It's finally finished being put together.A John Marshall sidecar fitted to my GSA and put on by the man himself. All I can say is it's big and handles like a marshmellow.Albeit a hard to steer marshmellow.The sidecar itself sits fairly high with 300mm of ground clearance (same as the GSA) as per my request as it's going to be doing a lot of dirt.I rode it home yesterday ( 4 hours on mostly freeway and a hour through Sydney-hate cities ) and was working fairly hard the whole time.So now for some set up questions from you guys remembering that the chair is on the left of the bike. 1.Anywhere over 90kph the rig is trying it's hardest to go left.I have'nt checked the toe in myself but it has been set up by John for correct toe in and lean out (he's very experienced).How far can I adjust the toe in before it starts dragging which I would assume would be just as bad as having not enough toe in.I am wondering whether that big screen is causing some of my problems. 2.I've also got to put a stiffer spring in the back as it is way to soft.The back end has around 75mm ( 3" ) of sag before I even get on it.Do you measure sag on an outfit the same way you do on a solo?.I'm hoping that when I fit the heavier spring which will lift the back that it will quicken the steering a tad. 3.Leading Link or Dauntless lower triple clamp mod?.I've been quoted $3,500 for a leading link while the Dauntless triple clamp mod is $1000US,but the way the Aussie dollar is at the moment it will work out quite expensive also.Do you think a leading link setup would be a better option even though it will cost more.Does anybody have any Links or photos of a leading link setup on a GSA or later model GS?. So many question and so much to do.I've owned an oufit before..... ...but I want to set this new one up properly as my son and I are doing a 4 month trip around Oz on 2010.I'm guessing I'll have many other questions over the next few months so look forward to hearing your opinions. Cheers Andrew
Congratulations A2 That looks great, I assume then that at the next rally you'll have this hack with you along with your son.
Wow, that thing looks WIDE man! Is it wider than it is long? I've had guys make fun of my rig for being as wide as a Civic, but fortunately it can still back in or parallel-park quite easily in the tight Manhattan parking conditions My outfit handles fine up to and over 80mph. The electric trim helps at these speeds, and was not an expensive mod. There's almost certainly a Dauntless steering mod in my future, but there's no urgency to it. I don't see any huge benefits to a leading link, as long as you can reduce your trail the cheapest way of doing that is probably the best bang for the buck. I do spend a lot of time strength-training at the gym, so I may be less vulnerable to road fatigue than others I've done many nine-hour days in the saddle of my GS before hacking, and strangely enough I had the same, often asymmetrical muscular sensations in two- and three-wheeled configurations. Namely, a very specific knot on the left side of my back. Why?? I don't know. I will tell you this much: you will get used to a lot of things, so spend some time on the rig and see what you really want to throw money at. After about 4,000 miles on mine, I know I can live with the stock steering, but I'd love to have some suspension and stability improvements to be able to corner faster, particularly when turning away from the chair.
And I guess your rig isn't much wider than mine, if at all. It looks beastlier because you don't have a separate fender. Hack on!
G'day eastbloc,overall width is 2050mm from handlebar to outside of sidecar and track is around 1500mm which is close enough to a Landcruiser so as to be able to run in offroad twintracks over here. Cheers A2
G'day Nev, finally got there.Braydon ( my young fella ) rode the whole way from Newcastle to Home in it.He was excited but freezing .As I said when I was talking to you earlier it looks like there is still plenty of money to throw at it. A2
How much bloody dust am i going to be chewing now A2? Looks good mate looking forward to you taking all my gear and the roast dinners when we go camping
Hi Andrew, <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o> Congrats, <o></o> Some answers or better said tips from me. Ill keep in thought that ground clearance is very important for you. Somewhat general, since I´m not riding it and not seeing it IRL.<o></o> <o></o> Tire pressure of the sidecar. An indication of 3.5 Bar will be OK. Soft tires drag. <o></o> <o></o> Toe-in. This thing is wide. An indication: <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comffice:smarttags" /><st1:metricconverter ProductID="4 cm">4 cm</st1:metricconverter> will be OK without any noticable extra wear on the tire. When its too much youll feel and see that pretty fast. <o></o> <o></o> Wind influence of the big wind-screen will really be noticable above <st1:metricconverter ProductID="100 Km/h">100 Km/h</st1:metricconverter>. You stayed under that speed, so the influence of that at this time is neglectable. <o></o> <o></o> Stiffer spring in the back. You definitely need one. Sag should be (with this bike) almost nothing, when not loaded. I used to have a <st1:metricconverter ProductID="210 Kg">210 Kg</st1:metricconverter> spring on it, which was way too soft (Wilbers). Now I have a <st1:metricconverter ProductID="260 Kg">260 Kg</st1:metricconverter> Technoflex spring on it. Would like to have a <st1:metricconverter ProductID="280 Kg">280 Kg</st1:metricconverter> spring, but the shock itself wont handle that. Waggling will dissapear. Check you sidecarspring too. Maybe your front too, but that´s the last thing I would do. <o></o> <o></o> LL or other trail reducer? If it had a telescope fork, I would say a LL. The telelever however seems to work pretty well on sidecars. Considering you want ground clearance and the original wheels, I would consider a trail reducer. Im not sure if that exists for the Advent or that it´s different than that of an ordinary GS. Just know the adaptor for the 1150 is much more expensive, than that of the 1100.<o></o> <o></o> Any sidecar should go in a straight line without any effort at a certain speed.<o></o> Heavy steering in corners is one thing. But pushing the steer all the time, can be really annoying. Even when youre built like Arnold Schwarzenegger, in the long run youll get RSI in your (Down Under Thinking) left elbow. (Constant pushing). When not immediately, than after a couple of <st1:metricconverter ProductID="100.000 Km">100.000 Km</st1:metricconverter>. This is not necessary on any sidecar. <o></o> <o></o> Have fun, You were talking about millimeters, so I used cm, bar etc. in stead of inches and psi. <o></o> Richard-NL <o></o> <o></o> <o></o> <o></o> <o></o> <o></o> <o></o> <o></o>
Hi Richard,thanks for that.There's some great info there.This thing is really hard work in a straight line and I remember my old Guzzi outfit was not like that.I'll recheck the toe in and will be getting a heavier spring on Friday.I'm looking forward to playing around with this thing. Cheers Andrew
Looks good, but you may have problems with registration as it's overwidth. ADR 43/04 6.5.2.2 In the case of a three wheel vehicle (LB or LE) or a motor cycle with a side car (LD), the maximum width must not exceed 1,850 mm. Even if you get it past the local rego office you may have problems with scalies or cops later on. That would be classed as a major defect and you'd be forced to tow it away. And if you decide not to re-register it as an outfit, your rego will show up as class CYC instead of CYS and then they've got you for unregistered and uninsured and the OSR gets you for avoiding tax. We really need to get the ADR amended to a more reasonable width.
To avoid a hijack, thats nice silver paint andrew2 Slowly I am a bit torn at present, build Grace's rig or the offroad outfit. Amoung 6 other things doing the laps around me head. and yours??
Here's an obvious hijack. Andrew, this is the GSX 1400 I mentioned in my PM. Note the unique, owner made, leading link that doesn't require a pipe bender. The car rear tyre fits straight onto the original factory rim and also lowers the gearing due to it's lower profile. When I asked what consumption he gets, the reply was "14kms/litre, all the time". It went to this years OCR from Perth via the Great Central Road without a single problem. The chair is a second hand "Goanna" similar to a DJP and bought for a song, the whole thing was put together by the owner. I think the bike was bought new for the project. Andrew.
