Make way for Geländehack, yet another GS sidecar

Hi iHop -

Super looking rig. Excellent attention to detail in the work you guys did. I love (conceptually) those bleedable rubber shock isolators on the tub, and those backing plates should keep the glasswork intact for sure.

In regard to the beak, have you tried removing the front shock and move the wheel/Telelever through the full range of motion to see if you in fact have an intereference problem? Unless the R1100GS has a smaller/different oil cooler than the R1150, bobbing or removing the beak should be a viable option, as I've seen a lot of European GSes with the rhinoplasty's.

Best,

Here is one possibility:

http://www.boxer-design.de/en/detail.asp?ID=36&pID=609

. . . since they "require" your beak, obviously, they are simply modifying a stock part, something that certainly seems within your capabilities.

Wunderlich as the following available through their US distributor (BMW of Santa Cruz):

http://www.wunderlichamerica.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=WA&Product_Code=8110069&Category_Code=R1100GS-X

Good Luck!

I have the first prototype of Jay's new-style trail-reducer plate, they were fussing around with the plasma cutter and cut one out to try - works like a treat, but it does put the beak close to the inner fender:


front view


left side


right side

You have MORE clearence than I do, but I'm running a Fox Twin-clicker shock up front which is set to fairly stiff so it isn't nearly as mushy as the stock suspension.

BTW - If anyone out there has a REAR Fox Twin-clicker for the R1100xx series bikes - I'd dearly like to have the set....

I'm thinking that a simple beak shortening may be in order - what Boxer-design of Germany does looks like the right idea:


shorten beak by 10cm (about 2.5")

And it really doesn't look bad that way either:



It looks like they cut off the 'droop,' narrow the tip, and slightly reduce the height of the valence - very clever.

Thanks to Mike Pauli for digging this idea out.

Cheers

Jim

What function does the beak serve? You already have a front fender. The beak looks goofy; just leave it off!

I get my trail reduction mod from Dedome (French sidecar manufacturer).
This mod reduce the trail without changing the angle of the fork. The lower bridge is some how the same than Jay's one, but the front telelever was also cut and shorted by the same lenght the bridge is extented. So the front end do not drop and of course the look is the same as a GS on 2 wheels. Dedome does the same mod for the 1150 line. I get this mod a couple years ago, and I'm very satisfied with the handling and the look.

Yes I put a Adventure extension on a R100GS beak, but both parts needed some extensive trimming and cutting to fit, as the 1150 beak is much more wider than the 1100 one. I did it only for the look, nothing to do with the Dedome mod.

Anyone else with an 1100gs has clear pic of how they have mounted their chairs to the frame. Getting ideas at the moment.

The beak clearance is one thing but Make sure the upper pivots for the fork tubes do not run out of travel. THAT can be a concern.

If you continue to get unwanted side to side movement you can try mounting the front on some heim ends to create sort of a hinge and still keep the back cushioned. Worked well for us anyhow.

Here's mine for the 1200 GS with Jay's $$$$ trail reducer. Hope it's sufficient. The front end really did lower a bit...1-2". Thought, they don't like the Dedome..but..??..so added some preload to the front HyperPro shock which rose the height by 1" but making the ride up front a tiny bit stiffer..

Just curious, why do they not like the Dedome????, I may be the only one in the US with a Dedome, I have it on my rig for 3 years now, very satisfy with it and I do not find even one tiny critic about it. The concept is very clever, and do not drop the front end (with all the downside of a change of the fork angle). So, maybe "they" only do not like the French way!

RM:

It looks like the beak's primary function is to channel fresh air through the oil cooler, which is most of the cooling on these engines. As hard as I am on machinery, I had to think twice before I messed with it, since the poor oil is gonna need all of the cool it can get.



OTOH, if the damn thing was any more droopy, the Sedate Patrol would be hauling my sorry ass in for some Manditory Vaigra Enrichment Therapy - something had to be done - eeeech!

Time for some serious Rhinoplastic surgery:







Much better, I begged some quality time from a friend who has a very steady hand with a high-speed die grinder, about 10 quick minutes and he produced a pretty creditable job which looks very much like the shortened beak that Boxer-Design of Germany turns out:



We trimmed the valance back a bit further than they did for extra clearence, but it looks pretty decent, clears the inner fender by more than enough, and looks like it will still channel enough air.

Hmmmm - maybe Dr. Bubba should have his own TV show?

I'm considering:

"Doggie Hoser, M.D."

Cheers

Jim

'Dances with Wolves. Sleeps withSheep'

Looks like a small air dam or scoop would serve the same function, less obtrusively. My guess it is a Teutonic style exercise. If it were my bike, I'd remove it and see if it actually changed the operating temperature, and perhaps fabricate a small scoop to take its place.

I'd use an old beer can.

But I WAS speaking to the aesthetics and function of the beak. And it looks ugly and nearly useless to me, not worth the effort to retain if it interferes with the function of your modified front end.

As to the other issues you raised, I don't have first hand familiarity with them at all, so can not comment.

My experience with Dauntless Motors has been very good and the quality of the work and the parts I have gotten from them has been first rate. I am sorry if your experience has been otherwise.

I have found Jay very accomodating when problems have cropped up(as they will). I do know that you will get much further working with him, rather than confronting him and making demands.

As always, YMMV. Best of luck.

Nice work, by the way Jim. Very subtle I had to look twice!

Frankly Inmates. I don't know why I wrote "they"...maybe too many cold mountain sundowners..aarrghghh!! Nuthin' wrong with the Dedome, pretty innovative and clever...Vive la France..hickkkk! burrp..!!

Walt -

I just got back from spending the day down at Dauntless, where they rigged a MUCH better rear mount, and re-aligned the sidecar - but it took some time, so I was able to chat at length with them, and may be able to clarify some issues.

My trail-reducer was his first, one-off prototype, mostly to test their new CNC machine. As such, it may be as much as 2-3mm longer than your production version. Which, on my lowered bike, radically reduced the fender clearance.

The good news is that after riding 100 miles today, I believe that the beak surgery was sucessful. We were riding 2-up with extra luggage, and even under heavy braking, downhill, on a washboarded right-hander - I had no sense that there was any contact with the front wheel, the handling was spot-on, and (most importantly) my engine temperatures seemed well within normal.

I was concerned about this comment of yours:

So I got up underneath the front fairing and carefully checked the forks lock-to-lock and didn't see any place where they came particularly close to the oil lines, the front framehead, or the fairing support struts - nor did I see any obvious evidence of rubbing or interference anywhere else. I then reduced the preload on my front shock to essentially zero, and had a 260 pound friend stand on the front sidecar mount and sort of drape himself across the bike's front end. Again, even when severely compressed there appeared to be adequate clearance for the forks to swing lock-to-lock.

I'm also concerned about putting additional stress on the both the upper and lower Telelever ball joints, and will closely monitor them for free play and wear. I'm not all that worried about the slider seals, they don't suspend anything and are there only to control the lubricant for the sliders.

I did have to relocate some of the original wiring harness and the added electrical cruft (elsctric shifter switch, GPS power, heat clothing controller leads, and my garage door opener) to free up room ahead of the forks, but a bit of creative zip-tie work took care of the problems.

I talked with Jay about the Dedome trail reducer, and his opinion was: "It's a very well-made, elegant solution - but if I were to duplicate it, it would cost almost as much as our current R1150GS product, and it would require the installer to remove and re-install the lower Telelever ball joint - which isn't an easy job for the typical home shop. The idea behind this reducer was to make a simple, easily installed, cheap solution that worked on the R1100GS."

If you plan surgery on your beak, I saved the cutoff section of mine and can send you more detailed photographs.

Cheers

Jim

Read it again. I know Jay, have done business with him and discussed business with him. He can be very helpful, above and beyond, if you approach him right. This I know.

Hard to tell, between my lousy memory and the anonymity of the internet, but I don't think I know you. I wasn't putting your words in my head, honest! Just making a general observation....

Back in the days the 1100 was hot, there was a conversion to go beak-less.

Remove beak and fit a small cover to tidy up the hole, leaving the cooler in the breeze.
Never heard of this affecting cooling.

Me thinks it was from Wüdo or Wünderlich, google will help

Paul.