Comments on: Harley Davidson V-Rod Desert Racing Sidecar http://thekneeslider.com/archives/2009/11/13/harley-davidson-v-rod-desert-racing-sidecar/ Motorcycle News for Positive People Sat, 26 May 2012 02:39:14 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Leon http://thekneeslider.com/archives/2009/11/13/harley-davidson-v-rod-desert-racing-sidecar/#comment-300358 Leon Sat, 15 Jan 2011 15:08:58 +0000 http://thekneeslider.com/?p=9069#comment-300358 John: I have broke two belts on my 2003 883 sportster and it's stock the first 1 broke 1/4 mile from home coming home from a bro house 1/2 mile from my house looking at the belt it looks like it was pulled apart with 24k miles on it no rhyme or reason as the tech said from the shop.....Number 2 went with 5364 miles on it there were teeth missing in 3 different places on the belt thats a cost of $168.00 per belt my bro's super glide has over 70k on the original belt so just to say the belts will go at any time no rhyme or reason for it..... John: I have broke two belts on my 2003 883 sportster and it’s stock the first 1 broke 1/4 mile from home coming home from a bro house 1/2 mile from my house looking at the belt it looks like it was pulled apart with 24k miles on it no rhyme or reason as the tech said from the shop…..Number 2 went with 5364 miles on it there were teeth missing in 3 different places on the belt thats a cost of $168.00 per belt my bro’s super glide has over 70k on the original belt so just to say the belts will go at any time no rhyme or reason for it…..

]]> By: lostboy1 http://thekneeslider.com/archives/2009/11/13/harley-davidson-v-rod-desert-racing-sidecar/#comment-269449 lostboy1 Fri, 29 Jan 2010 17:35:44 +0000 http://thekneeslider.com/?p=9069#comment-269449 Amazing efforts guys, i can`t understand why the Harley Davidson company wouldn`t get behind you and provide some form of sponsorship. Nice one Harley, you got a couple of blokes here taking your product to the world stage and kicking ass on thier own...get with the damn programme and wake up. seriously, kudos team HogWild Amazing efforts guys, i can`t understand why the Harley Davidson company wouldn`t get behind you and provide some form of sponsorship.

Nice one Harley, you got a couple of blokes here taking your product to the world stage and kicking ass on thier own…get with the damn programme and wake up.

seriously, kudos team HogWild

]]> By: American-V http://thekneeslider.com/archives/2009/11/13/harley-davidson-v-rod-desert-racing-sidecar/#comment-268990 American-V Fri, 22 Jan 2010 13:41:56 +0000 http://thekneeslider.com/?p=9069#comment-268990 @kenny: Close but no cigar: the Ural is a Russian and not a Chinese copy - and I've got it in my head that it's closer copy of the Wehrmacht BMW, which would mean it's the Dnepr is based the Zundapp. Worked with a guy who had been a soldier in the Wehrmacht, assigned to sidecars, before being captured who gave me a few insights: not least the BS from Hollywood about firing the heavy machine gun from a moving outfit: the bike needing anchoring before you could fire the gun, and firing on the move would have stopped the sidecar dead in its tracks better than standing on a sidecar brake. oh, and a single passenger would ride on the back of the bike, because there was so much weight in the chair already. The Chinese do make clones - still with sidevalve engines, but with the addition of electric starters: they're Chang Ziangs ... or something like that. In other news, massive respect to the HogWild team for open-minded creative thinking: that's what drives the world forwards (have you got enough copyright-free high-res pics for us to run a feature?). @kenny: Close but no cigar: the Ural is a Russian and not a Chinese copy – and I’ve got it in my head that it’s closer copy of the Wehrmacht BMW, which would mean it’s the Dnepr is based the Zundapp. Worked with a guy who had been a soldier in the Wehrmacht, assigned to sidecars, before being captured who gave me a few insights: not least the BS from Hollywood about firing the heavy machine gun from a moving outfit: the bike needing anchoring before you could fire the gun, and firing on the move would have stopped the sidecar dead in its tracks better than standing on a sidecar brake. oh, and a single passenger would ride on the back of the bike, because there was so much weight in the chair already.

The Chinese do make clones – still with sidevalve engines, but with the addition of electric starters: they’re Chang Ziangs … or something like that.

In other news, massive respect to the HogWild team for open-minded creative thinking: that’s what drives the world forwards (have you got enough copyright-free high-res pics for us to run a feature?).

]]> By: Paulinator http://thekneeslider.com/archives/2009/11/13/harley-davidson-v-rod-desert-racing-sidecar/#comment-266981 Paulinator Wed, 18 Nov 2009 23:39:23 +0000 http://thekneeslider.com/?p=9069#comment-266981 I know just what u mean about the sand. For 25 bucks I rented a scooter yesterday and got stuck on the beach righ up to the axles. Had to push the rig 20 feet. Then I got the plug wet and it sputtered and nearly died. I had to nurse it for a minute. What Adventure! Guh! Whatever you guys are doing, consider me a big fan. I know just what u mean about the sand. For 25 bucks I rented a scooter yesterday and got stuck on the beach righ up to the axles. Had to push the rig 20 feet. Then I got the plug wet and it sputtered and nearly died. I had to nurse it for a minute. What Adventure! Guh!

Whatever you guys are doing, consider me a big fan.

]]> By: HogWild http://thekneeslider.com/archives/2009/11/13/harley-davidson-v-rod-desert-racing-sidecar/#comment-266963 HogWild Wed, 18 Nov 2009 01:08:39 +0000 http://thekneeslider.com/?p=9069#comment-266963 David/cigarrz: "I am sure the guys at Hogwildracing aren’t surprised that few understand or know anything about their chosen segment of racing hear in the states." @David, You’re right on the money! Sidecars have raced Dakar since the beginning, and every one of those rigs were interesting one-off machines. Other off-road motorcycle racers don’t know much if anything about off-road sidecars. And this machine, built for Dakar and similar desert races, is completely strange even to my sidecar motocross racing friends. But it doesn’t really matter what some people think. For me it’s all about the challenge of accomplishing the impossible! @kneeslider, Thanks for taking an interest in my creation. Indeed it IS all about function, performance, and reliability, not show. Unfortunately, when we raced Dakar it still had a few bugs in it. It's been a long progression on a tiny budget getting it to the reliable state it's in now. @Kenny, Yes, we have a huge number of custom parts on this machine, which means our support crew has to carry lots of extra stuff that can’t be borrowed from someone else. When something breaks, I usually have to spend days in my garage making a replacement (plus spares). That’s my opportunity to improve the design so it won’t break again. It’s also why it has taken years to get it fairly reliable. But the pride of building something yourself, that proves to be tough enough for the gangliest off-road races on Earth, is immeasurable! @all, Last year we raced this sidecar start to finish in the Baja 1000, ahead of the very nice lighter weight custom Aprilia powered rig built by a Swiss team. We're aiming to do the Baja 1000 again in 2010. Photo: http://www.hogwildracing.com/baja/2008/Mark_Anderson_IMG_1205_x1000.jpg The weight of this rig is in large part due to aiming for reliability (large motor with some meat in it), carrying lots of supplies to fix things on the spot (tools and spare parts), and being able to ride across incredibly massive and soft sand dunes (huge wheels and tires). If we don’t make it to the finish line, we’ve failed! Getting there quicker is secondary. We converted the V-Rod motor from belt drive to chain drive for a couple of reasons: - To have gearing options (easy to get all sizes of sprockets). - To have the same chain as used on other Dakar bikes, so we can mooch from them if needed. - Belt drives in off-road racing are completely unproven as far as I know. I didn’t want to take the risk of finding out it doesn’t work. We KNOW chains work. Of course this came back and bit us in Dakar, when one of my home-made sprockets turned out to be bad. Once that one was thrown out, that problem was solved. - To change a belt takes a huge amount of work (pulling the rear swingarm out), or a frame that was specially designed for a belt. That design change would introduce other problems. Either way, it’s much easier and quicker to swap out a chain than a belt. This bike is 1WD. Some Ural sidecars (Russian) have 2WD. Urals are not very good racing machines. Several Dakar sidecars have tried 2WD, but all have failed. The only place we would need 2WD is in the dunes. We’ve done tons of testing, and made tons of changes to get our bike to the point that it goes quite well in the dunes. The extra weight and reliability issues of 2WD were more than I’ve wanted to take on. Nobody has an easy time in the vast dunes of the Sahara desert or Chile’s Atacama desert. I think we’re in pretty good shape, but there’s always room for improvement. Right now I’m looking at some major mods so I can fit a 10 inch wide tire on the rear for the dunes. David/cigarrz: “I am sure the guys at Hogwildracing aren’t surprised that few understand or know anything about their chosen segment of racing hear in the states.”
@David, You’re right on the money! Sidecars have raced Dakar since the beginning, and every one of those rigs were interesting one-off machines. Other off-road motorcycle racers don’t know much if anything about off-road sidecars. And this machine, built for Dakar and similar desert races, is completely strange even to my sidecar motocross racing friends. But it doesn’t really matter what some people think. For me it’s all about the challenge of accomplishing the impossible!

@kneeslider, Thanks for taking an interest in my creation. Indeed it IS all about function, performance, and reliability, not show. Unfortunately, when we raced Dakar it still had a few bugs in it. It’s been a long progression on a tiny budget getting it to the reliable state it’s in now.

@Kenny, Yes, we have a huge number of custom parts on this machine, which means our support crew has to carry lots of extra stuff that can’t be borrowed from someone else. When something breaks, I usually have to spend days in my garage making a replacement (plus spares). That’s my opportunity to improve the design so it won’t break again. It’s also why it has taken years to get it fairly reliable. But the pride of building something yourself, that proves to be tough enough for the gangliest off-road races on Earth, is immeasurable!

@all, Last year we raced this sidecar start to finish in the Baja 1000, ahead of the very nice lighter weight custom Aprilia powered rig built by a Swiss team. We’re aiming to do the Baja 1000 again in 2010. Photo: http://www.hogwildracing.com/baja/2008/Mark_Anderson_IMG_1205_x1000.jpg

The weight of this rig is in large part due to aiming for reliability (large motor with some meat in it), carrying lots of supplies to fix things on the spot (tools and spare parts), and being able to ride across incredibly massive and soft sand dunes (huge wheels and tires). If we don’t make it to the finish line, we’ve failed! Getting there quicker is secondary.

We converted the V-Rod motor from belt drive to chain drive for a couple of reasons:
- To have gearing options (easy to get all sizes of sprockets).
- To have the same chain as used on other Dakar bikes, so we can mooch from them if needed.
- Belt drives in off-road racing are completely unproven as far as I know. I didn’t want to take the risk of finding out it doesn’t work. We KNOW chains work. Of course this came back and bit us in Dakar, when one of my home-made sprockets turned out to be bad. Once that one was thrown out, that problem was solved.
- To change a belt takes a huge amount of work (pulling the rear swingarm out), or a frame that was specially designed for a belt. That design change would introduce other problems. Either way, it’s much easier and quicker to swap out a chain than a belt.

This bike is 1WD. Some Ural sidecars (Russian) have 2WD. Urals are not very good racing machines. Several Dakar sidecars have tried 2WD, but all have failed. The only place we would need 2WD is in the dunes. We’ve done tons of testing, and made tons of changes to get our bike to the point that it goes quite well in the dunes. The extra weight and reliability issues of 2WD were more than I’ve wanted to take on. Nobody has an easy time in the vast dunes of the Sahara desert or Chile’s Atacama desert. I think we’re in pretty good shape, but there’s always room for improvement. Right now I’m looking at some major mods so I can fit a 10 inch wide tire on the rear for the dunes.

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