Vetter terraplane and K100RS


cfmckay

Grasshopper
Country flag
Just completed my restoration of a 1981 Terraplane. I acquired the sidecar in May and have been working on it ever since. My son and I completed the enlargement of my shed door, rig was too wide to exit. Took it out today, to see the sunlight, alas no sun. I took some photos which I will post. I have to adjust the lean out and recheck the toe in before I take it for my first sidecar equipped motorcycle ride.
 

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Michael Batesel

Grasshopper
Country flag
Just completed my restoration of a 1981 Terraplane. I acquired the sidecar in May and have been working on it ever since. My son and I completed the enlargement of my shed door, rig was too wide to exit. Took it out today, to see the sunlight, alas no sun. I took some photos which I will post. I have to adjust the lean out and recheck the toe in before I take it for my first sidecar equipped motorcycle ride.
How is your rig working out?
 

cfmckay

Grasshopper
Country flag
For the past 7 weeks I have been learning how to adjust the sidecar and the motorcycle to give me the best handling. I have covered approximately 1200 miles in 12- 15 runs to make the adjustments. I am getting the hang of handling my rig, it has been a challenging experience. In the beginning it was very tiring and not a lot of fun, but as I accumulate miles and experience I find that each time I go out I have more fun and am less fatigued. Using the driving techniques that I have read about and practiced I am getting better and better at handling corners, right and left. I take the rig out on good country roads here in northeast Connecticut, giving me a wide range of corners to work with. I have removed the brake assembly from the car and I have found that I actually do not need it, as a matter of fact I believe it s use could get a new driver into a lot of trouble very fast. I also have been running the sidecar empty and will not carry a passenger until I have another thousand miles on the rig. I have posted a few photos of one of my outings last week.
 

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Scott-E

Vetter Aficionado
Country flag
For the past 7 weeks I have been learning how to adjust the sidecar and the motorcycle to give me the best handling. I have covered approximately 1200 miles in 12- 15 runs to make the adjustments. I am getting the hang of handling my rig, it has been a challenging experience. In the beginning it was very tiring and not a lot of fun, but as I accumulate miles and experience I find that each time I go out I have more fun and am less fatigued. Using the driving techniques that I have read about and practiced I am getting better and better at handling corners, right and left. I take the rig out on good country roads here in northeast Connecticut, giving me a wide range of corners to work with. I have removed the brake assembly from the car and I have found that I actually do not need it, as a matter of fact I believe it s use could get a new driver into a lot of trouble very fast. I also have been running the sidecar empty and will not carry a passenger until I have another thousand miles on the rig. I have posted a few photos of one of my outings last week.
My Russian Sidecar motorcycle was easy to setup because the motorcycle was designed to tow a sidecar. The manual even warns about attempting to ride the bike without the sidecar attached. After I got the engine problems worked out I did ride it without the sidecar just to make sure the engine was performing correctly. It felt like the Grim Reaper was riding on the seat behind me! There is zero trail angle on the forks so it was like trying to ride a squirrel. The reason for zero trail with a sidecar is to make steering easy. Anyway, I set the tow in and lean exactly as the manual calls for and it was perfect on the first ride with the sidecar attached. I can take both hands off the handlebars and it runs perfectly straight on a straight road with normal road camber. I don't even need the steering dampener tightened at all. I can understand why people will pay big buck$ for an Earls Fork setup for sidecar conversions. My Bike has regular forks but the head tube angle is where they are setup for a sidecar. Ural motorcycle frames are all made to have two fork designs. With regular forks attached to the frame it is setup as a solo bike (no Sidecar). With an Earls Fork attached it's then setup for use with a sidecar. My Dnepr is for use with a sidecar only due to the frame and fork design.
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