After a few weeks of working on it off and on I got the Liberty Trees and TLE all hooked up but I have a question, is the toe in the measurement you get when putting a straight edge against bike tires and one against sidecar tire and take measurment at rear and the front measurement difference is the toe in? Also the Harley manual says to adjust rear mount to get correct toe in, so you don't mess with front mount adjustment, I'm a little confused am I doing this right?
B-roadglide - 1/17/2010 5:21 PM
After a few weeks of working on it off and on I got the Liberty Trees and TLE all hooked up but I have a question, is the toe in the measurement you get when putting a straight edge against bike tires and one against sidecar tire and take measurment at rear and the front measurement difference is the toe in? Also the Harley manual says to adjust rear mount to get correct toe in, so you don't mess with front mount adjustment, I'm a little confused am I doing this right?
Lonnie! Lonnie! Where are ya?.....darn, he's never around when we need him.
Lonnie will be here in a minute but basically you have the idea. You will be needing some long straight edges. The Manual shows how to do this. Yes, it's the difference between the front and read distance readings.
In my case, I started with both fromt and rear standoffs turned all the way in. Then I moved the rear mount out until I got my 3/4" toe in point as shown in the manual. Combined with near-zero leanout, that did the trick for my setup.
gnm109 - 1/18/2010 9:23 AM
B-roadglide - 1/17/2010 5:21 PM
After a few weeks of working on it off and on I got the Liberty Trees and TLE all hooked up but I have a question, is the toe in the measurement you get when putting a straight edge against bike tires and one against sidecar tire and take measurment at rear and the front measurement difference is the toe in? Also the Harley manual says to adjust rear mount to get correct toe in, so you don't mess with front mount adjustment, I'm a little confused am I doing this right?
Hi Bobby!
Lonnie! Lonnie! Where are ya?.....darn, he's never around when we need him.
Lonnie will be here in a minute but basically you have the idea. You will be needing some long straight edges. The Manual shows how to do this. Yes, it's the difference between the front and rear distance readings.
In my case, I started with both fromt and rear standoffs turned all the way in. Then I moved the rear mount out until I got my 3/4" toe in point as shown in the manual. Combined with near-zero leanout, that did the trick for my setup.
I go with a 1 degree leanout, RK to CLE with Liberty trees.
I weigh in at 180+ so a heavier person may not need the extra leanout.
Lonnie
Hack'n - 1/18/2010 9:50 AM
I go with a 1 degree leanout, RK to CLE with Liberty trees.
I weigh in at 180+ so a heavier person may not need the extra leanout.Lonnie
Oh, there you are! LOL.
Thanks for the info guys, My bike is 08 RoadGlide and I put the liberty trees on, so do you leave the front mount alone and just adjust the rear one for toe in?
B-roadglide - 1/18/2010 4:50 PM
Thanks for the info guys, My bike is 08 RoadGlide and I put the liberty trees on, so do you leave the front mount alone and just adjust the rear one for toe in?
Yes, Loosen all four jam nuts (2 on each standoff, front and rear) Start with both standoffs all the way in. Then adjust the rear one outwards until you get 3/4" for a starting point. That's what I did and I only had to go another half turn on the rear one to get neutral steering.
Thanks gnm reading the manual is a little confusing having never messed with a sidecar before. Manual says turn front connector bearing all the way into frame tube and then unscrew it 1-2 turns, so I guess you leave it alone after that and just adjust the rear one. You say you adjusted both all the way in then the rear one out to get the toe in.
B-roadglide - 1/18/2010 5:17 PM
Thanks gnm reading the manual is a little confusing having never messed with a sidecar before. Manual says turn front connector bearing all the way into frame tube and then unscrew it 1-2 turns, so I guess you leave it alone after that and just adjust the rear one. You say you adjusted both all the way in then the rear one out to get the toe in.
That's what I did. They suggest one to two turns out. Either way is fine. It could be out a turn or two. Closer is better, IMHO. Then you will only have to adjust the rear mount.
Remember also that the frame cross tube must be horizontal. You can check that with a magnetic protractor. Sears and Harbor Freight have them. You need one to check your lean also. Note that when the frame cross tube is horizontal, the suidecar wheel is exactly vertical since it's set at 90 degrees to the frame tube.
Good luck. 🙂
I have the protractor and have it horizontal and lean in at 1 with no rider just need to do toe in and hook up lights and bleed rear and sidecar brakes and then take it for a ride and adjust from there. Working nights so it will be Wed. before I can do this so wish me luck and I'll keep you informed on results, I'm looking forward to Hack riding it's like Christmas to a little kid, I'm excited.
B-roadglide - 1/18/2010 6:03 PM
I have the protractor and have it horizontal and lean in at 1 with no rider just need to do toe in and hook up lights and bleed rear and sidecar brakes and then take it for a ride and adjust from there. Working nights so it will be Wed. before I can do this so wish me luck and I'll keep you informed on results, I'm looking forward to Hack riding it's like Christmas to a little kid, I'm excited.
If you are new to sidecar riding, take the corners rather slowly until you get the feel of it. The first time I rode a sidecar it was a sidecar frame with only a car flywheel for a weight. I borrowed it from a friend. I wound up in a neighbor's front lawn after lifting the wheel in a right turn. Got to go slow at first. LOL.
You talked about the brake. I remember a change that I made on my brake hookup. I added a 12" piece of 3/16" brake tube. It goes from the Tee on the lower brake line straight up, then back and then up again, sort of a dogleg. The added tube clamps next to the right passenger footboard. This makes it very easy to install and remove the brake because it raises the cupler up to a place where you can get at it. In fact, when removing the sidecar to go solo for a while, you don't need to rebleed the rear brake. Just disconnect and give slight pressure on the brake while you install a 3/16" plug in the coupler.
Here's an old picture of the added brake tube.
Good luck.
Hey Bobby,
I just sent you an email to see how you're doing before I read this post.
I have long straight edges for your toe-in adjustment if you haven't done it already. Let me know and I'll bring them up to you.
Terry
