"Gertrude" is finished, thanks Jay...........

Howdy All,

It has been a LONG slog to get my GS hacked, I started sending parts, the final drive and drive-shaft to "Bruno" up in Canada back in April of this year ( 2011 ); Bruno got sick and it took months for him to get the parts back to me so that I could reassemble the bike and deliver it to Jay so he could work his magic. Jay got the bike in July, scheduling problems prevented him from getting it done until late August, then the problem of the paint scheme on the tub caused further delays so I received the finished rig about a week ago.

I have been riding the rig off and on over the last week when the weather was semi-decent; I am VERY happy with the way it finally turned out. The only thing left to do is replace the front shock, I am going to have the Olines shock now on the rig rebuilt using a main shaft that is about 2 maybe 2.5 inches longer and with a stiffer spring. As it is now the rig sits and handles well but the front end because of the steering mod sits lower then I like and this becomes noticeable under hard braking with a passenger in the hack.

Here's Jay with the bike the day I dropped it off at his shop back in July.


This is a sketch I made of how I wanted the paint on the tub to look, because the tub and the gas tank are so different in size and shape this is the best design I could come up with to make them compliment each other.


Here Jay is standing out side of his shop in the RAIN the day I picked the rig up, here you can see the new hack paint pattern, I think it turned out quite well.


YES, I know the rig is dirty, I ride my bikes and rigs I don't spend a lot of time washing and polishing, this is probably about as clean as you'll ever see it. As you look at the photos you'll notice baked on mud and calcium chloride that I couldn't get off from the trip up to Purdue Bay back in July of 2001. Here's bunch of photos taken from different angles.














Detail of the external fuel filter and the sidecar brake master cylinder. I choose to go with ONE brake pedal working the rear wheel of the bike and the disk on the sidecar. As this rig will NOT be used in hard off road riding I didn't feel the need to have a separate sidecar brake pedal.


Detail of the adjustable proportioning valve used to dial the sidecar brake in so that it works with the ABS. I have tried a couple of panic stops and this works very well, the rig stops straight, the hack wheel doesn't lock up and pull the rig to the right.


Detail of the heavy duty sub-frame and skid plate. The skid plate is EASY to remove for oil and filter changes. Note how Jay custom built the sub-frame to incorporate the Tour-A-Tech crash bars.


Showing the mounting struts from the front. Note the tow-tie down hooks on the front and rear of the sidecar frame.


Showing the mounting struts from the rear.


Thanks Jay for building my rig, thanks for putting up with my no so sociable "Cob" self when things went wrong, THANKS for making it right.

Cobs cool jigger. I hope you get to wear the wheels out. Cheers Bruce: clap

Very nice Dave,

Now you have a rig you have to wash and wax.

Lookin' sharp, Cob!

Any details on that proportioning valve, such as a part number? Looking at doing a similar setup on my outfit.

Howdy Barry,

Go stand in the corner for speaking such blasphemy............

Howdy Motoblag,

I don't have a clue what brand the valve is or its part number is, contact Jay I am sure he can fix you up with everything that is needed.

neat o....

Super! Love the paint! I'm envying that brake proportioning valve.

As a fellow 1150GS-DMC guy, your rig is pretty familiar to me. About the longer front shock--are you sure you want top do this? Why not just beef up the spring to reduce dive and leave the length alone? I ask this because of the tendency for the front wheel to get too light in left handers especially when accelerating out of a turn. If you make the front shock longer, won't the rig tend to sit back on its haunches more than desirable?

Howdy Drone,

I have the HUGE 10.9 gallon fuel tank on my rig, when I fill the tank and sit on the rig it drops and drops a lot more in the front. I am thinking that making the front shock 2-2.5 inches longer will raise the front of the rig about an inch and a half, I can then crank some more pre-load into the rear shock which will level it out when the tank is full, a rider and a passenger are on the rig. After adding the large fuel tank, the bike sat level when I had the 21 inch front wheel-tire on it, with the stock 19 inch front wheel-tire it sat lower in the front. Now with the steering mod it really sits low when topped up with gas and a loaded sidecar.

ah....
finally she is back with you
and the paint... LOOKS PERFECT
glad for the thread
congrats, once again
can't wait to see her get all dirty this winter.. even though you aren't sure you're going to let her

Howdy Greg,

I'll be riding the rig this winter, I just WON'T be abusing it.

Dave, beautiful looking outfit

Jay does great work.

Hey Dave, looks like you got it right. I'm planning on catching up to you on the road at least once this coming summer. Maybe in Coeur d'Alene if you're coming this way?? You'll always have a place to stay here in Spokane on your way through town.....

Still working on rebuilding the Bings for my '82 hack. Yes, you, Roger, and Tony really, really got me hooked! Fiona will be up and running by the time the snow melts this spring.

Dale, the Old Fart

It's a Wilwood proportioning valve, used widely by specialist car builders, kit cars, etc. We use them over here in the UK.

Very nice rig, congrats !!

@ Motoblag, the brand is Wilwood ( like ageent Wayward says ), don't know the partsnumber, but here are few on their website CLICK

Looks great, Dave.

sounds PERFECT to me
can't wait to see the pictures and read the ride reports

Howdy Mr. Cob.....

Lovely rig...finally a proper paint scheme. Noticed that you've been all over the USA by the decals, especially the West and the East is empty. Make sure that you visit us Easteners ...to complement the whole USA map!

Send ya a PM....

Howdy Elmer, did I get your name right this time?

I need to update and fill in the map, the map as it is now shows the States visited with the Beemer itself, since then ( I pretty much stopped riding the Beemer in 2005 when I bought the Ural ) I have ridden in all of the States that are now blank on the map. Having now ridden in the extreme southeast I can say its to hot, to humid, having now ridden in the extreme northeast I can say theres way to many people there for one of my temperament, I'll continue to do the majority of my riding out west.

If you think about seeing FL, know that you have a bunk here.
But you must like dogs.