Hello Rob.On my big 4 that measurement is only 6 1/2 ".I think the measurement you need is the total length overall as the swan neck length determines the ground clearance at the front of the sidecar chassis.Hope this helps.
email (option): smarwick@iprimus.com.au
Thanks for the input everyone, but I think we still need more.
Sven, in order to see if the big4 chassis had more ground clearance than the 16H combo please could you measure the height of the sidecar wheel spindle centre above the chassis.
Sam, that is a very nice original looking big4 you have there.
Rob
email (option): robmiller11(a)yahoo.co.uk
Hi all, am thousands of miles away from my Biggy's, so no measurements from me for a while, sorry
Cheers,
Lex
ps, will be playing with some enfields in the dessert coming weekend though!
email (option): welbike43@gmail.cxx
Here you go Rob;
Regards,
Sven
email (option): snvosselman@gmail.com
Thanks Sven, I just replied to your email.
It looks like your non driven chassis has a measurement of about 12cm from the top of the chassis rail to the centre of the wheel spindle.
My driven big4 chassis appears to be about 7cm.
The difference of aprox 5cm is close to the difference in length on the front sidecar fittings being discussed.
So here is the theory, Norton gave the big4 more ground clearance than a standard outfit and had to shorten the front upper fitting to compensate.
Apologies to the engineers who use this site for the lack of accuracy but its not easy getting at some of these bits.
Rob
email (option): robmiller11(a)yahoo.co.uk
Rob some more for you to think about. I just measured my chassis from the floor to centre of side tubes. N/S in two paces = about 9" O/S (by bike) in two places = about 8 1/2". So a lean of the chair towards the bike of about 1/2". I set my outfit up with the correct amount of 'lean out' as per the book, and this might account for the lean of the chassis. My swan neck appears to be the same as your long one.
Regarding that plate on Sams outfit. It has been fitted with the banana shaped plate that holds the lower support bar, in a forward position and it looks like someone has had to make a plate to receive the other end of the support bar.
Here is mine.Ron
email (option): ronpier@talk21.com
Rob I think I understand what you are saying. But I set mine up as near as possible to the book with the side car wheel slightly forward of the rear wheel on the bike. You can see this in the picture of my chassis, by the angle of the prop shaft. I created the correct amount of lean out. But I only towed the outfit in by about 1" instead of the ridiculous prescribed 2". (Probably correct for an outfit as heavy carrying three blokes with kit and ammo).
My banana plate is original and I just made the support tube to suit. Ron
email (option): ronpier@talk21.com