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Trail (Nachlauf)

 
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legalr



Joined: 30 Jan 2005
Posts: 163
Location: Wallingford, Vermont

PostPosted: Mon Feb 14, 2005 6:48 pm    Post subject: Trail (Nachlauf) Reply with quote

The subject of "trail" came up in a discussion of "Steerning Dampers" and we started to get into it prettty good so I thought I would look through my copies of Motorrad-Gespanne to see the different trail values that were being used on modern sidecars that are depicted each month. Here is what I found.

"Some Examples of Trail on Modern Sidecar Rigs
As Shown in Motorrad-Gespanne"

Bike~ Sidecar~ Trail in millimeters

BMW K1200RS~ Subsonic~ 30mm

BMW R1200GS~ EZS-Munro~ 45mm

Honda GL 1800~ Hechard/Ruko~ 40mm

BMW K1200LT~ Kentech Royal~ 50mm

Suzuki VX 800~ EML~ 40mm

Suzuki GSX 1400~ Stoye RT~ 35mm

BMW K1200GT~ Dedome~ 45mm

Honda X4 Vmax~ Stern/EZS~ 70mm

BMW R80GS~ Ladakh~ 30mm

BMW R1150R~ Stern/EZS~ 65mm

Yamaha TDM 900~ Tornado~ 25mm

Suzuki SV-1300~ Stern RX-Z/EZS~ 60mm

Harley V-Rod~ Mobec~ 74mm

Zeus~ Side-Bike~ 40mm

BMW R1100R~ Dedome~ 45mm

BMW R1100R~ Armec Sidewinder~ 127mm [original BMW forks]

BMW R1200C~ Armec Bullet~ 86mm [original BMW forks]

Yamaha Vmax~ Armec Tremola II~ 34-60mm [Armec upsidedown forks]

Suzuki GFS 1200 Bandit~ Armec Tremola I~ 30mm

Honda CBR 1100 XX~ EML Speed~ 25mm

According to "Das Neue Handbuch fur Gespannfahrer" trail values most commonly employed in modern sidecar rigs range from 10 to 50 mm. I have the Gespanne 2001 Katalog and can reference many specific sidecars and bikes for trail values. There are too many to list them all here, but I would be glad to look if anyone has a question.

My own rigs, BMW R1150R and BMW K1200RS have 35mm and 41.4mm trail respectively. I have tried 16mm trail and found it uncomfortable at highway speeds or over rough or imperfect road surfaces. It steered very lightly and very quickly, which was delightful, but all things considered it was not to my liking. I am comfortable with 41.4mm at all highway speeds and over any road surface. From the manufacturer my K1200RS had 124.46mm trail. So you can see that my LLF has reduced that by83.06mm for easier steering.

What is the correct amount of trail? That is entirely subjective. One size does not fit all as can readily be seen from the above list.
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Powersl@ve



Joined: 31 Jan 2005
Posts: 40
Location: Netherlands

PostPosted: Mon Feb 14, 2005 6:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
Honda CBR 1100 XX~ EML Speed~ 25mm


And fully adjustable I might ad. Most people never adjust it, I did'nt with my previous rig but with the next one I am going to experiment it.
EML's testdriver drives 0 mm naloop (Trail (Nachlauf)), but it seems he is nuts Laughing
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legalr



Joined: 30 Jan 2005
Posts: 163
Location: Wallingford, Vermont

PostPosted: Mon Feb 14, 2005 7:04 pm    Post subject: Trail (Nachlauf) Reply with quote

Quote:
EML's testdriver drives 0 mm naloop (Trail (Nachlauf)), but it seems he is nuts Laughing


In a controlled setting I would like to drive one with 0 mm trail. My guess is that it would be spooky, but maybe I'm wrong? Rolling Eyes
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swaybar2002



Joined: 26 Jan 2005
Posts: 380
Location: Central Pa.

PostPosted: Tue Feb 15, 2005 4:10 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Colby's Formula I sidecar racer has zero static trail. He said he is going to change it. Clocked at over 170 at road america with zero trail ... someone has to be very attentive to what he is driving and be sure not to sneeze.
click here: http://tinyurl.com/3lkgy
Claude
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http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/SCT/

2007
I.S.O.K Sidecar RON-DEE-VOO III ..
First full weekend in August!! Thursday through Sunday!!
Weikert, Pa ..more details coming
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Bandit Bill



Joined: 31 Jan 2005
Posts: 202
Location: Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Tue Feb 15, 2005 6:10 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Wow, thanks for that data - it had the Bandit listed there Very Happy

I was looking at my baseline trail being 1 1/2" in my design, which is 38 mm, vs Armecs 30 mm setup .. mines going to be adjustable anyway, but good to know. (according to my plumb bobbing this weekend, The Bandit has 5.5" trail, stock Shocked )
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