-
Welcome, Guest! We hope you enjoy the excellent technical knowledge, event information and discussions that the BMW MOA forum provides. Some forum content will be hidden from you if you remain logged out. If you want to view all content, please click the 'Log in' button above and enter your BMW MOA username and password. If you are not an MOA member, why not take the time to join the club, so you can enjoy posting on the forum, the BMW Owners News magazine, and all of the discounts and benefits the BMW MOA offers?
-
Beginning April 1st, and running through April 30th, there is a new 2024 BMW MOA Election discussion area within The Club section of the forum. Within this forum area is also a sticky post that provides the ground rules for participating in the Election forum area. Also, the candidates statements are provided. Please read before joining the conversation, because the rules are very specific to maintain civility.
The Election forum is here: Election Forum
Side Car Motivation.
- Thread starter grafikfeat
- Start date
A decade or so ago, we concluded a sidecar instructor prep course, and to unwind, some of us started wondering whether a rig with reverse gear could be flown backwards. The Russians like to show off by flying the car with a flat tire. The passenger reaches out, removes the wheel, and grabs a wheel that's offered by another rig. We figured, that's not really amazing. What if we could fly the car up to a stop, then bang back into reverse and fly backwards.
So, some of the instructors took Dan Irazari's Dnepr behind the fences at the rally site, to attempt it. I volunteered first, and managed about 10 feet before the car suddenly snapped up, heaving me off. I was almost pinned underneath, but managed to get a boot up and the rig off me while the others were sprinting out in shock to see how badly I was maimed. I tried the maneuver again, with the same results, each time bending the left footpeg forward as it dug into the dirt.
The problem when flying in reverse is that the front end becomes the rear end, and it's just about impossible to balance on two wheels using a steerable "rear" wheel. (remember the infamous "backwards bike" built for NHTSA?) Note that in reverse the "rear" wheel has negative trail, so the wheel wants to caster around 180 degrees.
One of the older farts managed to keep it balanced for maybe 20 feet , with short "bursts" of clutch, before getting tossed off.
If anyone has managed to fly a 2WD Ural or Dnepr for a longer distance, I'd sure like to see a video clip of it.
pmdave
So, some of the instructors took Dan Irazari's Dnepr behind the fences at the rally site, to attempt it. I volunteered first, and managed about 10 feet before the car suddenly snapped up, heaving me off. I was almost pinned underneath, but managed to get a boot up and the rig off me while the others were sprinting out in shock to see how badly I was maimed. I tried the maneuver again, with the same results, each time bending the left footpeg forward as it dug into the dirt.
The problem when flying in reverse is that the front end becomes the rear end, and it's just about impossible to balance on two wheels using a steerable "rear" wheel. (remember the infamous "backwards bike" built for NHTSA?) Note that in reverse the "rear" wheel has negative trail, so the wheel wants to caster around 180 degrees.
One of the older farts managed to keep it balanced for maybe 20 feet , with short "bursts" of clutch, before getting tossed off.
If anyone has managed to fly a 2WD Ural or Dnepr for a longer distance, I'd sure like to see a video clip of it.
pmdave
