Sidecar toe in

[aumick10]

I have to modify the front mount on my JD sidecar, as it has previously been changed.
Can someone let me know what the std toe in is?
The rear mount fits correctly.
Cheers

[gharper]

I doubt that HD even had such info back in the day. My experience with older sidecars is that they were setup with virtually 0 toe in. The first HD literature with a number that I've seen was from the 70's and was talking about 1/2-3/4" toe in. This number seems to be a generally accepted range, such as it is.

Measure toe in with 2 straight edges. One aligns with the front and rear wheels, as high up as you can get it. It should touch the tires in 4 places, 2 on each tire. This is a good alignment check for the motorcycle too. If it only touches in 3 places, the rear wheel is probably cocked, so straighten that out. Next put a straight edge along the sidecar wheel, as high up as possible. This must touch the tire in 2 places as well. Now measure the distance between the straight edges front and rear, just clear of the tire. The front should be 1/2-3/4" narrower.

[Jerry Wieland]

I doubt that HD even had such info back in the day. My experience with older sidecars is that they were setup with virtually 0 toe in. The first HD literature with a number that I've seen was from the 70's and was talking about 1/2-3/4" toe in. This number seems to be a generally accepted range, such as it is.

Measure toe in with 2 straight edges. One aligns with the front and rear wheels, as high up as you can get it. It should touch the tires in 4 places, 2 on each tire. This is a good alignment check for the motorcycle too. If it only touches in 3 places, the rear wheel is probably cocked, so straighten that out. Next put a straight edge along the sidecar wheel, as high up as possible. This must touch the tire in 2 places as well. Now measure the distance between the straight edges front and rear, just clear of the tire. The front should be 1/2-3/4" narrower.

Gene HD most certainly did have set-up instructions and I have them somewhere. It involves a long straight edge in line with the wheels and a measurement over to the sidecar wheel. It worked good on mine.

Jerry

[aumick10]

Thanks gentlemen, i will rebuild the front mount to these figures.

[gharper]

Jerry, T
he only specs I've ever seen are for the 70's and up CLE, TLE and RLE sidecars. I looked in my knucklehead manual and it says nothing, other than following the installation instructions that come with a sidecar if purchased separately.

[Rubone]

Factory H-D sidecar frames had the "Toe In" built into the design based on standard factory mounts. There was a minor bit of adjustment available by stacking a washer or two under the rear mount. I am assuming you are meaning the factory mount on the front of your SC frame was modified at some time for use on another machine.

[knucklehead 61]

how about setting the lean angle? what should it be?
on my 1915 HD sidecar rig, the bike seems to lean away from the sidecar quite a bit.

[aumick10]

I usually set lean out at a couple of degrees lean out. May need to be adjusted for your local road conditions.

[T. Cotten]

I usually set lean out at a couple of degrees lean out. May need to be adjusted for your local road conditions.

Empty, right, Mick?

Payload trumps roads these days!

....Cotten

[aumick10]

Tom, no suspension on frame or sidecar frame, so i am at the mercy of the roads.

[T. Cotten]

Tom, no suspension on frame or sidecar frame, so i am at the mercy of the roads.

By historical standards, Mick,..

Modern roads are a dream, so that's no excuse.

The more massive the payload upon the machine, the more the "lean" (or isn't that 'camber'?) is brought up to vertical.

Toe-in aside, the machine and hack should splay away from each other until full loaded. Like a Volkswagen beetle.

....Cotten
PS: My late HD frames were always frozen perfect from the factory, but if I were to set up a 'fresh' and adjustable assembly, straightedges to achieve a full triangle would be quite long, so I would demand the customer supply a laser.

[aumick10]

Tom, that may be true with modern sidecars that have suspension on all wheels, but i can't see it has any significant effect on a JD. Tire pressure is likely to have more influence on lean out. I did a modern outfit last year where a flat tyre changed the lean from about 10 degree in to 3 degree out.

[T. Cotten]

Tom, that may be true with modern sidecars that have suspension on all wheels, but i can't see it has any significant effect on a JD. Tire pressure is likely to have more influence on lean out. I did a modern outfit last year where a flat tyre changed the lean from about 10 degree in to 3 degree out.

Forgive me, Mick,..

But my "late" HD hacks were from '39 to '65, so they only had "suspension" upon the front of the machine minimally, and any upon the rear only made things worse.

Never rode anything 'modern', but I'm sure they're an improvement.

...Cotten

[aumick10]

Tom, any numbers are just a starting point. Riding will determine where the bike likes to be setup.

[Rubone]

How much crown in the roads in NZ? Right hand or leftand SC? The "lean" has more to do with the road crown and the inherent pull to the downhill side.