Vintage BMW Motorcycle Owners

Just a few questions.
1. how far of a lead with s/c wheel to m/c wheel (as a rough guide, CL of s/c wheel should be roughly even with rear ball mount on m/c frame).

2. toe-in (castor) should be measured at the front edge of front motorcycle tire and back edge of back m/c tire.

3. camber should be 3/8" to 7/16".

4. front brace should NOT have tension on it (it could twist your frame).

5. do you have your earls forks in the sidecar position? ie. swingarm in the front set of holes and upper shock mounts in the lower holes?

6. Do you have a friction steering dampener (recommended) or hydralic dampener?

7. you may want to check steering head bearings and and rear swing arm bearings for proper torque.
Sorry if the questions sound kinda dumb but without seeing the rig in person it's not easy to diagnose the problem.

I've been riding a sidecar rig exclusively for a little over 20 years. I hope this helps

Wayne

Hi jlibby..... You diden't say where you are located....I am in Southern California, (Camarillo)...and quite good at sidecar alignment...as well as /2 problems.... and would be glad to give you a hand if we are anywhere close together....

Joel Rapose
Camarillo Cal.

jrapose@thegrid.net

I went through the same thing with my R71 and Stieb sidecar.It was violent at low speed.You can fine tune the toe in, tire pressure the steering damper at the handlebars erc etc.

I tried them all. What really solved it was a dampner from the sidecar to the fork.
Buy one from the Enfield web site. it is universal and it worked. No more shimmy or head shake.



Here's the latest in my bike saga. I've got the bike itself running great ('65 R60). No more leaky carbs (at least nothing too out of the ordinary I bought the lever tops) and she purrs like a kitten.

I just hooked up my new repro Steib LS200 and took it out for the maiden voyage. I never got it above 10 miles an hour, because the front tire of the bike was wobbling back and forth aggressively. I mean, if I didn't hang on tight, it would have been out of control. I re-checked the toe in and am within 1.5 inches as recommended in the manual. I did both front fork adjustments as recommended. The only thing that I haven't done is replace the front shock springs with something heavier. I'm convinced this has nothing to do with the wobbling because I was on a flat stretch of tar. What could it possibly be. Can any sidecar enthusiasts assist???? Thanks a lot

Here's the latest in my bike saga. I've got the bike itself running great ('65 R60). No more leaky carbs (at least nothing too out of the ordinary I bought the lever tops) and she purrs like a kitten.

I just hooked up my new repro Steib LS200 and took it out for the maiden voyage. I never got it above 10 miles an hour, because the front tire of the bike was wobbling back and forth aggressively. I mean, if I didn't hang on tight, it would have been out of control. I re-checked the toe in and am within 1.5 inches as recommended in the manual. I did both front fork adjustments as recommended. The only thing that I haven't done is replace the front shock springs with something heavier. I'm convinced this has nothing to do with the wobbling because I was on a flat stretch of tar. What could it possibly be. Can any sidecar enthusiasts assist???? Thanks a lot