I need some advice

[Jessi]

The bike is a Honda wave 100. The lady owner has had a Somlor fitted to it.

The problem is the steering is "Sticking" not turning smoothly I dont know any other way to describe the problem.

She took the bike to a mechanic and he said this is normal when you fit a somlor to a bike, it does not feel wright to me but my knowledge of bikes is less than zero. In fact it feel dangerous.

I hope there will be some members that can offer help here.

Many thanks in advance.

[Jessi]

Its not looking good here for knowledge about a somlor ?

What tyre pressure should be used on this bike? I checked them today , 42lb, 50lb, & 60lb, This does not seem right to me.

Help needed.

Thanks.

[saakura]

Maybe someone would help if you explain what is a "somlor" which is fitted to your bike?

[Shurup]

Side car?

[ttakata]

I suggest the owner looks it up in Thai language on Thai websites.

No Farangs will have experience with a samlor since they are mostly illegal welding projects for Thais wanting to sell stuff.

[Jessi]

No joy for me here.

and I asked in a nice polite way.

No knowledge on the bike forum about tyre pressure?

[Jessi]

Side car?

Thanks for clearing that up shurup.

[ktm jeff]

This is my "Guidlines" for your tire pressures with somlor , Front = 32 - 37 , Rear 35 - 40 Side 30 - 40 . The wider pressure range for the somlor tire depends on what will be carried , shopping / surf board ! / or 4 people . Bike ( F & R ) pressures should be adjusted depending on rider / passanger weights and road conditions .The "sticky" steering sound like tight head bearings - have them re-greased and adjusted . Same if they are "notchy" .

[Jessi]

This is my "Guidlines" for your tire pressures with somlor , Front = 32 - 37 , Rear 35 - 40 Side 30 - 40 . The wider pressure range for the somlor tire depends on what will be carried , shopping / surf board ! / or 4 people . Bike ( F & R ) pressures should be adjusted depending on rider / passanger weights and road conditions .The "sticky" steering sound like tight head bearings - have them re-greased and adjusted . Same if they are "notchy" .

Thank you very much for taking the time to reply.

Yesterday afternoon she called in & I adjusted the tyre pressure to 30 in the front & 40 on both the rear, she took it for a ride and said it seemed much better but still has that wobble in the front wheel. She didnt have this problem before they fitted the somlor (Sidecar)

If it was a car I would think it being a wheel bearing problem, I dont know if bikes have wheel bearings.

I have advised her to take it to the Honda dealer down the road from here & drop the other so called mechanic like a hot brick.

Many thanks for your help ktm jeff.

[ktm jeff]

Your welcome . Try re-adjusting the pressures , this may be a bit of trial & error . F - 35 . R - keep at the 40 you set , Side - what is being carried in the somlor , light weight = 35 , heavy = 40 . Yes , bikes also have wheel bearings ( including the third wheel , in your case ) . These bearings , unlike the steering head bearings , cant usually be adjusted . Also VERY carefully check the tires , tread and side-wall , as they may be damaged . You should also have all 3 wheels balanced . Where do you live , do friends have recomended mechanics . Honda workshops dont have the best reputation . Even with some bearings replaced , it wont be an expensive job .

[tingtongfarang]

Couple of years ago a friend bought a brand new honda wave 125 i and right out of the shop took it to a place which builds and fits the side cars, I guess in a thai way they did the best they could, ie cut a large piece of the plastic away and weld a bracket onto the underbone and a couple of other places also welded brackets on to mount the sidecar, no provision for adjusting the alignment of the samlor wheel,

IMHO this ruined what was a new + good and usable bike,

I have ridden this contraption many times both alone and with passengers and dogs, on accelerating it tries to turn left, on braking it tries to turn right, the only way to counter these forces was to almost lock my arms but even then not only could i feel the frame and forks twisting but observe the front wheel twisting, i was never brave enough to try and get a glimpse of what was happening with the back wheel or swing arm,

The steering wobble would be described as a tank slapper if it had a tank to slap, he did take it back to the workshop who make and instal the samlors but they only confirmed my thoughts on how these things should be used,

Crawl away at a snails pace and try not to exceed 15kph, braking should be done very gradual but even at these speeds locking the arms is essential to avoid going left into the ditch or right into the oncoming traffic, eventually your lady friend will learn to use the throttle and brakes to turn rather than the handle bars but i,m afraid she,s stuck with the wobble on the bars, even a small pothole in the road can induce this.

Edited July 5, 2015 by tingtongfarang

[MYKTHEMIN]

sounds like the head race bearing are shot and need replacing, should be very cheap here. probably never been greased so completely knackered.

Edited July 5, 2015 by MYKTHEMIN

[Jessi]

Couple of years ago a friend bought a brand new honda wave 125 i and right out of the shop took it to a place which builds and fits the side cars, I guess in a thai way they did the best they could, ie cut a large piece of the plastic away and weld a bracket onto the underbone and a couple of other places also welded brackets on to mount the sidecar, no provision for adjusting the alignment of the samlor wheel,

IMHO this ruined what was a new + good and usable bike,

I have ridden this contraption many times both alone and with passengers and dogs, on accelerating it tries to turn left, on braking it tries to turn right, the only way to counter these forces was to almost lock my arms but even then not only could i feel the frame and forks twisting but observe the front wheel twisting, i was never brave enough to try and get a glimpse of what was happening with the back wheel or swing arm,

The steering wobble would be described as a tank slapper if it had a tank to slap, he did take it back to the workshop who make and instal the samlors but they only confirmed my thoughts on how these things should be used,

Crawl away at a snails pace and try not to exceed 15kph, braking should be done very gradual but even at these speeds locking the arms is essential to avoid going left into the ditch or right into the oncoming traffic, eventually your lady friend will learn to use the throttle and brakes to turn rather than the handle bars but i,m afraid she,s stuck with the wobble on the bars, even a small pothole in the road can induce this.

Thank you very much, some very good advice there.

Cheers.

[Jessi]

sounds like the head race bearing are shot and need replacing, should be very cheap here. probably never been greased so completely knackered.

Thanks for this. This is the kind of info I was looking for.

She bought the bike new about 10 years ago, its done 57,000K so Im sure there are a few bits to be replaced.

Cheers

[Don Mega]

sounds like the 3rd wheel is not true to the bike and is fighting the steering.

[Jessi]

What I find in Thailand and also the same in Cambodia is that the locals dont fix anything on cars or bikes until it breaks or falls off.

Where I come from road safety is a key issue. Not here but.

Like tyre pressure I got the guy at the tyre shop to check the pressure in my car, I had a wheel alignment done, when

I got home I check the pressure he had put between 40 & 50lb in, different pressure in each tyre,I usually I run the car on 30lb,

The adjustment of the pressure on the bike seems to have fixed a lot of problems but I would still like to see her get a good mechanic to check it all out.

Some members have asked about the weight I think its heavy, because she sells Ice Coffee & Tea plus coke, water etc also has a 60 L Ice container on the back. Here is a picture of it.

A big thank you to all the members that have helped.

[DILLIGAD]

I had a brand new Isuzu from a big Isuzu dealers give me my (then) gleaming truck with 50+ in each tyre. When I found out I returned to ask why?

The answer I was given was " saves fuel because wheels run faster, <deleted>!!!!!!!!!!

[Jessi]

I had a brand new Isuzu from a big Isuzu dealers give me my (then) gleaming truck with 50+ in each tyre. When I found out I returned to ask why?

The answer I was given was " saves fuel because wheels run faster, <deleted>!!!!!!!!!!

And these idiots call themselves technicians, mechanic what ever. It just makes the mind boggle at times.

[Don Mega]

I had a brand new Isuzu from a big Isuzu dealers give me my (then) gleaming truck with 50+ in each tyre. When I found out I returned to ask why?

The answer I was given was " saves fuel because wheels run faster, <deleted>!!!!!!!!!!

Actually the more air pressure the less rolling resistance which = better fuel mileage.

http://fandomania.com/tv-review-mythbusters-8-23-minimyth-madness/

Mini-Myth #2: Low tire pressure leads to lower gas mileage (and conversely, higher tire pressure improves gas mileage).

Mythbusters: Kari, Grant, and Tory

Procedure:

1. Lay out a driving course that simulates normal city driving with a series of stops, turns, etc.

2. Bypass the car’s gas tank and fit it with a fuel cell that can be removed and weighed in order to measure precisely the amount of gas used during each test.

3. Make sure tires are inflated to the recommended pressure of 35 psi for the control test.

4. Drive the course and calculate the gas mileage.

5. Repeat step 3 with tires extremely under-inflated (10 psi) and extremely over-inflated (60 psi).

6. Repeat step 3 with tires slightly under-inflated (30 psi — 15% lower than recommended pressure) and slightly over-inflated (40 psi — 15% higher than recommended pressure).

Analyze the results.

Results: With tires at 10 psi, the car used 3.7% more fuel than the control (tires at 35 psi). At 30 psi, the car used 1.2% more fuel than the control. At 40 psi, the car used 6.2% less fuel than the control and it used 7.6% less fuel with tires inflated to 60 psi.

Conclusion: Myth confirmed, although extreme measures are not recommended. Keeping tires inflated to their recommended pressure is definitely a good idea, since the car gets better gas mileage than with under-inflated tires. However, although the car got even better gas mileage when the tires were over-inflated, this is not a good idea for safety reasons and because it causes the tires to wear unevenly.

Edited July 6, 2015 by Don Mega