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steering modifiction

Does anyone know of an easy steer modification for a 2004 BMW R1200 CLC? Thanks, Dave

We have made them in the past and could do so again on a special order basis. We use to make a new from billet ball joint mount for the Telelever front end. As the front end is quite wide on this bike it takes a large chunk of material to make and a lot of hours of run time on a CNC mill as such it does not come cheap. To make just one you would be looking at $3200 Even when we batch built these they were still $2800
It would also be possible to modify your current ball joint mount by cutting out the threaded part, moving it back and up and welding it back together, this would be less money but it still takes a lot of time to make and would not have as clean of a look when done.
We do have sidecar mounts for this bike and of course sidecars.
Jay G
DMC sidecars
http://www.dmcsidecars.com
866-638-1793

Jay G DMC sidecars www.dmcsidecars.com 15616 Carbonado South Prairie RD Buckley WA 98321 866-638-1793 Hours Monday - Thursday 6-4:30

Thanks Jay for the information. I will have to think a bit about this due to the cost. Dave

I have a Hannigan Heritage sidecar on a Harley Softail. How much rake do I need in an eazysteer kit? 4 1/2 inch or more?

When steering is modified for sidecar use or for that matter trike use. We do not change rake, many companies incorrectly tell you that they are "raking" the front end. To change rake one would have to change the angle of the steering stem. What we do to reduce trail it to change the angle of the forks in relationship to the steering head. When done it looks exactly like the rake was changed but in fact the rake is exactly what it was. Any one tell you that their tree's change the rake of the bike does not understand the underlying engineering as such I would have to wonder if they have a clue as to what they are doing. The more you change the angle difference between the steering stem and the forks the easier the steering is going to be however the more "twitchy" it will feel on the highway. How much of a change you need is specific to each person and where and how they use their bikes. Some one living and riding always in the Midwest where there are not a lot of mountains with lots of twisty roads may find a bit more trail in the front end works better then some one always riding on twisty roads. More trail, more stability, harder steering, less trail easier steering but less stability. 4.5 degree's of change will be more on the end of harder steering with more stability. Bottom line, what you need depends on your needs. There is no one cookie cutter answer to your question. Price can also enter into your choice, we have a supplier that makes really nice tree's but only with a 6 degree angle change. We use a lot of their tree's due to the price point. We sell these to USCA members for $695. We are out of stock on the softail tree's (they only have them for 41mm tubes) but could order more in. We have lots of FLH tree's in stock.
Jay G
DMC sidecars
http://www.dmcsidecars.com
866-638-1793

Jay G DMC sidecars www.dmcsidecars.com 15616 Carbonado South Prairie RD Buckley WA 98321 866-638-1793 Hours Monday - Thursday 6-4:30

Jay, you are correct - I was being lazy. The physics of the trail on a front wheel is complicated. And changing the offset is by degrees not inches (inches of trail is adjusted by degrees of offset). I don't have a real probem with the original triple tree, but would like a little less effort needed in the corners, so I will probably see if I can get a minimal offset like 4.5 degrees instead of the 6. I don't want to install a steering dampener to compensate for the twitchiness. Glad to see some real technical experts are watching over us.

Steering dampers are usually used to hide issues with flex in the mounting system or alignment being off causing a front end shake. We find that about 1 in every 100 or so rigs we assemble actually needs a damper as long as the mounts are stiff. Changing the amount of trail will not change the need one way or the other for a damper, all it will do is change the steering effort. So if it does not now need a damper it should not with a change in trail. If it does need a damper now, with a change in trail it could be so much easier to control any head shake that people often take dampers off with the change in trail.
Jay G
DMC sidecars
http://www.dmcsidecars.com

Jay G DMC sidecars www.dmcsidecars.com 15616 Carbonado South Prairie RD Buckley WA 98321 866-638-1793 Hours Monday - Thursday 6-4:30

Hey Alkyguyhf, visit with me down at the Bunkie Boucherie and we'll discuss what I learned about replacement triple-trees on our former 2002 Sportster rig.

Lee / Summer Grove, Louisiana: Ural cT, CJ750, Burgman/Texas Ranger, Zuma 50F, MB5, TW200, CRF250L, GTV300

Sounds great. I love a good technical discussion. I am working with Randy Simcox in Gladewater - he will be doing the modifications. He is a dealer for Hannigan and is looking at the options right now. Randy went up to the Hannigan factory in Kentucky and assisted in mounting the sidecar. They had to custom make the mounting brackets for the Softail. I have the original exhaust system and the dual pipes on the right side makes for a complicated bracket.