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IMG_0302.jpgIMG_0304.jpgIMG_0308.jpgFlxi yoke angles 2.jpg
Ok fellas, after 9 years my FLXI sidecar made it's maiden voyage last weekend, attached to the 1919 Excelsior electric model! This sidecar was a mess when I bought it from Dave Minerva and the frame was broken as well as 8" too short to fit the X. I was able to take care of all that and get a new interior, courtesy of Bob Jones in Ohio. He copied the body and old interior pieces and can make them I believe. He lent me a rear mount to copy and I found the front at Davenport. Splash on some paint, stripes and patina and off we go!
I've ridden sidecars since I was 16 and have been looking forward to riding a Flxi ever since. To say that I was not prepared for the experince is an understatement! First thing that threw me was that I had to put my feet down when I stopped or the bike fell over! That just doesn't seem natural on a sidecar! For the first time ever I ran a sidecar over the curb, not once but twice! Veteran Davenport board tracker Jm Wall looked a bit pale after a ride in the Speedster sidecar and refused an offer to give it a whirl! He said "If you're having trouble, I'm not about to touch it!"
Started out from home and went 2 blocks to the church parking lot for practice. The first left hander was down right scary! The sidecar wheel and fender shuddered violently as did the rear wheel. I stopped, thinking I had a flat tire or a broken axle, everything looked fine. Practiced in the parking lot and every left turn gave the same results, as did some right hand turns. Jim Wall was on hand to observe and hopped in the sidecar for a better look.
We've concluded that there is way too much steering input on the sidecar wheel, causing the tire to skid sideways if you will. The pictures show that the sidecar wheel is turned in quite a bit when leaning over against the stop. Many don't realize it, but the Flxi principle not only leans the wheel but also steers the wheel in the direction of the turn. This is accomplished by the fact that the yoke on the sidecar side of the frame is rotaed clockwise 12 degrees when viewed from the sidecar fender. This tips the pivoting plane of that wheel forward which in turn turns the wheel when it leans to the side. This is clearly shown in Hugo Long's patent application drawings. In my case, there is way too much steering input, so back to the drawing board. All I can figure is that the front of the frame needs to be raised which will reduce the steering angle. This can be done by bending the front mount up, probably should have left it alone in the firat place! I bent it down in an effort to make the frame parallel to the ground, the good idea fairy came to me one night and dropped that plan in my mind, not sure what she was thinking!
Properly negotiating a turn with a Flxi appears to be a delicate balance of speed, handlebar steering input, lean angle, (which also determines the sidecar steering input), radius of turn and testicle size of the operator. I'm lacking on the latter so maybe that's the problem! I was able to negotiate a few right handers at about 25mph on a sweeping neighborhood street turn that felt sweet! However, even the slightest amount of additional lean threw things off. Add to it the fact that when you lean far enough to hit the adjustable stops, everything changes again! Now you have a rigid sidecar at a horrible lean angle and it doesn't turn anymore unless you drive it like a rigid sidecar (enter a curb jumping image here). In addition, the Flxi track width is 6" wider than my 24 chief rig and 8" wider than the knucklehead rig. I think I heard Jim mumble once or twice, something about getting too close to parked cars but I was too busy to pay attention to that, seemed minor compared to everything else going on at the time.
Plan to take the rig to Davenport and ride it around, so if you see me, flag me down but give me lots of room, I'm still learning how to handle this thing. Hope I can get it dialed in, it really should do better that this!
Gene
Ok fellas, after 9 years my FLXI sidecar made it's maiden voyage last weekend, attached to the 1919 Excelsior electric model! This sidecar was a mess when I bought it from Dave Minerva and the frame was broken as well as 8" too short to fit the X. I was able to take care of all that and get a new interior, courtesy of Bob Jones in Ohio. He copied the body and old interior pieces and can make them I believe. He lent me a rear mount to copy and I found the front at Davenport. Splash on some paint, stripes and patina and off we go!
I've ridden sidecars since I was 16 and have been looking forward to riding a Flxi ever since. To say that I was not prepared for the experince is an understatement! First thing that threw me was that I had to put my feet down when I stopped or the bike fell over! That just doesn't seem natural on a sidecar! For the first time ever I ran a sidecar over the curb, not once but twice! Veteran Davenport board tracker Jm Wall looked a bit pale after a ride in the Speedster sidecar and refused an offer to give it a whirl! He said "If you're having trouble, I'm not about to touch it!"
Started out from home and went 2 blocks to the church parking lot for practice. The first left hander was down right scary! The sidecar wheel and fender shuddered violently as did the rear wheel. I stopped, thinking I had a flat tire or a broken axle, everything looked fine. Practiced in the parking lot and every left turn gave the same results, as did some right hand turns. Jim Wall was on hand to observe and hopped in the sidecar for a better look.
We've concluded that there is way too much steering input on the sidecar wheel, causing the tire to skid sideways if you will. The pictures show that the sidecar wheel is turned in quite a bit when leaning over against the stop. Many don't realize it, but the Flxi principle not only leans the wheel but also steers the wheel in the direction of the turn. This is accomplished by the fact that the yoke on the sidecar side of the frame is rotaed clockwise 12 degrees when viewed from the sidecar fender. This tips the pivoting plane of that wheel forward which in turn turns the wheel when it leans to the side. This is clearly shown in Hugo Long's patent application drawings. In my case, there is way too much steering input, so back to the drawing board. All I can figure is that the front of the frame needs to be raised which will reduce the steering angle. This can be done by bending the front mount up, probably should have left it alone in the firat place! I bent it down in an effort to make the frame parallel to the ground, the good idea fairy came to me one night and dropped that plan in my mind, not sure what she was thinking!
Properly negotiating a turn with a Flxi appears to be a delicate balance of speed, handlebar steering input, lean angle, (which also determines the sidecar steering input), radius of turn and testicle size of the operator. I'm lacking on the latter so maybe that's the problem! I was able to negotiate a few right handers at about 25mph on a sweeping neighborhood street turn that felt sweet! However, even the slightest amount of additional lean threw things off. Add to it the fact that when you lean far enough to hit the adjustable stops, everything changes again! Now you have a rigid sidecar at a horrible lean angle and it doesn't turn anymore unless you drive it like a rigid sidecar (enter a curb jumping image here). In addition, the Flxi track width is 6" wider than my 24 chief rig and 8" wider than the knucklehead rig. I think I heard Jim mumble once or twice, something about getting too close to parked cars but I was too busy to pay attention to that, seemed minor compared to everything else going on at the time.
Plan to take the rig to Davenport and ride it around, so if you see me, flag me down but give me lots of room, I'm still learning how to handle this thing. Hope I can get it dialed in, it really should do better that this!
Gene
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