Hey guys, I've been lurking here for awhile, and I finally bought a chair today. It came as a package deal, mounted on a 2001 Suzuki LC1500 with 14,000 miles.
I looked all over the car and can't find a manufacturer's stamp anywhere, any idea who made this thing? Its all fiberglass.
Condition is pretty good, no cracks in the body. The windshield is cracked, someone spray painted it black and there's a bottle opener on the side of it, but it doesn't seem bad. The bike needs some maintenance, oil change, plugs and some cosmetic repair, but it runs great. I'm thinking I'll airbrush it this winter. I gave $2k for the whole mess and I'm happy as can be about it.
Thank you guys for all the great information on this site. Without it, I'd probably have killed myself in the first 30 feet of riding.
I'd say early California Companion from the size of the frame tubes.
The struts also look like CSC parts.
Spirit Eagle used the same body but had a smaller tubed frame and lighter struts. Many of those also had chrome plated frames.
Lonnie
Wow! For $2k you done real good! Congratulations!
wow, that's a good score.
what a great early Christmas present! Now make sure you practice and apply all the wisdom you have learned from the site.
Amazing score. That is a sweet rig. Enjoy!
graeat buy i love the car
To me it looks like an early California sidecar, The frame tube will be 1 3/4 inch and it does not have a shock under it. If this is the case then it also has a torrsion bar suspention that pivots on a bronze bushing, This bushing is only good for about 10,000 miles before it develops enough wear that it is hard to hold an alignment and you will have a tendance to have a front end shake. These bushings can be purchased from any good bearing shop, We sell them for $24.95 You will also want to make sure that none of the flat springs in the suspention have cracked as depending on it it has a saftey bar welded over the end of the square hole that the springs sit in they can come out allowing the suspention to fail. Also check the wheel, Both ends of the base of the cast spokes in these wheels are known to crack and fail. You may have the early mounting system as well with this sidecar. If the lower mounts have "tulip" cups that fit over 5/8 inch balls and are tightend with a 5/16 inch bolt (1/2 inch wrench) then they are the early mounts that tend to fail. Your upper frame clamp I can not tell in the photo if it is an early or late one. Late ones have 2 1/4 inch bolts keeping them from coming apart. Early ones do not and as such, tend to fail. My wifes second sidecar was one of these that we mounted on a 1972 Moto Guzzi, it worked ok but did require lots of ballist as it is way to light. Most of these we see have way to much wheel lead as the fender is moulded into the body, where it looks right on the bike the wheel is not where it should be for best handling. Califirnia can not help you with parts for this, You can get a windsheild for it from www.bikescreen.com
Jay G
DMC sidecars
www.dmcsidecars.com
866-638-1793
Thanks guys, its good to know I didn't get taken on this one, I was a little unsure of the car. I knew going in that the bike was probably worth the 2k by itself, but had no clue as to the chair.
That's great information Jay, thank you. I'll be digging into it as soon as the snow starts flying, but for right now, it feels pretty tight and there are no visible cracks in anything. I replaced a few of the cheap mounting bolts that were in it with some better hardened bolts and adjusted the alignment. I figure I'll just enjoy the hell out of it for these last few weeks of summer and start the restoration process when it gets too cold to ride. As soon as I get started on it, I'm sure we'll be in touch about a bushing.
