The wheels you have seen on Ara's, Yellow's and my rig are all polished, not chrome plated. The wheel shown on my sidecar is "satin" or a brushed finish and clear coated to resist corrosion. We've got a couple powder-coated wheels in the works right now, color matched to BMW silver. I can also glass bead the rim, and then clear coat it to tone it down. The offset is not as pronounced as the photos show, and will accomodate wider rims, if desired. All future wheels made with the narrow(3 1/2") rim will be offset away from the final drive. This will also make them interchangable with the Dauntless GS wheel modification for the sidecar wheel. Because of the much wider contact patch ,with the car tire, a little offset either way is not an issue. Yellow tells me that his wheel is actally further away from the swing-arm than his stock wheel. I'm looking for a stock Ural swing-arm so that we can make a bolt on replacement axle and hub that will accept an off the shelf car rim directly, without the adapters needed for a BMW bolt on application. This will make putting a matching wheel on your sidecar MUCH cheaper for those of you who have a stock Ural sidecar wheel now. You could use our axle and hub and bolt on your wheel. Its not just about cheap tires, as the ride and handling is very much improved. We encourage your input on all of these points. Thanks, Stroker
I'm going to see where I land financially once the holiday bills are all paid off... I'm definitely still interested, just feeling the pinch a little lately. I'd want mine some flat color ideally although really it's going to be pretty flat once I don't wash it for a few months either way. One question I have is whether there is any benefit to running one of these on the sidecar wheel. I could see a square profile tire decreasing the tendency for the nose to dive on aggressive left-handers. How significant is this effect?
Ara, Twin-Twin is getting a very manly shade of pink. I think that they call it "mauve". East-bloc, as you may have noticed that even the fancy polished wheel that Ara has can get the proper "patina" with enough neglect to cleaning. Powder-coating can be done in any color, silver, black, whatever. Check out the photos of the disc side of the wheels, which is just glass beaded and then sprayed with clear. As far as how a 15'' wheel on sidecar the would effect the ride and handling of the rig, I haven't really ridden my BMW rig that way yet as I didn't want to get Twin-Twin's wheel all dirty with salt and slush, but I've had a 102 cubic inch tricked out Harley sidecar rig for the last 30 years, with 145R15's on the front and sidecar and a 165R15 on the rear. This monster handles like a sports car, even with the rigid frame! But of course the pusher wheel is the big deal. The reason that I built one of these wheels in the first place, was that last winter while traveling thru Mexico with my wife on the BMW rig, we were burning up tires at an alarming rate. I rode back to Connecticut on steel belts on the car and a bald Karoo II knobbyon the rear. NO MORE!
Eastbloc wrote: >>One question I have is whether there is any benefit to running one of these on the sidecar wheel. I could see a square profile tire decreasing the tendency for the nose to dive on aggressive left-handers. How significant is this effect?<< We have run 165s on the sidecar wheel for quite some time now and also have run 135s over there. As far as handling goes there is no huge benefit of having one of these on the sidecar.,....but.... there are advantages that I feel are real in spite of this. Number one is that you have a tire that is the same size as the one on the rear. Being as sidear tires tend to wear very well and rear tires take more of the abuse, so to speak, you now have a way to rotate the tires if you so desire. Since the 165s on the rear seem to average 20k miles or so and the sidecar tires do not wear much at all you may end up having to replace tires simply due to old age rather than wearing them out . If you run a sidecar brake (I don't) the braking on the sidecar wheel is better with the wider tire. You can vary the air pressure in the sidecar tire according to sidecar load. Tires are in effect springs. On a long trip a little less air over there can make a difference as far as passenger comfort goes. If you have some type of tilt adjustor you can dial in the handling and create a nice ride pretty easily with a large tire on the sidecar. Flotation is better with a larger tire. This can be good or bad dependant upon the situation. If you have a rig setup with a swaybar and run it hard the 165 tire on the sidecar can increase cornering speeds. Some feel that headshake issues on sidecar rigs, if the bike itself is in good shape and the mounting system is not moving or flexing, are totally related to the sidecar tire itself. Varying air presure in a 165 sidecar tire can be one way to dial out headsake on some rigs. If the rim gets damaged in use it is a fairly inexpensive thing to replace. If the tire gets damaged replacement tires are at this time around 50 bucks. If you want to run an aggresive tread a 165 tire can be grooved at little cost. If you want to run the grooved tire on the sidecar when on pavement and then switch it with the rear tire this can increase tire wear overall. If you wish to cary a spare you can just carry a tire and not a tire and wheel. Actually we have carried these tires under the sidecar body to free up space above. As far as nose dive on turns away from the sidecar goes the 165 tire on the sidecar will not do much of anything to help prevent that. The best way to get rid of that is with the addition of a swaybar. Both stroker and twin twin have these on their rigs. The difference is like night and day. As has been mentioned before we will not even do a dual sport type rig without a swaybar on it. But, all of that is another topic I suppose. Only the individual sidecar owner can make the decision on whether they feel the switch to a 165 on the sidecar is worth the effort or not. If we didn't feel they were a good thing we would nto be mounting them as standard issue on our in house rigs.
That right, the speedo drive is on the front wheel. Claude is right about to value of interchangable rear and sidecar wheels, at least for me. Because I carry a standard BMW rear wheel I can use it for a spare on either the bike or the chair. The sway bar makes a huge differance, and I have never disconnected it since putting it on, even in REAL rough stuff.
Absolutely awesome work, Stroker! Very clean... I have been tossing around the idea of hacking my 1100GS, and the complaint of burning through rear tires has kept my eyes open to this type of mod. Not sure when I will be able to do the sidecar thing, but I favorited this thread for reference... If plans come to pass, I hope you have another customer! Awesome pix of all the rigs... Keep 'em coming!
You will never look back!!! I keep still trying to get stuck... today a bunch of river beds to the Valley of the Moon and Ice Cream Mountain near Big Bend, some real deep sand, creek crossings... PSI 35 just flying through!!! A new rear every 3K was a big problem to me being on the road 24/7... I have 5K now, I cannot guesstimate what it will end up but I can imagine 12~15K for sure and that is good enough for me! Maybe more... We are heavy loaded... Be well... Ara & Spirit
Greetings Ara & Spirit! After following your stories for a while, I take serious creedence to your testimonial. I was originally giving thought to buying a Ural. The 2wd is a big plus, but the lack of power is a big minus (for me). So I started tossing around the idea of hacking my 1100 after seeing yours... I doubt mine will be quite as heavily loaded, but having a spot for the (future) dog as well as extending the riding season up here in AK, I can see no real drawbacks to bolting a tub to my GS. And then having the rear wheel mod, well, that'd the the icing on the cake! Ride safe you two!
I know exactly what you are saying. I do not want to offend any Ural riders, so often I wish I had one... but... keeping a comfortable cruising speed of 70mph, the power as you said and the reliabilty having 197,000 miles and my first clutch just a month ago / U-joint at 150,000, what else can I say. I cannot say either that this tire/wheel can replace the two wheel drive. I just don't know. I would like to think so specially after today. I am going to try a snow tire next... David??? This has been the BEST add on to the rig... And by the way, we can talk about the suspension on the GS some time also if you need to... Real important... we went around and around quite a bit in the beginning... Be well... Ara & Spirit
I doubt the tire will 'replace' two wheel drive, but for 95% of the situations I've ever been in I haven't needed it. I bet with a snow tire it would be 98%. What I can say is that after ten years of Ural ownership and nine months of having a hacked GS I'm finally coming to terms with letting go of my Ural. It hasn't left the garage since the GS got hacked. The money will be well-spent on making the GS outfit the perfect rig for me.
Wow..just stumpled onto this. Have a Dauntless rig(w/1200GS rear hub + brake) on order for my 2005 1200 GS and did hear plenty of how regular pusher bike tires are being eaten up like candy. Can't wait for genius Stroker to take a hard look at a model for the 1200GS as well...pleeezzzz
A point of interest: While ordering a 165R15 Nanking Mud and Snow tire from the Nebraska Farmers Coop today I asked why it is that they carry a somewhat uncommon car tire that usually goes on VW beetles and old Saabs. I was told that these radial car tires hold up much better than the 6.00x15 agriculture tires commonly used on harvesting equiptment. The farmers have found that because of the steel belted radial construction of these auto tires they are much more puncture resistant and last longer than the tire they have been using previously. These farm supply stores may prove to be a good source for these type of tire if your local auto tire dealer is reluctant to help you with this size tire.
Hey Yellow, Was just wondering how the tire that Stroker provided with the wheel conversion worked for you this winter? How was the grip in snow, ice, etc.??? Tread wear? .
Wear has not been noticeable and the tire was excellent! I could not be happier with the wheel and the Service was Exceptional.
Very very satisfied, but I have anderstood that there many different 165/80 car tire available on the market for the 15" rim, my tire (NANKANG) is for now perfect for my style of riding, but when the need will come I can try another one, around $80, the switch should not be painful.
Stroke 'em if you got 'em! The handling is GREAT. I go around right-handers like a tetherball now, and no more worries about wearing the tire down Potential downsides? The new wheel weighs twice as much, so if there's any drivetrain issues in my future they may be exacerbated. I did lose my output splines at around 20k (when she was still solo) so I'm a little wary, but even if and when they go it'll still have been worth it!
Thanks everyone for the feedback. I was actually a little disappointed with the tread life I got out of the Bridgestone Blizzak I fitted for the winter on the R1200RT/Hannigan rig. Only 3,500 miles and I am basically down to the 50% wearbars (snow/ice traction markers). This is supposed to be a dual-compound tire, with a softer compound on the outer layer for winter snow & ice grip, but I expected better than that... I do think that I had it a little over inflated, looking at the greater wear in the center of the tread, but with the softer sidewall it felt a little less secure cornering with less air in it. And I think that it being so wide was not as good for deeper snow traction. It is a 175/65-15. Only size I could find in a true winter snow & ice tire locally that would fit last fall. Now with the Smart Car being sold here, I am hoping that the 145/15 sizes will become more available. Once the Blizzak wears out, I have the remainder of a Kumoh 728 in 165/80-15 to use up. That one seems to have worn pretty well, but didn't know how it would do in the winter. I actually was using the Kumoh and car wheel on the bike as a solo (2-wheeler) before I did the sidecar on it. It handled pretty well that way. I was suprised!
I just received my 2nd "Stroker" wheel for UberHack 3.0 (aka "WarBird"). I previously ordered one for the tug, and after seeing it, ordered another for the tub. The rig is still being finished up at Dauntless Motors, so I don't have pics yet of both wheels mounted, but for those with enquiring minds, here are some detailed pics of the wheel and tire I received. First, Stroker (aka David H.) has been a real pleasure to work with. The product is first rate, and he's made minor improvements in each batch he builds. I opted for the sliver powder coat finish, which is pretty close to the color of the other silver bits on the R1150GS rig the wheels are being fitted to. Here's the "outside" of the wheel and Semperit Mud & Snow rated tire: I have a shipping scale and can tell you that this assembly (wheel, adapter, disc rotor, tire and inner tube) weighs in at 46.5 lbs. I don't have a stock BMW Cross Spoke wheel and tire at the moment, so I don't know the weight difference, but "muscle memory" tells me Stroker's wheel definately weighs more. I'll post a new reply with the exact weights of both when I pick-up the stock "take off" wheels from Dauntless: Here is a close-up of the adapter hub. David includes a set of longer mounting bolts that are used with the stock conical "washers": Here's the inside of the wheel (and, yes, the whitewall stripe). For those interested, the distance/offset from the inside mounting face of the adapter (which mates to the mounting hub on the final drive) is about 0.95" (that's decimal inches, not millimeters): Here's an angle view: . . . and a close-up of the wave disc rotor: I couldn't get an exact measurement, but I can tell you that the shoulder-to-shoulder width of this tire (at its widest point) is about 0.30") NARROWER than a standard Tourance tire. The profile and cross section simply has a wider contact patch, which is where the extended life comes from (vs. a stock Tourance or other motorcycle cross section with much more rounded shoulders): As noted, I'll post more fotos of these wheels and tires installed on the rig once I take delivery, which should be within the week. I'll post those to the thread I already have running in the forum, which you can view at the link below: UberHack 3.0 (“WarBird” GS) Build Update - Twin Shocks, Stroker Wheel, More . . . . Best,
