WUMPA - my DMC Dauntless 1150GS Adventure rig

[DRONE]

Originally Posted by NortwestRider

WOW,that makes mine look like I built it in a shed for under $1,000...

AMAZING RIG !!.Hope to see it in Chelan !!.

Now THAT's some pretty funny shit right there!

The thing is, NortwestRider, is that I really envy you. You have the ability to BUILD stuff. I only know how to MODIFY stuff. What yer doing in your shed is far more impressive than what I do in my garage.

I'll definitely look you up in Chelan.

[BMWzenrider]

Originally Posted by DRONE

AdvMonster 3-mode 24w off-road LED driving lights

I have seen these LED driving lights advertized, but have not heard any reports about how much light they throw out versus the small HID units that are available, or seen any photos showing the light they throw.

Are the current LED lights more for being seen by other drivers or do they actually thow out a beam that puts useful light on the road/trail?

[DRONE]

Originally Posted by triumphsidehack

Hey Drone : did you do any steering mods and if not , how does it handle ? I did not see a strg damper so I'm thinking it must go down the road correctly and straight. I have a Rocket 111 with a XL on it and it is a little stiff but goes down the road good . Am looking for input to lighten up the strg-ing for the long trips. Great looking outfit you have and good luck and enjoy your new Rig.

Triumphsidehack - D Morgan

As OlyRider mentioned, I have the Dauntless Steering mod. Handles like a dream. No wiggle, no wobble, goes straight, and takes little steering effort. No need for a VW style steering damper. And on high crowned roads, I can adjust the tilt to make the steering more neutral.

On the other hand, the front end does what any big pig does in the dirt--the front end gets yanked around by ruts and roots and loose gravel and softball-sized rocks. So I'd like to get a regular steering damper--like a Scotts or a Ralle-Moto--but I ran out of money. I tried rigging up a cheapo one of my own design, but failed (thread HERE.)

[DRONE]

Originally Posted by BMWzenrider

I have seen these LED driving lights advertized, but have not heard any reports about how much light they throw out versus the small HID units that are available, or seen any photos showing the light they throw.

Are the current LED lights more for being seen by other drivers or do they actually thow out a beam that puts useful light on the road/trail?

I'll try to take some comparison pics with my camera set to manual exposure one of these nights when it's not raining and post them up. But my seat of the pants impression is that you can believe what you read in the AdvMonster thread. These things rock! My HID high beam is only 35 watts but is still much much brighter than the stock 55w halogen H1. Then when I turn on the LED's, the HID gets completely washed out. If the HID was to burn out one night in the backcountry, it would have no effect on my ability to see. What's more, AdvMonster has phased out the 3-bulb lamps like what I got and replaced them with a 4-bulb lamp. 33% more light? Yikes!

Of course, I'm no Baja racer. At night, I take it easy. My night vision and my reaction time is not what it was when I was 20. So I don't really need any more light than this, and you could argue pretty convincingly that even this is quite a bit more than what I need.

As for the see-or-be-seen thing, the LED bulbs have three levels (high-medium-low) and for daytime driving the low level is as much as you'd want to use for conspicuity. On low, they are really bright. At night, if there was a car anywhere in sight, I'd turn them off completely--too bright at any intensity.

[Ivan Rider]

I like it... You did Goood.

[OlyRider]

Looks like Dauntless has seriously beefed up their lower mounts!! What was your build date? Melrone could have benefited from this one. :-(

Did you work with Barrry or Jay? Or Doug?

[iHop]

Originally Posted by OlyRider

Looks like Dauntless has seriously beefed up their lower mounts!! What was your build date? Melrone could have benefited from this one. :-(

Doesn’t look like it to me. As I recall, Melrone’s was a Ural frame/tub with a forward mount on the end of a curved tube. Melrone’s eye-bolt sheared off, probably helped by the angle of the curved tube. Drone’s one looks like the same M72D frame/mounts as what I got from DMC almost 3 years ago. I’ve since switched mine to clevis/eye and added a front mount to the bike and tub. I did this because, like Drone’s rig, the two mounts on the sidecar frame are very close to each other toward the rear and provide little support on the tub nose. On mine the front of the tub flexed down a lot. Eventually (less than 10K miles) the center mount snapped out of my sidecar frame along with a hunk of the frame tube (click). So the spot I’d keep an eye on isn’t the lower mounts, but where the front strut attaches to the sidecar frame.

[DaFoole]

That is one gorgeous rig!!!!

[DRONE]

Originally Posted by OlyRider

Looks like Dauntless has seriously beefed up their lower mounts!! What was your build date? Melrone could have benefited from this one. :-(

Did you work with Barrry or Jay? Or Doug?

In Post #1 I said, "I got this rig last fall" but I failed to say where I got it from. I believe the build date was October 2007. The tub, frame and subframe were shipped to the PO, along with the DMC steering part, and the PO then put it together. I bought it from him last Fall as a barebones outfit. The only sidecar mods it had was the steering part. Other than that, the sidecar was pretty much plain jane.

After I bought it, I took it to Jay for the car pusher conversion and the electric tilt. Doug did the work and also remounted the struts and did the alignment. So I didn't have to do any of that stuff. Credit for the easy steering and straight running is all DMC's.

As for the bike, the PO did the canisterectomy, removed the ABS modulator, installed the Y-pipe, and he was the one who figured out the cool double-relay configuration for the offroad lights.

[DRONE]

Originally Posted by iHop

. . . Drone’s one looks like the same M72D frame/mounts as what I got from DMC almost 3 years ago. I’ve since switched mine to clevis/eye and added a front mount to the bike and tub. I did this because, like Drone’s rig, the two mounts on the sidecar frame are very close to each other toward the rear and provide little support on the tub nose. On mine the front of the tub flexed down a lot. Eventually (less than 10K miles) the center mount snapped out of my sidecar frame along with a hunk of the frame tube (click). So the spot I’d keep an eye on isn’t the lower mounts, but where the front strut attaches to the sidecar frame.

I have to agree with iHop-- I think I have to keep a close eye on the upper struts where they mount to the sidecar frame. Right now they're fine--no cracks. If one breaks, well then at that point I'll look at other options.

I also wonder if because my rig runs so straight and true, with no wobble or shake, if maybe my struts won't develop metal fatigue as quickly as some other rigs where the stresses and strains are more or less constant.

It's kinda nice living only 30 miles away from the DMC shop. If I have any troubles, it's not a big deal to get the rig looked at. I might even take it in there next month to brainstorm with those fellas. The problem with the 1150 is that there's no good place to attach a strut forward of the cylinder head. It can be done, but it would involve so many extenders and angles and joints that I'm not sure how much good it would do.

Edit--Yeah, it did break, in June of 2012 after maybe another 10,000 miles, many of them on dirt and gravel. This rig has not been babied! Here's a pic--




But the struts are pretty robust. I had no trouble driving another 300 miles with the broken strut to Enumclaw where DMC was able to fabricate Jay's retrofit solution for this problem. Sorry for the bad pic--




Basically, they weld a collar around the frame then drill it and weld in a solid mounting post that's welded on the top and bottom of the frame. Much stronger than before.

In defense of the DMC design, I must mention that the P.O. had mounted the car totally wrong (both lower struts upside down) and the frame got 4500 miles of abuse before that situation got fixed. Jay told me that the upside down strut mounting put extra strain on the upper front strut, and he warned me to keep a close eye on it six months before iHop mentioned it in the post above.

[OlyRider]

Drone,

You might PM Mr. Cob, and see how he's addressing this on his 1150GS Dauntless build. He's been pretty tight-lipped about it on the board, but he might open up in a PM. Don't know, but worth a try.

[twintwin]

Originally Posted by DRONE

The problem with the 1150 is that there's no good place to attach a strut forward of the cylinder head. It can be done, but it would involve so many extenders and angles and joints that I'm not sure how much good it would do.

I can be done, and well done, speak with Claude.

Dauntless subframe and mounts bought new in 2005.


Went then with Claude (picture taken before powder coating), cannot be more please with the result. No further comments necessary when you compare the 2 subframes and mounts, and for the same price!

[davebig]

Drone
Nice finish work your taste is excellent ! What's the name of that dark German sitting in it and is he or she a standard or a giant ?

A real question, Does the gearing with the 15" wheel seem low enough ? DB

[Mastercylinder]

WOW!

[DRONE]

Originally Posted by davebig

Does the gearing with the 15" wheel seem low enough ? DB

Bear in mind that my 1150 is an Adventure model with a lower gear ratio for 1st gear. And the car wheel/tire combo I'm using works out to the same outside diameter as the stock BMW wheel/tire combo. So I have plenty of grunt for the kinds of roads I go on. Which is to say, paved roads and dirt roads. I don't go on trails or tracks (my name's not Cob) and I'm not trying to out-Ural the Urals. Hell, I'm not even trying to out-Ural the KLR's! I just like getting out into the backcountry.

Oh, and he's a giant, but the runt of his litter.