flashback wrote:
Not that I plan doing it anytime soon, but am trying to understand the effects of it.. I will use Doc and Gram as examples as they are the only 2 folks here that I know of that has done it..
I believe Doc achieved his by changing the clamps only, which as I understand it would shorten the trail..where as Gram on the other hand, did all his ateration in the neck, which I believe lengthens the trail.. they both achieved the same look for the most part.. and Doc's method would seem to be much more doable for the average guy..I guess my question is how do the two bikes differ in their handling characteristics?
Well
is Doc close by????
I DO have two degrees more rake than he does, so my little sled looks a hell of a lot better
The best way to think of trail and how it will effect you is to think of the caster wheels on furniture.
The farther away the wheel is from dead center below the trail point, the more it will want to follow the direction the bike is pointed in (once you have any appreciable speed). So the more trail you have the more it will "lock in" on direction. But this also causes a heaviness in the controls, so less responsive. At slow speeds its a lot to hang onto (like parking lots - no speed to cause the "lock in" effect) so requires more attention and diligence. At high speeds less problems with things like groove-grab on the freeway and actually a nice ride.
The closer you get to your trail point, the more responsive the control gets, but you don't to go too far as you need some trail to avoid problems like runaway high speed steering wobble and oversteering at high speeds.
Raking in the trees decreases trail, in the neck increases trail.
Best is to do both, and balance the trail back out. But I am happy with mine and I am sure Doc is with his too.
BTW... If your going to cut and rake the neck make sure you have someone who really knows what their doing. There are critical alignment issues and you clearly want a VERY good welding job
GRAM
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