Thinking Behind Sliding Carriage

I wondered the same
Usually something sliding about causes instability

 

It slides slowly and not beyond the balance point ! A rigid top box keeps trying to fall into the natural balance point , hang off the side of your bike at speed and shuffle/shift your body parts (knees , arms , head ) you'll feel a sweet spot ! This is where side shifting panniers and top box will have settled ! As there isn't any force's pushing them beyond there !

 

I have the sliding top box on my Deauville doesn't make any difference that I can tell only slides on a very small margin

 

Rational behind the "sliding" feature is for reducing energy transferred to the rear of the bike during gusty winds with the top box installed

 

Thinking about it....
There should be no sideways movement at all because it’s a bike and not a car. The forces of the bike go from the rider DOWN into the bike then onto the centre of the tyres whilst cornering.
If it was a car the forces would go either left or right subject to opposing direction, so in theory if you had a water container on the back with a red line round the height of the level The water would stay to the line at all times.

 

This is from a trimuph 1200 web sight

 

Well call me a cynic but the rider is a darn sight bigger than the top box......fairings also catch lateral wind noticeably when overtaking trucks in wild weather.
There are various forces at work but for loose box contents Google ‘free surface moment’. It capsizes ships and particularly ro-ro ferries because they lack compartmentalisation on the main deck once water gets in. The phrase ‘loose cannon’ derives from the same problem of a couple of tons of cast iron punching holes in the side!
I return to the marketing idea that perception trumps reality and thereby justifies the price. But maybe it works!

 

The only time I notice the sliding rack on my Tiger is when flicking quickly from side to side, you can feel the rack/top box 'catch up' as you lean over, a bit disoncerting at first but I'm used to it now.
Personally think it's a solution for a problem that doesn't really exist....

 

If the C of G of any two wheeler wasn’t constantly weaving L to R you’d fall off or be going in circles.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle_and_motorcycle_dynamics

 

Think of it as a shock absorber. Your steering inputs and unconscious body shifts have far greater impact on your direction of travel. If you really think about it ‘stability’ comes from balance rather than ‘stabilisers’ - even when you were three!

 

I've always thought that the sliding carriage was designed to allow a top box to oscillate at high speeds. I've done plenty of high speed miles with one and the bike has always been rock solid. Never glanced behing though to see what the top box was doing.

 

I agree, seems like a solution in search of a problem

 

I am a fairly experienced adventure-bike rider and I own one of the first Explorers that landed in South Africa.

The floating topbox bracket is nothing but a massive pain in the behind. It rattles on a paved road. Imagine what it does on a dirt road. And I ride dirt as often as I can - long distances and fairly high speeds.

After having owned two 1050 Tigers, the first thing I did after running in the Explorer, was to tie the sliding bracket down so it won't rattle. And every now and then I have to replace rubber spacers as they wear out.

I have experienced the dreaded weave in cross winds (at illegal speeds) and the moving topbox wouldn't have made a difference - just like the moving panniers didn't make a difference.

Maybe the system works on a sleeker bike like a Sprint, but on the Explorer it is just weird and irritating. The panniers don't bother me, but the rattling topbox assembly does.

 

All I know is a sliding carriage for my 800 Tiger cost $290AU, which made the bargain top box for $300AU on eBay a bit less of a bargain.
I firmly believe in bolting things on because wobbly bits fall off so I regard the sliding top box and moving panniers as an odd gimmick. Do they still do them on the 900?