I had the car painted black over the gelcoat. A number of reasons for this.
If I wouldn't have liked the gelcoat, it would have been harder to paint it after all the hardware was installed and the car attached to the bike.. I was concerned about the vertical seam on the two halfs of the fibreglass body not being finished.
Since the bike is pinstriped, I would've had to either pinstripe the gel coat or painting over it later and pinstriping again. Even though it was expensive, the paint matched the Valk and was top rated in finish and durability. It was worth it to me to have Motorvation paint it!
Beagleman wrote:
>>The lower rear will be a challange. The exhaust runs right in front of the frame and the frame tube - engine clearance is very small. One thought I had last night was using the center stand mount. Do people do that? The centerstand could be removed since it should not be needed (or do people still use the centerstand on sidecar rigs for maintenance?). The mounts for it seem quite stout.<<
I would recomend building a subframe for various resons. First off you can make it so the mounts are placed in such a way as to make sidecar adjustments easier and more straight forward. Secondly you will be adding strength to everything and not have any second thoughts about structural issues down the line.
We do a lot of subframes and, yes, we do use the centerstand mounts many times. All points, in my way of doing a subframe, are usually tied together to make it all one piece.
You can run a tube from front to rear to attach the lower mounts to and have them the same height off the ground and the same distance from the center of the bike. This allows lean out to be adjusted with little to no change in toe in. Translation is less hassle when adjusting the rig.
Try and tie the subframe into as many points as possible. We manufactire a frame clamp similar to mary's and these are very strong. The clampos can be used to hold th esubframe in places insted of being used directly for th emounts. This is very handy and makes for a strong assembly.
Can you go with no subframe? More than likely yeas and many sidecars are mounted that way and do very well. I just liek a rig to provide me with peace of mind and be as easy to adjust as possibel when done.
Food for thought 🙂
I saw some pictures of a Velorex on a W recently. I can't remember where / who they came from... Anyway- it didn't look like the kick-start would be available anymore.
I still use my center stand to change my oil and get the bike up a little more when taking the rear wheel off.
Seems like you could drill through the muffler and use it as the anchor for the rear bottom strut. With a big tube running through the muffler, that will increase back pressure and give you more horsepower.
You might be able to tell by tapping, but I would have it X-rayed first so you'll know the exact placement of the muffler bearings. Wouldn't want to nick them with a drill.
Shoot. I'm geting excited. I think I'll do this on my W anyway!
uncle ernie, if you use high quality mufflers they have top of the line bearings. you wont nick the bearing, they will dull the drill bit. claude has been using this system to mount swaybars for years.
fly...who wishes it wasn't snowing and was 20 degrees warmer
If you replace the stock muffler bearing (bushing) with a Yugo wheel bearing (which has the same outer race diameter) you can slip in a Yugo spindle and notch the end for the eye bolt connection. This is easier than finding the right size lefthand threaded nut.
These parts are easily found at your local Yugo or Tucker dealer.
F 16 and sunny here. When it reaches a balmy F 20 me Mum and I are going for our 48th annual New Years day ride. (She made me put a windshield on the Hack for this event, Claimed this one was too short (the Wuss).
A great New Year to all! (I hope your president wins).
Lonnie
Northwest Sidecars
Lonnie, nice pic but it doesn't show the yugo spindle mount. enjoy your ride...........fly
These "shop guys" roll this stuff off like everybody knows what they're talkimg about. Besides, our Tucker dealer disappeared months ago.
Originally written by Beagleman on 12/18/2007 6:42 PM
Okay, this seems crazy to me, but I might just do it anyway.
We are not talking about an arranged wedding here, but I am just about to fork over some $4,000+ for a new 'basic black' Motorvation Spyder to attach to my 2001 Kawasaki W650 and I have never even seen one of these in person.
If anyone in the sidecar congragation has a reason these two should not wed, speak now or forever hold you peace.
I'd appreciate in input, positive or negative, concerning company service(Motorvation) or the quality of the car (Spyder).
I need to commit before the end of the year when their prices go up .... I'll probably pull the trigger (or not) on Friday. Merry Christmas to me!
Beagleman
Thanks.
Just goes to show you I don't visit very often. I'm pretty busy getting my motorcycle accessories business on line, no, not sidecar stuff, that's just too much of a niche market. Anyway...
I have a Spyder coupled to an '03 Triumph 790 Bonnie. No sub frame, yoke mounts and it's just fine. The Bonnie don't have much space between the engine/tank and lower down tube either but everything goes together just fine. I did wind up machining and fabricating my own brake mounts and everybody is right. If you want real wind p-protection, go with the full windscreen, not the Brooklands. I went with the Brooklands but I bought it from a supplier friend later. I want a period look as my bike is for show, not go. I have my big R3 for going. If your stature mis over 5'5" and your weight is more than a twig, you are going to have trouble getting in and out. Mary offers side steps. I opted out of them. It's easier to drop the passengers footrest for entry and egress. I didn't like Motivations fender options either. I wanted a Brit looking outfit not a Brit looking outfit with a faux potato bike fender so I took their fender and glassed the tail light recess in and then had it painted. I topped the fender with a period tail light. I also opted out of the PM disk brake and custom mounted a Brembo 4 piston caliper with a vented stainless disk, way more stopping power with just a touch on the brake pedal. All the zinc plated hardware was replaced with 18-8 stainless socket head caps, the oriental bearings went in the trash and were replaced with SKF. Finally, I machined the suspension swingarm for a grease fitting. I've think I've had mine 4 years. If you wan to see some pictures of it, go to http//:www.r3Owners.com and click on photo albums, Sidecar Flip.
Finally, being a performance guy, I was a little worried about not having enough ooomph, so I did breathe a bit on the engine with smooth bore CR's, port and polish, high lift cams and custom ceramic coated exhaust headers and (oh my God) straight pea shooter mufflers. Like the Hardley crowd, earplugs are a must have.
