of airfoil attachment to lend to the positive stability of the aircraft.
If your rig handles "nicely" to you (a highly subjective measurement) then I would definitely agree with Warkshop's assessment that track width is not the problem and that there are other forces at play causing undesired stress in the broken area. It seems to me that it is either that or the particular area needs to be beefed up. As the old saying goes, "Nothing built too strong ever broke."
