https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuXoB7zt5uE

Some excellent footage here.

Wow. That's very interesting and an enormous amount of work in it. Begs some questions...about the handling with the shock set up and also the brake. Wonder how much it weighs? Thanks for posting that!

I like that some very good engineering and thinking. The frame for the chair is built like a pod for a race car and don't I like that suspension and brake setup.

Here's an R1100RS rig that was in the workshop for a major service today...



That rubber would stick to the road...

Hmmmm Nice.
Those cragar wheels would have cost a heap but I reckon it's worth it for the rubber

Makes mine look pretty agricultural.

Tyres on outfits can be very tricky . Many years ago I built an outfit comprising a 2 seater HRD chair on an XJ1100 Yamaha. It had car wheels front and back and I made leading links for the front and inboard suspension setup for the chair. The funny thing was that with radial tyres front and back it was awful to ride, wobbled around and was quite unstable. We finished up putting a crossply tyre on the front and it was good and steered as one would expect (about 50mm trail for those who know) Strangely enough I saw the bloke who I made it for at Broadford at Easter after about 25 years and he told me that at a later date he put the radial back on but directionally back to front and it was all good.
A bit of a black art Sidecar Outfits in my experience.
Regards Dennis
PS I just replaced the back shock on my newly aquired K75c for a RAM unit from UK. It seem much better. The original (I think) shock was almost rock solid with very heavy damping. If anyone wants to try it on a K outfit that is normally heavily laden send me a PM and we can see what can be arranged. D

Definitely a black art and also very individual in regards to how people like to set them up. I like mine with extra tow in.
I am running a car rim and tyre at the rear, ( Kumho 15x165 radial) but with the stock front rim and bike tyre. That set up works for me with no problems, and at this point although I have a 15" rim for the front, I haven't bothered with it so far. Perhaps when I get a leading link set up I will, but am not in a hurry at this point. It doesn't get ridden that hard anyway.

50mm trail, Dennis?
As Saxon7 says, most sidecar outfits are built to individual taste, my trail is a mere 13mm and that suits my taste for narrow RS bars and light steering.
It's strange how some combinations of forks, tyres and alignment can suit one outfit but not another.
Anyway, Vive la differance! (not sure if it's spelt right, but it is Le Tour week)

Paul.

Something I did with mine was to also increase the 'lean in' of the bike slightly. I figured that for two reasons, it might be a good idea. Firstly, I think the single sided swing arm and shock, combined with my weight, ( 85kg), would tend to make the bike settle towards the right. Also, the leg that I lost in a prang is my right one, so I tend to prefer a slightly left bias anyway. ( be that politically or otherwise).
Sean.

Saxon7 wrote:Something I did with mine was to also increase the 'lean in' of the bike slightly. I figured that for two reasons, it might be a good idea. Firstly, I think the single sided swing arm and shock, combined with my weight, ( 85kg), would tend to make the bike settle towards the right. Also, the leg that I lost in a prang is my right one, so I tend to prefer a slightly left bias anyway. ( be that politically or otherwise).
Sean.

I knew it I knew it he's a communist.

A deeply unfashionable persuasion these days! Ask anyone in The Labor Party and they'll tell you it's anyone left of Ghengis Khan.

Well that makes ma a Commie too.

Careful, they might hear you.

Well I have heard of being right or left wing in politics.........your discussions have shown me new leanings.
Reminds me of a truck driver being pulled over by the highway patrol. The problem was that the load had shifted and there was a dangerous lean to the left, wool bales are very heavy. The truck driver stopped, got out and the police were showing him the problem. Unfortunately the truck driver claimed there was nothing wrong with the load......he was standing at the same angle as his load.....and quite drunk. It depends on how you look at things.

This is true, and some of us are doomed to walk around on one leg in a swamp.
I note your new project is maroon...at the moment. Got a colour in mind?

sidecar paul wrote:50mm trail, Dennis?
As Saxon7 says, most sidecar outfits are built to individual taste, my trail is a mere 13mm and that suits my taste for narrow RS bars and light steering.
It's strange how some combinations of forks, tyres and alignment can suit one outfit but not another.
Anyway, Vive la differance! (not sure if it's spelt right, but it is Le Tour week)

Paul.

Ron Hurdus (HRD Sidecars) used to set his outfits at very low trail setting. somewhere around what you use but I did not like it at all on a road outfit. He raced outfits extensively and probably got used to it there as they use down to Zero trail on them. I rode one outfit set up by Ron and thought it a bit unstable for normal road use and would not advise less than about 35mm for other than an experienced rider and I was pretty happy with the all round feel at 50mm. On the subject of "lean in" I have never set up with the bike leaning towards the chair, always the other way ,usually around 25mm. I would think that on our normal cambered roads "lean in" would be uncomfortable and a lot of "toe in" would necessary to keep it tracking straight. Only my opinion.
Regards Dennis.
Saxon7 Sorry mate I just reread your reasons for the "lean in" and see where you are coming from. If it is comfortable for you with that setup then it is right. D

I started off with the prescribed 35mm or tow in and gradually increased it to about 50mm. The lean in of the bike is literally about 3 turns on the thread, so hardly an enormous difference. I find it just tracks better into left handers, giving me higher cornering speeds with less effort and generally better point to point average speeds. Almost wrote pint to pint then...freudian. Hic.

Saxon, she who was looking at photos of bikes in Motorcycle trader and liked the look of a colour on a Suzuki called Pearl Gold. Atrip via the paint shop proved me right.....paint records for bikes don't go back into the seventies. Closest would be Honda Gold Metalic, HONM9065..........at this stage.

I must say 88KE's gold Brick is a very nice looking machine.