It was $630 shipped to my doorstep, which should keep my overall conversion costs right around the 1k mark. (not counting the bike, of course) Cheap enough for me to try some new waters with a good solid setup
does this give all 4 mounts? sounds reasonable enough, folk on here seem pretty keen on his workmanship.
Yes, that was the lower subframe for the two bottom mounts and the two upper mounting brackets. The only thing not included was the struts from the car frame to the upper mounts on the bike, but I wanted to mount up the frame first and get a measurement so I can order the specific (correct!) length instead of guessing and having a bunch of thread showing. I'm assuming you would want LH mounts? I know Jay offers LH mounts for the KLR crowd on his website, but not sure about anything else. Of course, I didn't see anyone knocking down doors to build a subframe for my bike but after a couple phone calls and emails I was in business!
Just a teaser, the hack and bike made first contact today! It's nowhere near aligned and set up, but I at least have an idea of what kind of footprint it's gonna have. I plan on a starting point using between 15/20% of wheelbase for lead and around 75% of wheelbase for track. That puts me at 10" of lead and just under 45" track, it might actually fit on a 4x8 trailer! Now I need to get everything aligned so I can get some accurate measurements for the length needed on my upper support rods
Can you slip your fork tubes up in the triple trees a bit? Can you put a tall profile rear tire on and keep a low profile radial up front? Those mods, with your raising links will help reduce the trail at not much cost. If you do it before you get to doing your alignment it would be better...
looks good! What struts are you looking at putting on her? After you are done lets look at the putting one on to the '77 that I have?
I have a new Dunlop harder-than-heck rear tire in mind that is a profile or two taller. Is there a rule of thumb as far as how much to raise the fork tubes in the clamps?( there's plenty of room since I converted the bars)
I'll start on the struts once I get a more "finalized" alignment. I'm all for sprouting a third wheel on your bike, but something (someone?!?) tells me I'm too much of an instigator as is
Consider a Kenda k270 for the rear tire. I'd move the fork tubes up as. Far as tyou can without having clearance probblems. When the forks are compressed
Finally got off my dead rear and fininshed measuring and tweaking. My starting measurements are 12" of lead, 3/4" of toe-in, and 3/4" of lean-out measured at the bars. Track by the time everything was said and done came out to about 49-1/2". First run was without the body, so it was incredibly light on right turns. Even as light as it is, the hack wheel doesn't lift when I step up on the left footpeg. (It will if I bounce though!) Suspension seems a little soft (expected) but not unmanageable. It tracks nice and straight and doesn't have much left/right pull while speeding up and slowing down. I should be getting my body back one day this week so I can mount it up and see how much of an effect it has on handling. (I expect this to change as well, mainly curious as to how much!)
There's a torsion spring inside the tube where the trailing arm connects. No shock so I'm sure it won't be silky smooth, but better than so suspension at all
I need to point out something you MAY have already considered. You may need to cap the top of you diagonal rear bottow mount, I think it may fill up with water and cause corrosion inside. I may be looking at it wrong but it may be worth thinking about. That is a fantastic outfit though, as a first attempt its really top-notch. My first outfit was a real scruffy old watsonian monza, like I have on my triumph, with gas pipe tube welded between it and an old gt750 shaft drive kawasaki. Mann, it was a death trap.
You should have received plastic caps for the boss's. If this is not the case let me know and I will send them out. Also we normaly mount the struts with the treaded end down. The reason is that over time water can work its way down the treads and make it difficult to adjust latter. Jay G DMC sidecars www.dmcsidecars.com 866-638-1793
You're looking at it right, I do plan on capping those off ( front and rear will both fill up if I don't) I have a lot of finishing touches and tying up loose ends at this point, I'm just happy it's finally together ( not just test-fitting anymore ) and operational. Not "finished" mind you, but my major hurdles are clear Thanks for the positive reinforcement, especially with this being my first attempt and I am HORRIBLE at finishing projects.
I didn't get plastic caps when I got my subframe, but I didn't order the connecting parts from you either-these came with the car when I picked it up. Not that I would say no if you decided to send me a pair And THANK YOU for telling me about the struts, water getting in hadn't even crossed my mind. I was only thinking the larger end was heavier so keep it lower on the frame, and it probably doesn't make much of a difference anyway the more I (over)think about it.....
Very nice.... it looks real good! How far did you go on the first Run? And did Bob finish the tub? and yeah... I am jealous
I just went around the neighborhood, not enough weight or experience to play in traffic yet-if I LOOK left the chair wheel flies Not sure about the tub yet, I'm gonna call Bob tomorrow and see how soon. I know it'll be ready sometime this week, just a matter of when exactly, and if I need to go to Deland or meet him somewhere. Time to practice! How soon 'till your back in town? I found another gravel/dirt-strewn tag that needs claiming
We are leaving Thursday night form Mass. and Should be home on Saturday, Stopping in to see my Sister in SC. Found my old tank for the 550 and having it mailed down. Need off road tires for the Speed Four and we will hit that tag! See you soon!
Well, the mechanics of it all are done. I might have to trim a little as it pulls to the right a bit at higher speeds, but I also think it's because a have a fairly large car hanging off a smaller motorcycle. Still, it will cruise 65 with little effort and steering effort isn't all that bad. Now, to concentrate on the cosmetics
