Hello everyone, first time on here for me, registered yesterday now on line, since my girl friend of 7 years isn't able to ride on the back of my C50 any more I decided to build a sidecar, I'm still a working stiff and the main bread winner so money is tight as usual, anyway I have built the frame of 1x1x11 gauge square tubing, and the body of 16 gauge steel, the wheel and tire assy is off of a C50 for 120 bucks,(EBAY)someone is building a lot of trikes out of them,lots of rear assy availible, brakes and all, been two week-ends building the frame and body, this week-end I'll be mounting the wheel assy and aligning it,(I hope)have been reading a lot of info on here about alignment, toe-in, and lean out of the bike itself, will be trial and error I'm sure, hope to build it for around 750 bucks total when complete, will be getting back to you all as things progress, daveg, davenport, fl.
Dave, it seems like your going thru a lot of extra trouble when you can buy a good used SC for about $700-1000. bolt right on and go!
I guess that's a problem around here, can't find one around here that's decent for less than a couple grand or so, and it looks like the cost will be around $500 when done, besides it will be something I designed and built myself and a Christmas present to my girl friend, not to mention no one else has one like it, besides I'm still working on the ejection seat in case someone gives my a hard time about my driving (as usual), catch you all later, daveg
Dave wrote:
..........it will be something I designed and built myself and a Christmas present to my girl friend, not to mention no one else has one like it.....
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Dave,
All of THAT has a lot of merit to it and I can relate to it totally. Logic isn't a factor when we have that mindset and there is nothing wrong with it.
I would keep an eye on that 1x1 frame thoiugh as it is kinds light. You can esily brace it with some small solid bar if done properly or better yet plate the top with some 1/8 or possibly lighter sheet steel. Weight is not a bad thing as far as sidecars go.
Keep in mind that all the shock from the road is absorbed through the suspension of the sidecar but much does get transfered through the sidecar frame to the bike. Even the body itself, if done right (assuming it is metal), can add to the structure. Just food for thought... I don;'t mean to criticuze your design at all.
Never forget that You have a precious cargo there .
Can you post some pics we would love to see them.
Happiness is home made 🙂
Nuts!
1*1" tubing comes out like the vespa in the foto....
A friend took 2 years until he had "his" personal design optimized and a decent handling.
The design is the secret. its not done with a few wellding hours.
Safety first!
Sven
new try
What's a C50?
A C50 is a late model Suzuki Boulevard Cruiser bike in the 800cc range.
Lonnie
It seems to me that 1" square stock is pretty light for that size bike.
A time honored rule of thumb that I just made up: if you propped up the sidecar chassis by the mounts and the sidecar wheel, could you drive the bike over it,and maybe hop up and down a couple of times while you were up there, without bending the chassis or mounts?
You probably could with a Ural or a Champion frame. Could you with one inch square tube? The stresses of cornering or driving over uneven pavement are at least that, if not more...
Keep looking, you should be able to find a Dnepr or Ural or Velorex chassis for about what you think you can build it yourself for. There will still be plenty of engineering and tinkering required, but you will be ahead of the game with a solid chassis, sidecar suspension and mounts on an existing hack.
Originally written by Peter Pan on 12/12/2007 4:42 AM
Nuts!
1*1" tubing comes out like the vespa in the foto....
A friend took 2 years until he had "his" personal design optimized and a decent handling.
The design is the secret. its not done with a few wellding hours.
Safety first!
Sven
In Thailand, you see lots of light weight sidecars attached to 100~125cc bike.
They use steel (?) plumbing pipes and swing arm / shock / tire taken from junk motorcycle.
But over there, cost is the first, safety the last.
Here are some pics from Thailand.
Vernon wrote:
>>It seems to me that 1" square stock is pretty light
for that size bike.<<<<<<<
I alluded to that in my earlier post. Yes, 1x1 is too light unless it is braced very well. i see no advantage to using something that light AT ALL. 1 3/4 square stock is fine and is used on a reuglar bases. Actually I much prefer round stock even though it is a little harder to work with in many ways.
Be aware it is not only the size of the material that is a issue it is also how much actualy strength will you have in the structure to suppost the sidecar wheel, suspension and so on. Also the mounts themselves. 1x1 has so little surface area to weld to or whatever that anything connected to it will be questionable at best.
I can visulize the construction of what we used to call a 'space frame' with the smaller material. That basically means a frame over a frame so to speak spaced apart with short uprights. This makes a stong structure but it is more work and not worth the hassle when one could go to some larger material and be done with it.
I apologise for not getting into more detail earlier. There are ways to brace smalled material and have iot work for you quite well but when all is said and done the work innvloved isn't really practical. Again, weigt is not going to be your enemy with a sidecar up to a point.
To the poster: We are not trying to be critical in a negative way here. We would be doing you a diservice if we beat around the bush and did not say much. Hope that makes sense. Sidecar do have a ton of stress put through their chassis , their mounts and the suspension. We have seen failuers over the years ataht were surprizing in some cases and not in others. The old adage of 'build it stout out of things you know about to take away doubt' is a real good thing to adhere to.
Originally written by daveg on 12/10/2007 12:22 AM
Hello everyone, first time on here for me, registered yesterday now on line, since my girl friend of 7 years isn't able to ride on the back of my C50 any more I decided to build a sidecar, I'm still a working stiff and the main bread winner so money is tight as usual, anyway I have built the frame of 1x1x11 gauge square tubing, and the body of 16 gauge steel, the wheel and tire assy is off of a C50 for 120 bucks,(EBAY)someone is building a lot of trikes out of them,lots of rear assy availible, brakes and all, been two week-ends building the frame and body, this week-end I'll be mounting the wheel assy and aligning it,(I hope)have been reading a lot of info on here about alignment, toe-in, and lean out of the bike itself, will be trial and error I'm sure, hope to build it for around 750 bucks total when complete, will be getting back to you all as things progress, daveg, davenport, fl.
I wonder if you could post some photos or links to show us what you have so far? I am very curious to see what you have come up with. Some of the coolest hacks are home builts and everyone seems to come at it just a little differently..
Thanks for all the input guys, I have pretty much finished my sidecar, as I used 11 gauge or heavy walled 1" square tubing as I built it I jumped, bounced, twisted, pushed and pulled every thing as I built, I also added a cross brace as you will see in the later pics, I ran it down the road as soon as it was roadable, as you can see there is no suspension, I was worried at first, but it was amazing how well it handles, being in Florida the roads are nothing like up north, I ran it up to 55 the first time out, then up to 65 the next time, ofcourse with my passenger in the car I will NOT be going over 55 at any time. Now I have to figure out how to post the pics I have of it as I built it, so I will end this for now and try to post the pics, thanx again, Daveg
