And I can hardly wait to see the LL , I like Stroker and his wheels but if I where starting over a single sided LL and 17" 1150gs wheels on all three corners would be my choice.That's what you'll need to do Claude to get the Red Baron to out handle my bumblebee LOL !!!!!!!! DB
davebig wrote: >>That's what you'll need to do Claude to get the Red Baron to out handle my bumblebee LOL !!!!!!!!<< Bring it on....The sooner the better....I need a reference to work from befoore we go to the fat front tire.....LOL.
Actually we DO have one1150GS in house that will have a single sided leading link with a rear 17" tire/wheel combo on it and Dual calipers. The other one will have car wheel/tires all around that will be interchangable.I am tryig to decide whether to do this on the Red Baron or to go with a center hub. Time will tell.
Justin the aforementioned small schnauzer and I wanted to get some gas out of the tank and see how things where working so we did about 40+ miles mostly frozen but soft mushy gravel. Thanks Claude and Stroker neither of you guys have led me wrong. That big front tire is worth the price nothing beats contact patch size and a grippy tire on almost spring gravel here. The first a miserable off camber uphill at least its not full of waterbar ruts yet. But the sun really didn't cooperate and the speedo cable gave up and I'm not sure why.DB
Hey that's real dirt! Lookin good Dave! On that speedo problem, the speedo sending unit on the front axle is easily destroyed if it's not mounted right. There is a metal driving dog in there that fits into the soft plastic notches inside the speedo unit. You have to rotate the pieces with your finger to line them up to fit into each other before you tighten down the axle. If you don't line up the dogs right, the whole deal will still bolt together OK, but then the plastic part self destructs in short order. Not sayin that this is what happened, but it fits the facts. Here's a pic of the sending unit and you can see the plastic piece inside there-- A new one costs about $65. But, (silver lining) if your Stroker wheel was giving you an inaccurate speedo reading, you can buy a new front unit with a different ratio to correct the error. You'd have to ask some GS guru to find out which one to get. DAMHIK!
In that last pic from the side, the subframe looks to be about level with the road. Or is it a tad higher in the back? Be interesting to see how it sits with you in the saddle and the suspension loaded. In fact, I'd like to see a pic of MY rig from the side. I really don't know how it sits with a load on.
It sits level in the garage with a small level on the subframe, I'd love an 145/80 profile winter tire, I'm going to see my tire guy today, the Firestone/Dunlop works surprising well but I'd like my 1" of height back.I may have to Nankang up and go after it with a tire groovier to make it courser. I already did the speedo homework in the front wheel thread one needs a 17" speedo drive from a 1100 the 1150's are wider and then with the 65 series tire its the regular 4-5mph off. The handling is great I was pounding right along on bad roads, I want to try preloading the swaybar a little. Gears I hope your ready to make your engine spin a little harder(easier on things in the long run) with the 33/11 I'm running 42-4300 at 65mph (gps) since I have a new top end my engines tight again and will require some break-in.DB
We were trying the proto-type 1200 front wheel on a GS the other day a came to the realization that a larger tire than I have tried previously might fit in the stock forks. Just for fun I mounted a NOS German made 155R15 B.F.Goodrich GT-700 snow tire on the wheel. It was tight, with about 1/4" between the tire sidewall and the fork leg, but fit right in there with no trouble. Then I started wondering how big a tire I could stuff into my 1100 frorks. I mounted the same 155R15 on a 1100/1150 front wheel and tried it on my bike. I had to remove the lower fender, but it fit right on. I have now modified how my fender will mount, and trimmed the sides of the fender, more like the 1150 and 1200 models. IThe 155R15 is only about an inch smaller than the stock 19" tire. I think it's safe to assume that most any 145R15 tire and at least some 155R15 tires can be used on our front wheels and fit the 1150 and 1200 models. The use of a larger tire would get you some of that ground clearance back. The tire is so close to the diameter of the stock wheel that a speedo drive swap may not be nessesary on the 1100 and 1150's.
I was excited when you called and said that the 155 would work in the 1200. Now to find out that the 1100 and 1150 bikes will work also is excellent. Only downside is that your trail reduction with the 135 small diameter tire will be lost.
Calm down young fellow (Claude), I got 3/16 on each side with the 145 but I imagine those Firestones are Coker repops and possibly smaller, its been my experience that tire sizes are irregular. I really like that 145/65 thing I have but may just put a 145/15 Nankang on there.The part I find odd is I had the front tipped way down now its about level(changed trail) and never has it offered any bumpsteer.Whats that about ? Ned you where right the damned speedo drive may have been cocked in there and it ripped the nylon drive tabs off, I hate it when somebody else knows something !
Claude, the loss of the trail reduction via the smaller tire is the down-side, but our front wheel with a 155R15 and your trail reducing bottom fork tree may be the hot set-up for the 1200's...unless a leading link is more someone's cup of tea. Dave, I'm glad you found what "Gremlins" were the culprit with your speedo, and that the wheels are working out for you. Good thing you went with the powder-coated versions with all that road salt! I have also found that actual tire size varies according to brand. As with most modifications the learning curve never ends.
I'm dying to stimulate the economy and buy another front tire, but I think I'm going to wait till spring put the 135/15 Nankang back on and run it around some more. Had I known that sidecars are almost each an individual deal and trials go on as long as you have money, I might have bought a Mini Cooper and gone auto crossing, but learning is the stuff I like. The good news for Claude I've got a pretty good idea how to do the next one and it'll be cheaper or at least different.lLOL
Bump steer shoudl not be a facotr in either case, true bump steer. Low speed Headshake however is another story and frankly is a little unpredictable as some many factors come into play that may cause it. The 135 tires are typically around 22 - 23 inches in diameter. The 165s are around 25" or more. So there is a difference in steering axis angel that takes place. We could go on and on about numbers but what works in th ereal world is wheat counts. Regardless, increasing the rolling diameter of the front tire will increase trail somewhat on all bikes except those with a true center hub front end. But that is an althogether different story. Just ride it....lol.
Drone You had this one right, I have almost 200k on 1150gs and my track record the last year says I'm not paying attention to what I'm doing, the nylon gear was forced into the worm till all the teeth came off then it just froze, the cable might be salvageable but the drives done, found a decent price one on fleabay. Switched back to the 135/80/15, I don't feel like buying a 145/15 right at the moment.Into the 30's again next week and testing and break in will resume next week.DB
Well at least you know you won't make that mistake again! By the way, we know we call the little guy Justin, but did you give a name to the rig? Unlucky to ride a rig with no name. Reminds me of an old Neil Young song-- You see I've been through the desert on a rig with no name It felt good to be out of the rain In the desert you can remember your name 'Cause there ain't no one for to give you no pain La, la ... So, whaddya call it?
Damn I'll have to give that some thought,I usually call it the black one I also have a grey one and it's the Grey Ghost !
Hey dave, interestingly enough, i live in MN, have a hack, and have a pair of schnauzers too. Im looking to get them into the rig this year. Can you detail where those nice looking logging and min maintenance roads you found around pepin are? Any other good ones you know of.
I could probably show you in the spring, allot of that stuff will be mud till may in WI this :http://www.dot.wisconsin.gov/travel/bike-foot/countymaps.htm will give you the county by county maps in pdf. A gps helps find things but going and getting stuck with a sidecar is probably not a good idea. My mini Justin makes a great sidekick he rides the back of a single in a folding kennel also.He doesn't like his face in the wind so he tends to sit on the floor where its warm and only looks out when we stop or slow down.DB
I dug out another speedo drive(off 5 mph till 65,then 8-9) I didn't know I had and since it was 30's and sunny Justin and I got another 30-40 miles with the 135/80/15 front tire,its better the steering is a bit slower, interestingly enough the other inch in the front still only gained me about a 1/4" of height but now I think I might get a 145/15 as its a little taller yet. The Conti WinterContact on the rear is still a great idea and one has to get after in to spin it inadvertently. I was about one coat short of good time temp wise, so we hit the car wash lost some chloride and went home. Claude I'm ordering a tire groovier, I hit youtube and it seems easy enough and lots of folks sharpen their edges up with them.DB
