crazypj said:
Are talking about caster? How much is preferred?
The Xt400 side car (winter project)
- Thread starter MILLENNIUM FALCON
- Start date
Are talking about caster? How much is preferred?
The reason it looks like there is a lot of lean is because the only thing attaching the car to the bike is a hinge and the bike is sitting on the side stand. I will be adding adjustable struts eventually. It acts like a leaner right now.
MILLENNIUM FALCON said:
NO - that's camber. If the top of the wheel leans in towards the bike [at the top ] that's negative camber. If it leans out - that's positive. Castor is essentially the lead [ as in forks / shopping trolley ] that persuades the vehicle to travel in a straight line.
As to width - I'm in agreement with Erskine and would say that's a MINIMUM for comfortable handling. Depends on loads of things, not the least what your main driving roads and style would be.
You have LOTS of suspension movement, which would preclude a "drifting" driving style, but would be ideal for rough tracks and lower speeds.
Hey Crazy - I was putting MF straight as to the nomenclature. 
BTW - there's a whole other school of thought re: the NEED even for the traditional lean set up for an outfit. Certainly race outfits were set up with the merest hint of POSITIVE camber, which aided in drifting situations [ ie - MOST of the time ].
Most folk think it's to do with the highly crowned roads and the road camber, but in fact it's to counteract the effects of when the steering is turned - primarily into the chair [ whichever side the chair is ]. That is only really needed with softly sprung outfits with large suspension travel. Sports outfits, especially with 16" wheels required a different set up. To a large extent that also depends on the rider position - eg: Crouched Cafe Racer or sit upright tourer. The body mass [ es ] make a REAL difference to the dynamics of a chair as the COG can alter dramatically depending on the weight distribution. That's why a good passenger is worth their weight in gold.
All my roadgoing outfits were set up with 1/2 degree positive sidecar wheel camber, 12" lead and 1/2" of toe [ in ].
BTW - there's a whole other school of thought re: the NEED even for the traditional lean set up for an outfit. Certainly race outfits were set up with the merest hint of POSITIVE camber, which aided in drifting situations [ ie - MOST of the time ].
Most folk think it's to do with the highly crowned roads and the road camber, but in fact it's to counteract the effects of when the steering is turned - primarily into the chair [ whichever side the chair is ]. That is only really needed with softly sprung outfits with large suspension travel. Sports outfits, especially with 16" wheels required a different set up. To a large extent that also depends on the rider position - eg: Crouched Cafe Racer or sit upright tourer. The body mass [ es ] make a REAL difference to the dynamics of a chair as the COG can alter dramatically depending on the weight distribution. That's why a good passenger is worth their weight in gold.
All my roadgoing outfits were set up with 1/2 degree positive sidecar wheel camber, 12" lead and 1/2" of toe [ in ].
crazypj
Split personality, I fake being smart
Yeah, I was into MX lots of years ago(78~ 80) the street ones were mostly rigid sidecar or small wheel/leading link/etc so had different set up.
I'm actually a bit surprised how much I remember, (knowing full wellthere is so much I forgot :
)
went to a local gathering tonight and saw people I though I'd seen 8~9 yrs ago, turns out it was 25+yrs (bunch of 19/20 yr old kids are now in late 40's/early 50's
)
Time flies when your having fun ;D
I'll have a personal conversation in any thread 8)
I'm actually a bit surprised how much I remember, (knowing full wellthere is so much I forgot :
)went to a local gathering tonight and saw people I though I'd seen 8~9 yrs ago, turns out it was 25+yrs (bunch of 19/20 yr old kids are now in late 40's/early 50's
)Time flies when your having fun ;D
I'll have a personal conversation in any thread 8)
well, i did some work on the hack today. i'm kinda treading water though. i changed my mind on the mounting system. i did manage to kill 2 birds with one stone. i wanted a wider track width and i also wanted to be able to adjust the toe i got rid of my pipe hinge and went to a more conventional adjustable setup. it added about 5.5" to the track and bow i can adjust the toe. it is also much easier to remove the car from the bike now. i will get some better pictures with my real camera tomorrow.
Yeah I was just starting to think about making a set of leading link forks. My question is....what type of material is safe to use and how do they handle if the car isn't attached. I ask the material question because I sure wouldn't want something to bend or fail while riding. I feel that is more critical than parts on the car or even the rest of the bike. I have seen some bikes on line that have homemade leading link setups that look less than over built.
Looks like yer maun simply bent the stock stanchions and added the CLAMPED ON top shocker mounts ....hhhmmmmmmmmm. Maybe on a lightweight outfit NOT subjected to much in the way of side G.
Put a tubular brace between the stanchions at the bend would help some. Wibbly wobbly is the techie term. Holy shit - just looked again - at the power plant this time ...............
There's many ways of achieving the same ends. Back when we quite often took the stanchions and modified them. But with bracket welded to pick up on the "swing arm" pivot end.
I'll dig up some typical pix.
Put a tubular brace between the stanchions at the bend would help some. Wibbly wobbly is the techie term. Holy shit - just looked again - at the power plant this time ...............
There's many ways of achieving the same ends. Back when we quite often took the stanchions and modified them. But with bracket welded to pick up on the "swing arm" pivot end.
I'll dig up some typical pix.
Sorry for the slowness of this build. :-[ Production has been halted due to.......well.....part busyness, part lazyness. I have been super busy and when im not ive been to tired to do anyhting else. No progress lately I will update as soon as something new transpires. Thanks for checking in. -MF
Ive got a lead on a ural sidecar body for dirt cheap! I am looking into it. Ill keep you posted. ;D