Poor man's headsteady upgrade

I believe those rubber headsteadies are the weakest link in a Command's handling. The headsteady is only supposed to permit vertical movement. But those rubber things allow horizontal movement as well. This translates to camber and alignment changes in the rear wheel under load.

I think the aftermarket headsteady replacements with spherical rod ends are excellent, but I made a simpler version that just slides.

I replaced the rubber discs with 1 1/2" pucks of UHMWP (ultra high molecular weight polyethylene or Delrin). You can cut your own with a hole saw, but some companies sell pucks. A bolt holds them into the same holes the factory headsteadies occupy on the frame.

A couple of 1/2" thick aluminum "ears" are bolted to the head, sticking up vertically and bearing on the pucks, one on each side. This allows the engine/swingarm/subframe freedom to vibrate in a vertical plane , but prevents any horizontal movement.

There is zero horizontal slop, and I didn't notice any increase in vibration after installation.

They can be made with hand tools, but a drill press and bandsaw make it easier.

Sorry I haven't posted photos, but I can't figger out how to do it on this site. Happy to send photos on request.

Manxman

Great penny mod.

Photo info here technical-information-how-post-photos-t2357.html

Very interested in this mod. Anxiously awaiting the pics.

concours said:

Great penny mod.

Photo info here technical-information-how-post-photos-t2357.html

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Sorry, I just can't figure out the process. I have the photos uploaded to PhotoBucket, but stumped after that. PM me with email and I'll send them to you

Manxman.

Think I got it:


These are the bits'pieces


Pucks installed. You can see the bolt ends that will accept the aluminum "ear" which will bear on the puck.


Installed. The "ears" are seen edge-on and the pucks are barely visible between the ears and the frame.

gorgeous bike. I have the same bikini fairing on my bike with similar handlebars, only my bike's color is black and so is my fairing and my front fender.

As far as your headsteady goes, you should weld some gussets across both ears of your flange so they don't flex under lateral force. designs similar to yours have been done before and the gussets really help them remain rigid latterally... just something to think about...

o0norton0o said:

gorgeous bike. I have the same bikini fairing on my bike with similar handlebars, only my bike's color is black and so is my fairing and my front fender.

As far as your headsteady goes, you should weld some gussets across both ears of your flange so they don't flex under lateral force. designs similar to yours have been done before and the gussets really help them remain rigid latterally... just something to think about...

Click to expand...

When the paint guy asked me what kind of red I wanted (?Fire Engine? Chinese?) I said "Red as a Hooker's blush". He replied, "I know that one... very popular."

Good point about gusseting. A bolt-and-spacer running side-to-side through both ears, just under the pucks, would do the job as well.

Manxman

ludwig posted a similar setup years ago. You can make your own rod end head steady for about $30. I'm not sure if I have that much into mine. I prefer a solid connection to an interference fit.

love the innovations pleasing results so just noting the worn in headsteady swash plates late Gerry Bristow sent me showed the motion there was more fro/aft arc than more vetical arc as the front d/t pivoting front bounce at rear mount. Most surprising dangerous condition I have experienced similar to front tire blow out was leaving headsteady off one day and doing just fine till forgot about it and happened to ease a mild S turn and let tires cross the double yellow about 60 mph hardly needing to lean for all hell to break loose and had to enter far lane to let it settle down to take turn load back into proper lane. Those who want to grock deeper into scope of Cdo sense of handling quirks avoidance or *mastery* should try a cautious ride w/o a steady to really appreciate its anti-rodeo function > whoowheedoggiedoo.

hobot said:

love the innovations pleasing results so just noting the worn in headsteady swash plates late Gerry Bristow sent me showed the motion there was more fro/aft arc than more vetical arc as the front d/t pivoting front bounce at rear mount. Most surprising dangerous condition I have experienced similar to front tire blow out was leaving headsteady off one day and doing just fine till forgot about it and happened to ease a mild S turn and let tires cross the double yellow about 60 mph hardly needing to lean for all hell to break loose and had to enter far lane to let it settle down to take turn load back into proper lane. Those who want to grock deeper into scope of Cdo sense of handling quirks avoidance or *mastery* should try a cautious ride w/o a steady to really appreciate its anti-rodeo function > whoowheedoggiedoo.

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Very interesting, Hobot.
Side-to-side movement at the head produces under/over steer but also camber changes at the rear wheel. These can cancel or add to each other depending on the direction of the displacement. And if the head is wobbling side-to-side... Very scary. Good thing you lived to tell the tale.

Manxman

Ugh having the buckeroo hit is bad enough on other cycles too and can catch em up settled right away but dang Commandos get distinctly worse for a honorific spell after let up-ease up- straighten up - oscillations spikes higher a few terrible cycles more before sensing it might end up ok - this time. I bench grinder waist factory Trixie rubbers for the sooner better isolation but well know I have given up some safety factor so try not to get too rushed in sweepers on a stocker clunker. Again slow unknown leaks at either end is all it took me to wish you had practiced that on you own terms once its surprise tube blow out hits soon after. If ya know what happening then not that hard to control but its kind of opposite reflexes for wind gusts or road texture tossing, whooweedoggiedoo. If I had low aired tires as sometimes do to cross mud sections & w/o the headsteady I would not of been able to stay on road, so just lucky again.

What's to keep the ears from bending and causing the head steady to be loose?

My Dave Taylor Head Steady uses like late model steady's a spring that helps to take some of the weight off the isolastic rubbers.
As described your solution doesn't sound to provide any of this vertical force.
I'm just wondering how this will affect the life of the rubbers.

good idea. it is also a good idea to reinforce the ears to keep the vertical. My 850 original mounting had splayed out quite a bit.
Steve. I know what its like to run without a head steady. About 40 years ago, I was riding on the big sweeper past the Rangiriri pub and the bike handling suddenly went to shit. It wasn't till I got to Auckland that I found the problem. Went to a mates place and he took me round to a bloke he knew that had a welder and put that original head bracket back into one pc.,
Dereck
ps still waiting for it to break again.

Hi manxman.
Great addition to the current options although it seems to still be a work in progress - keep going! I second those opinions that the ears need strength and M3 spring loading will help alignment. When you say "...replaced the rubber discs with 1 1/2" pucks of UHMWP (ultra high molecular weight polyethylene or Delrin)...", do you realise that these are not the same (Delrin is acetal)? What was the rationale for choosing either over other polymers e.g. friction, thermal expansion, hygroscopicity, chemical resistance, etc?
Ta.

"What was the rationale for choosing either over other polymers e.g. friction, thermal expansion, hygroscopicity, chemical resistance, etc?"

No science. I had some in the scraps bin.

Manxman

swooshdave said:

What's to keep the ears from bending and causing the head steady to be loose?

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The ears are 1/2" aluminum plate. I think they are much stiffer than the original stamped steel ears. I would worry more about the steel bits fatiguing.

The Commando isn't my daily ride so it doesn't clock up big miles. I can't testify to durability. Each time I take the tank off I try slide a feeler gauge betwixt ear and puck. If I ever see any clearance, I'll shim the puck. The headsteady was machined to an interference fit.

Manxman

rx7171 said:

My Dave Taylor Head Steady uses like late model steady's a spring that helps to take some of the weight off the isolastic rubbers.
As described your solution doesn't sound to provide any of this vertical force.
I'm just wondering how this will affect the life of the rubbers.

Click to expand...

Good point. Isolastics are such a bitch to fit, I wouldn't want to wear them out.

I had not seen the design you mentioned when I designed mine, and didn't consider a spring necessary. You don't have to deform the stock head steady rubbers to install them, so they are taking almost no resting load.

I don't think there is a lot of static vertical load going through the isolastic system (until you sit on the bike, anyway). The majority of the bike's weight is in the rear subframe already. And the majority of the front subframe's weight is the front forks, etc, which is sitting on the contact patch of the front tire. How much goes through the Isolastics? According to my pencil pushing, it averages about 125lb for each Isolastic. But because of the geometry of the frame, static load is almost horizontal in the headsteady and oblique on the other 2. If a spring is needed to take static load in the headsteady, it would be close to horizontal.

I know this sounds counterintuitive. Isn't the engine "hanging from the frame"? Check out fig F-3 in the factory manual. With the bike stationary, it's weight acts through the center of gravity (roughly below the carb bowls) against the tire contact patches, producing a counter-clockwise torque on the rear subframe and a clockwise torque on the front subframe (as viewed from the left side as in the diagram). The force vectors on the headsteady are 20' from the horizontal (down to the front, up to the rear), and similarly oblique for the others.

Of course, if you ride like Hobot, the vectors could be pointed anywhere. :wink: Speaking of Hobot, he said he saw a similar headsteady design and the wear marks indicated most motion was for-and-aft, not vertical (apology in advance if I've misquoted). Motion from primary mode vibration should be in line with the cylinders. Motion from suspension loading/unloading should be along that 20' axis.The wear marks on mine are sort of circular.


Manxman

Manxman you stretching my mind on the area motions which kind of hurts my brain good. Top of head motion I saw on swash witness marks was a mostly horizontal arc angled lower in front as you predict, at <1/8 inch long. The main thing we are trying to tame is not so much the range of motion of all the tubes and joins but its spring back oscillations beyond neutral rather than just quickly relaxing to neutral to essentially stop till a new force applied and let go off. There are two factors that lift front of engine, one the pistons decent but two is the accelerating torque of crankshaft on throttle opening. Engine motion alone trace an arc pivoting on rear iso but when tire thrust on road added the isolastics move in concert both compressing rebounding in line fro and aft on top the pure engine jumps. I am foggy on what rear shock compression does at front iso.


Manual say factory CoG is 19.5 inches off ground. When I have tossed or been tossed by Peel we pivot as a pair about belt or navel level CoG. IF both tires broke free we pivot about front of oil tank area and if lucky do not go down rear tire leading.

Peel has Watts like counter oriented radius rods many inches away form the isos so resists motion out of vertical and did not need head steady so when installed 2004 only took the wind blast jiggles sense of fork out of her uncanny smoothness so did not have much sense of how vital in untamed Cdo until 15 miles from home not a care in the world just a slight lean across double yellows on my daily commun slowing down entry into village square was fighting not to leave teeth in telephone pole or put head through butt into the drainage ditch. I did not recognize how much the forks jiggle add to the sense of a cycle under you as feels like just road texture till gone. Do not know if only a rod link head steady removes this in un-tamed Cdos but mention it as its like wiping off smudged from a polished finish thats already very nice.

Btw Gerry Bristow is the only other Cdo flyer I know of, ie: in Italy he had a cresting turn he could lift off sideways to land well and carry on his 850 but removed his swash plates d/t transmuting vibes and gave parts away after success with the top rod not vibing. This implies to me our terms for sense of isolation is all over the place w/o some objective measure device. I can always feel Trixie but more the wind jiggles than engine which is so smooth i do not want to get off after 9-10 hr cross state cruise but Peel flat dissaeared to point of trace merging after just a few minutes. That is the state I want to spend a lot of life time in soon as I can again and triple links is what has sent me loopy.

o0norton0o said:

gorgeous bike. I have the same bikini fairing on my bike with similar handlebars, only my bike's color is black and so is my fairing and my front fender.

As far as your headsteady goes, you should weld some gussets across both ears of your flange so they don't flex under lateral force. designs similar to yours have been done before and the gussets really help them remain rigid latterally... just something to think about...

Click to expand...

Where did you get the beautiful fairing? Would love have something like that on mine.