An international forum for people interested in modern high performance road going sidecars.

[davebig]

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Patience, n. A minor form of dispair, disguised as a virtue.

Ambrose Bierce

[bruce_in_pa18015]

The research must be funded by the USA Government and is top secret. :>)
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My wife said she is going to leave me if I buy another motorcycle. I'm sure going to miss her helping me load the trailer.

Bruce

[davebig]

[Ralph]

Not trying to be a smart ass,just saying if you have to worry about the mileage on your tires and or gas mileage may be your not having as much fun as you should be. Fun ain't cheap
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"So Soon Old & So Late Smart"

[davebig]

[Paul]

The Continental you list isn't a great tyre, at least not on a BMW automobile. Sure, they last long; but they slide far too easily and aren't that great in the rain.

Basically the UTQG number is not a good rating to go by. The higher the number, supposedly the longer wear - but they do that by making them of very hard, very non-sticky rubber. It's no good having long-lasting tyres if you end up sliding off the road into a tree.

The Michelin Pilot Sport A/S is available in a 195/45 16 size, and is an incredibly good tyre, especially in the wet. They lasted about 25K-30K miles of extreme abuse on my car, so mileage shouldn't be an issue. Only downside was that they were very noisy - but that's not a concern on a sidecar. Michelin also makes several more-sticky versions of the Pilot, but it doesn't sound like that's what you're after.

Warning: there is no real standard on tyre sizes (other than the rim dimensions). A 195/45 from one maker can be a very different size from a 195/45 from someone else. If at all possible, measure an actual tyre mounted on the same width rim as you have before buying.

[davebig]

Paul
Your exactly right , I agree entirely. When I got it there was a set of Yokohama S-Drives UTQG of 180 they went away almost as I watched went to another set S-Drives rated 300 got maybe 6500 out of them without rotating both 175/50 or 55/16 and basically that's the only easy to buy tire in that size.
I might be able to get a 195/50/16 in the tubs wheel well but would probably have to trim some inner fender panel out that keeps stuff off the shock.But there's lots of variety in that size.

A harder tire was what I was after, I might try the MIchelins next but the harder Conti's feel pretty good better than I had expected. The Conti's go either direction will be easy to rotate between chair and pusher.Onward.DB

An elaborate tire and wheel size calculator :https://www.rimsntires.com/specspro.jsp
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Patience, n. A minor form of dispair, disguised as a virtue.

Ambrose Bierce

[Paul]

Here's a thought: have you checked the toe-in on your rig?

Normally the sidecar tyre will last a good long time; yours is wearing very quickly. Excessive toe-in could be one reason why.

[davebig]

Yes I have and it's in line with what the builders suggested 1.25", I'm told that wide track and wide tire sidecars need allot of toe to help keep them tracking, a buddy has a modern EML double wide EML told him 1".
I'm going to see how it goes with this set of tires before I change anything, I'm familiar with more conventional sidecars I've got a 1150gs with one of Claude Stanleys sidecars , I run 175/65/15 in the pusher and sidecar positions, I got 16k on the last pusher.

I'm a little surprised I'm the 3rd owner and I've ridden it further than either previous owner and no one has been interested in sorting it out till me. No one even got it to a BMW dealer where they might have got the rear main seal and a clutch plate reasonably, 11 yrs old and 12.6 k miles WTF.
These things aren't for everyone and don't have a huge amount in common with adv sidecars but for covering distance quickly its way faster.
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-9vlu10nEQ9Y/VgiIIPFPz9I/AAAAAAAAEHk/U4Q2f8wFaCQ/w640-h480-no/P1010021.JPG
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Patience, n. A minor form of dispair, disguised as a virtue.

Ambrose Bierce