Kawasaki Drifter 800

Motorvation makes a very nice sidecar. Though I will warn you they are backlogged pretty well right now. I ordered my Formula II in December and it just arrived this week. If you are in a rush might be better to buy used. The sidecar comes with all the mounting hardware, however the mounting instructions are a little sketchy for me though I am only somewhat mechanically inclined. They have tech support available however. Good luck with whatever you choose. Rich

I did the first 800 Drifter/Spyder conversion with help from Motorvation tech support. The Indian fender option worked great to make a Show class retro sidecar outfit. It's worth the wait.

Lonnie
Northwest Sidecar

We have done the Drifter 800 with a couple of different sidecars. The Champion legend which we are a dealer for looks great on these bikes. It looks very much like a 1940's Indain sidecar. On the 800 drifter the rear shock really should be replaced with a stiffer one.
Jay Giese
Dauntless Motors Corporation
www.dauntlessmotors.com
866-638-1793

I have a Motorvation Spyder on a HD Ultra and I've had no problems with it and the factory has been very helpful.
Several notes.
#1 when mounting, to get the proper track you may have to cut the Male slider to get the unit in close to the bike. I cut 5 inches out of mine. DONOT pound the male slider in past the tension cut in the female slider it will bind and you'll play hell getting it out.
#2 The Brooklands shield look cool but it has no practical value.
#3 The fender may need internal bracing. Mine vibraded badly.
I like the rig very much and on a Drifter it might be just the right size.
Good luck
Sam

I'm going to second the nomination of the Champion Legend. It has the look of an old Indian, rides nice, and is fitted to my Vulcan 1500 via a couple added frame members which tie the frame together rather than levering on the right hand tubes. I don't know about the Drifter, but the Vulcan has a sectionalized frame that may be suspect with a car hung off it. I got it used, so I can't tell you if it was factory mounted, but it certainly was someone who knew what they were doing. The mount is wide, and the result is exceedingly stable. I'll be at Americade at the sidecar gathering 3pm Friday if you'd like to see it. No idea how far you are form Lake George. Might be worth a trip anyway. They expect a lot of rigs.
Bill

If you look in the picture archives here, you will see I have a picture posted of a Drifter with a Ural sidecar attached to it. I don't own the rig, myself, but I found the picture on a website in my searching and decided I really like the look. In fact, I liked it so much that I have decided there is just no other combo that I want to get into. I am not looking for the totally copycat Indian look, so the Drifter/Ural combo works well for my particular taste. Adding a Drifter-style fender to the sidecar really makes it look unique.

The legend is nice, but waaaay too expensive for my pocketbook. I have seen one (Drifter/Ural)on Ebay once and I have seen some other sidecars attached in my searches. I spoke to the owner of it briefly, but he did not answer much about the combo at the time. Send me an email at a1930ford1@peoplepc.com and I'll try to foward the site that has some interesting pics of a Drifter and sidecar that you may be interested in. The site is http://www.carnut.com/photo/list/_motom.html. The index will show a replica Indian with sidecar and it will probably be exactly what you envision when you pull up the picture there. However, there is also a Kawasaki 2000 with sidecar listed as well that may also give you additional ideas to ponder. I love the baby blue color of the 2000 model, but the other Drifter looks pretty good as well.
I don't like the blue sidecar pictured, but to each his own in personal taste and desire.

The Drifter Delphi website is great for learning about the Drifter and discussions of tech stuff for the bike, itself. There is also a Yahoo site for Drifters as well, but I don't frequent it, so I can't say how good or bad it is. Both the 1500 and the 800 are nice bikes and have a good track record as to dependability, service and ownership satisfaction. Add a dependable sidecar to it and you should have the best of both worlds.

There are few people who frequent the Drifter sites who have ever thought of adding a sidecar to their bike. When the VDOG website was active (it was great) there was essentially no one there either who had added a sidecar or even considered one on the Drifter. The UK Drifter website is better in that regard. Sidecars are a nitch market to begin with and getting someone knowledgable about them in the Drifter community is going to be a challenge for you. I have been frequenting the Drifter sites for about a year now and have found little to nothing discussed in regards to anyone with a sidecar of any type added to one. With the butt-ugly 2-up seat that Kawasaki has for the Drifter, it would make great sense to add a sidecar to make the looks of the bike even better and to accomodate passengers. The 800 rear fender will not allow for a second passenger on a buddy seat. Kaw used to offer the solo seat as an option and the 2-up was the main seat. Now they have reversed themselves and the 2-up styling does not fit the deco look of the bike at all. A Mustang cover can make the 2-up look better, but whoever was the designer for the Kawasaki Drifter sure had his noggin' in the sand when it came to the looks of the 2-up passenger seat.

Any rate, any sidecar at all can be a good look to the bike. I just like the Ural/Drifter combo myself.
Huey

I have an Indian Chief with a Champion Legend sidecar. Champion did a great job matching the skirted fender and 2 tone paint. They are pretty heavy so I also added sidecar brake tied into rear brake on bike
I get lots of looks everywhere I go and would recomend this look because it matches all the old pictures ..exactly
Steve

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=50020&item=4556722535&rd=1

Check out the add on eBay. Looks like a Liberty Sidecar on a Drifter. Thought it might be of interest. Also, you had contacted me earlier about splitting up my Aero/Spyder combination that I sold. I think that Motorvation quality is top notch and one of the neatest things about the Spyder is the lack of any visible frame. It really gives the bike a clean look.

Pete

That doesn't look like a Liberty. Looks like an old Harley sidecar.

Good Day,
I built a Drifter/Dnepr outfit for a customer that came out pretty good. I made an insert fender skirt for the Dnepr fender to give it lines similar to the Indian style fender on the bike, added some retro lights and a couple of chrome strips and it all worked out. I lowered the sidecar a bit too so it would match the low slung look of the Drifter better.
Regards,
Norm

Hi,
I am a newbie to this sight. I brought a used Velorex model 562 that I want to install on my 800 Kawasaki Drifter. Don’t look as if it is going to be an easy job. I am hoping that some of you folks might point me in the right direction.
I am thinking that it would be easier to weld some tabs and mounts in place on the frame than to use the clamps?
Does any one make a mounting kit that is for the Drifter?
I have a shop and have built many street rods and was an aircraft mechanic for 10 years so I have a little experience in that field. Don’t know anything about a sidecar did ride in one once and did not like that. I was afraid the rider would forget I was out there.
Any help would be appreciated.
Rexdog

Don't weld mounting tabs onto Japanese frame tubes. The tubes are very thin and the alloys used will break at the weld from the stress of the sidecar load. I've seen them last for a while but ultimately you will have a broken (junk) frame.
Fabricate and bolt up a sub-frame if you can, or use the frame clamps and spot weld them on both ends if you are getting slippage. If the clamp mounts are mounted with a direct push-pull instead of at an angle usually the only one that may slip is the two piece sliding clamp for the rear mount. A couple of spot welds on each half and no more movement. Some drill and pin or bolt this but it weakens the sidecar frame tube. On the Drifter I use the right side buddy peg mount position for the rear sidecar mount.

Thanks man: I spoke with Bob at Warkshop in ohio. I'm going to take it up to him and have him install the huck.
I'm too old to learn new tricks and old enought to know better.
I keep you up to date on the progress.
Thanks again
Rexdog