Watching to see how this goes.
Looked up 150/70/17 tire diameter (yours) as against my stock V9, 150/80/16 rear.
Close in size.
I now run a 165/45/16 car tire for the smaller diameter.
I think 14%.
Makes for smooth take-offs though ground clearance and looks took a hit.
Your starts with better clearance and wire spoke wheels .
A smaller diameter rim could be swapped in.
That's on the early V85 with normal rim.
The newer ones lace to the outside for tubeless tire fitment.
Things to consider.
Right On Brad! Congratulations on the find. 🍻
Will look forward to hearing more about it, and see pictures when you get it.
Hold my keyboard and watch this! 🙃
Brad it may not be viable for you to change things around that much.
But something to consider.
One way would be to get some second hand earlier model wheels and get smaller rims laced on.
Current tire is 25 inch diameter or so.
I'll let you work it out.
With the V9 I have to go through a process to re calibrate the ABS with each tire change.
It coped eventually after 3 goes.
Who knows what the current parameters are that are built in?
Sadly my speedo is out as it seems to read the rear wheel over the front.
Bonus is I drive slower without thinking about it
14,1416% or some random figure.
How does your traction control affect take off on loose surfaces?
Mine tends to stall the motor unless I disable it.
Sidecars are quite the rabbit burrow.
Well done on getting one already.
I picked up the sidecar this weekend and now I have a project in front of me. Overall I am okay with the purchase. There are a couple of things that didn't thrill me but they are correctible. There has been some minor welding of mounts on the frame nothing a grinder won't fix. And the wheel is questionable if I will keep. I have an extra set of wheels for my V85TT and would like to use one of them, but mods will need to be made, specifically a new axel. But putting on either of those wheels the fender on the tub may need to be modified, widened to accommodate the larger wheel. Oh well I will see how things fit first.
I noticed an interesting thing with how the suspension and existing wheel are mounted. There is a builtin wheel toe in, not sure how much as I have not measures and calculated the angle, maybe 2 degrees. Nothing is bent it was manufactured this way.
The end game is to build a leaner sidecar rig, this light unit should work fine for my needs.
PS: Also got a bunch of mounting hardware.
This is my goal
Toe in
UPDATE: The wheel has a toe in of 2.106 degrees.
OK now.
Your thread just got interesting.
Questions and recommendations.
What is the planned payload?
How much information do you have on leaner set ups?
Based on a personal build and experience with piloting said build there are some things learned/guessed at.
1st thing add as much lightness as you can.
You do not need a fat tail wagging a scrawny dog.
Had a few wild moments with a heavy load.
One in a tightening radius turn approaching a stop sign.
Ran completely out of lean and was pulling the bike towards the chair physically.
Once passing a road train at not sensible speeds as it turned out.
As the bike lean is what's causing the chair to change direction, then the bike actually has to lean further than a solo does.
Food for thought on the dirt
The laws of physics will not be denied.
In the add lightness theme the use of a wider wheel is not recommended.
So if you can, stay with the stock skinny and it's mudguard.
Toe in should be zero or close to it.
The bike does its own compensating for the side drag.
That creates a weird feeling till you get used to it
Wheel lead?
I had I think the standard 9 inch or so.
I know old school hard tailed bikes ran zero lead on their sidecars.
Just leaning back and forwards with any lead causes the the chair tire to scrub some.
That's just a point to consider.
Not sure what is an exact e correct figure or if there is one.
Now mine had its pivot points as close to the ground as possible, which is not very close.
That's the reason for the chair tire scrubbing.
A way to negate the scrub is have the front pivot higher than the rear.
But on the centre line of the bike.
Mine was on a 9 deg angle from horizontal.
This gives a little steering affect to the chair wheel.
Handy when flat tracking through turns..... Nah never did that.
They are easy to ride when setup is OK.
Going through roundabouts is fun.
You lean towards the chair then away and towards again.
So the rig gets narrow, wide and narrow again.
And at the lights because of the scrub it practically holds the bike upright in place.
Just rest a foot on the sidecar mounts.
It was a fun learning curve though it ended up as a well set-up rigid rig.
You become more aware of the physics of the thing and if things go wrong it can end badly.
Looking forward to your experiences
Yowsa! More questions and advice than Miles!
I do, however look forward to this upcoming adventure and experimenting with physics!
Illegitemi non carborundum est!
Still thinking of going dirt riding? Please keep posting your progression: I never saw a leaner in the dirt and love to see the end result!
Really like Bruce's input/questions. 👍
Only things I can add (no first hand experience with a leaning sidecar), the built in toe you mention would be correct for a non-leaning sidecar.
On the axle swap, check with Texas Sidecars. They have all kinds of axles for different applications. https://www.texassidecars.com/
Look forward to follow along with your build. Sounds pretty fun!
Hold my keyboard and watch this! 🙃
There was a guy in NZ who had a leaner on a trail bike some years ago.
Seemed to do well on uneven ground at lower speeds.
Loose gravel at speed?
Could be interesting.
But if you can handle a solo like that?
Then why not?
Still thinking of going dirt riding? Please keep posting your progression: I never saw a leaner in the dirt and love to see the end result!
I have read that as well. I am like a kid that can't make their mind up. Dirt, most likely not with this one.
On the axle swap,
It is a lot of work on this setup. The unit came with a 3.25x17 wheel with an axel size of ~5/8". A little small for my liking, but I just may leave it as is for the time being.
If I still had my lathe and welder this would be a half day project. But now I would need to contract that work out.
Only things I can add (no first hand experience with a leaning sidecar), the built in toe you mention would be correct for a non-leaning sidecar.
I have not found any info on the tor in for a leaner. Based on your comment is there no toe in on a leaner? Or?
I found toe in was not needed at the upright position of the bike.
Some fine turn possibly.
This is where minimum drag in the form of light weight and skinny wheel played a part.
And also the position of the pivot points .
The front higher than the rear.
Vertical there's no toe.
Lean towards the chair and it actually toes out a little and aids the turn.
Lean away from the chair and it toes in helping the turn towards the bike.
A normal rig has the bike with a slight lean away from the chair so in affect you will have a little toe in while going straight.
The giroscopic action of the front wheel compensates for the changes in drag/push of the chair under acceleration and braking.
That's where it's a quirky thing to ride.
Mine was a left side mounted chair as we keep left.
So the tran̈slation is.
So throttle on and the chair is pulling right trying to drag the bike over.
It's as if you counter steered right as on a solo.
So the bike automatically leans left countering the pull.
A bit like in a cross wind on a solo.
But then you clutch and change gears.
So it's power on, pull right and correct left
Power off and the pull neutralises and the bike straightens.
Power on again and repeat.
The reverse happens under brakes.
More fun than a barrel of Monkeys.
Not mentioning the avian ones.
Your light axle will probably be OK in that it won't have a bike leaning on it in the turns so to speak.
Probably getting to the extent of my knowledge here.
Enjoy the ride.
Oh and a light chair should help with gearing issues.
I need a few thoughts on a replacement shock for the side car. The existing shock looks like it is off like a 1970's circa cb350. It is leaking and should be replaced. It is 13" center to center on the eyelet mounts. This is not a heavy sidecar and will not haul more than a passengers weight.
