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trail

im still scrounging scrap metal and tierods for sidehack. is 4,91" trail ok for hardtail sporty with 35 degree rake and solid mount sidecar

About half of that would make for easier steering. Raked triple trees would help, or if you are sure you're going to stay with the hack one could de-rake the neck if you don't mind cutting into the frame. I believe you mentioned you were a fabricator. A 2 or 2 1/2 inch trail would make a quick steering rig and you won't get near the shoulder exercise. If you have a 21" front wheel, a 19" will help the steering a little.

Good afternoon, and good luck with your project.
I have 35 degree of rake and almost 6 inches of trail in the frame of by bike but it is a softail type of frame and the side hack has a swingarm. I do not get a lot of head shack (very very little)less then my serva car with raked trees.
As far a the hard to steering issue, for me it's not that bad around town. on the highway there is no issue. My wife dives it around town with very little complaint.
again good luck

The Lone Indian Hack Driver
writes
"My wife dives it around town with very little complaint. "

LOL
smart woman if she complained much she wouldnt get to drive the rig LOL

6" is a lot of trail i think if ypu shorten it by 3 or 4 inches you would enjoy the ride much more
stacy

If I shorted the rake it would handle better, but I don't like the options, the front end is out there already (with the frame rake and strech) so raked tree's would put it out there farther and I would have to put on longer tubes and then there would be more front end flex, and I have not warmed up to a leading link front end yet, (the looks), That leave two options #1 cut the neck off and take some rake out of the frame, #2 leave it alone and enjoy. So far I vote for #2. But I have been know to take out the tourch and start cutting.
Have a good day.

If it's working good for you, don't fix it. You can only go down from there. Hang in there Babe!

On a GL1000 if a person moved the frame head to shorten the trail should the head tube be pivited at the top, center, or bottom to keep the wheel out of the radiator? Then would the fairing need to be moved to clear the gauges? I don't mind the look of a leading link front end. Did I just answer my own questions? Any information will be appreciated.
David

David,
On any bike with a radiator, I would strap it down and compress the front end tubes till suspension bottomed out. That way you can see how much room you have to play with before holing your radiator. On my Turbo Roadking the intercooler was in front of the down tubes and I was able to reshape the front fender with a rubber mallet to clear without marring the paint job. Later Harleys with the square backbone have been cut from the top to rake, bottom to de-rake, and some dressers with fairings notched from the middle. The fairing and fuel tank clearance are part of the equasion.

Thanks Lonnie,
My shop manual says the GL1000 has 4.7 inches of trail. What would be ideal for side hack use? It has a fork brace in place and com-star wheels. Would Progressive fork springs help as well? How would these mods compare to a leading link front? I like to keep a R1100RT in site on Oregon two lane roads. Do you know of an economical way to squeeze another 10-12 hp out of the 1000 engine?

David

About 2" or 2 1/2"of trail makes for easy steering. The progressive springs would help relieve front end dive, so will heavier viscosity fork oil, adding about half an oz. over spec. in each tube. Steering would be not much different than with an earles type front end. The main difference is that the leading link front end has a tendency to rise under stopping forces rather than wanting to dive like the telescopic front ends.
I don't have any cheap horsepower magic for early GLs. Lower profile rear tire or 15" rear wheel will give more low end torque. I don't know what is available for the rear end gearing, there may be options. HP wise you shouldn't have a problem hanging with the Beemer. A trail change and more ballast in the hack might do it for you.

As far as performance increases on the GL1000 there has been things such as superchargers added to them and such but the price of such a thing is not easy on the pocket book.
Our GL100O Has a single weber two barrel on it in place of the four stock carbs. The performance due to this mod is about the same as stock but it sure did simplify the picture a lot.
I can say that converting the rear wheel to a 15"er probably did more good than anything as far as a performance increase. The tire run there now is a 135R15 which has a rolling diameter of 23" instead of about 26" for the stock 17" tire. This helps the final drive gearing a lot, is easier on the clutch when taking off and also increases tire wear quite a bit. The conversion utilizes the stock comstar hub mated to a steel wheel via steel side plates. The front end has the same type of wheel conversion done to it and a leading link as well.
If I was going to pick one thing to enhance performance it would have to be the rear wheel conversion. The stock front end can work okay on a GL100 with the mods Hack'n mentioned. Wider handle bars help a lot too in making the steering easier due to the added leverage they provide...this is a very inexpensive deal too. Bar backs can also increase the leverage in addition to the wider bars. Front tire can be a motorcycle tire or an Avon sidecar tire which comes in 3.50x 19.
Sliding the fork tubes up through the triple trees is also a 'freebie' way to reduce trail but be very careful. I was dumb enough to bust a radiator doing this once. Be sure to check clearance between fender and radiator.

This is going to be an experiment in computer skills, so if this seems a little strange you’ll know why. How can I get a hold of one of those wheels? Parts list or spec’s would work. What are the risks of taking too much trail out of the front end? There is a Wing customizer here in the area that wants to do the work, or when the weather warms up I might do it myself. Let’s see if this works.

David

David wrote:
>>How can I get a hold of one of those wheels? <> What are the risks of taking too much trail out of the front end?<<
Too little trail will make the rig uncontollable. If you want to see what negative trail feels like run your rig up a hill somewhere ..stop...then coast back down the hill backwards.
Running the forks up throuh the triple trees , putting on a smaller front wheel and those kind of simple mods will not affect the trail enogh to come even close to creating a problem.
Claude