Sidecar (and motorcycle) Finally Delivered Today!

that will look great,..I'm sizeing up for a new toy hauler this season, and my 800/CF1 rig measures 72 inches wide through the door, they can take up some serious garage space,...good luck, crawf.

Wow geekie, that's is shaping up to be quite a rig -- and a wide one. My wife really likes the extra white stripe on the fender. Please post more pics as it all comes together.

B E A U T I F U L ! ! ! ! !

That is gorgeous!
You must bring that up to Hood River to show off!

Beutiful. I like the paint choice with the stripe on the fender.

Originally written by RedMenace on 2/28/2009 1:58 PM

That is gorgeous!
You must bring that up to Hood River to show off!

Hint: Don't follow redmenace if he takes ashort cut off road 🙂

That is gonna be one great looking ride! I like the stripe over the tire myself but either would look nice.

Thanks guys for the comments! I got the hack mostly installed today. Spent about 12 hours working on the darn thing.

Here are some pics and commentary.

Lots of little problems. Maybe some medium problems, nothing catastrophic though. I actually took it out for about 15 miles. Gave my wife a ride, then gave the kids rides around the block. That was my first time driving a sidecar. Not really sure what to say. It's not easy to drive. Going straight at a constant speed is fine. Everything else is a lot of work. Clutching from a stop takes some finesse. Braking makes the rig go left. Acceleration yanks you to the right. I was warned about both of these, but its very pronounced and takes some work to compensate. The sidecar brake should help a lot once it is hooked up, at least with the yanking left issue.

Turning takes mega effort. This is a big bike, and a big sidecar, and then throw in a person plus me as the driver and we're a 1600+ mass of inertia that lacks symmetry and has no power assist for turning. But I'm not sure if it is supposed to be this difficult! I have to pull REALLY HARD. After the minimal 15 miles total, my shoulders are quite literally sore. I'm not exactly a wuss, and I'm not a bean pole either. But those handlebars took some serious wrangling.

I really hope that I get used to that, because it makes it no so much fun. For about $1000.00 I can get the EZ steering kit, but it is permanent and the motorcycle cannot be driven on two wheels with the mod. So I'm not going to do that.

Ok, enough rambling. Here are the pics.

Here's the seat. Easy two seater, perhaps three small kiddies.

Here are the bike mount points and struts that go b/t the mount points on the bike and the mount points on the sidecar. The instructions are in the upper RH corner. Just pictures. NO WORDS whatsoever. That made it interesting. I had to drill some holes and take some stuff apart, but figuring that out was a process of elimination, swearing, and asking myself, this part must go somewhere ... if I was designing the mount, what would I have done. Ugh ... just a few words could have saved TONS of time.

Ok, here's a front view of the car actually installed. And yes, I did use the hammer (more than once) and yes, I did use the drill ... many times. The "sippie" cup is not mine.

Here are the front struts. They BARELY fit around the supercharger, and I had to get creative with the installation of the lower mount point. You cannot see it in this pic, but there is a vertical reinforcing brace coming off of the lower mount. It shoots up right behind the turbine into an empty bolt hole on the engine block. The turbine was about 1/2" above the bolt hole and I had a 5 inch bolt that I had to put down through the hole to mount the reinforcing brace. Hmmmm ... no way I was taking off the turbine. So I got a threaded shaft, with no head, screwed it into the reinforcing brace, poked the other end UP through the bolt hole, then used a neoprene nut, a locknut, locktite, a small wrench for the tight space, and LOTS of patience, and I got the sucker mounted! Ugh.

So this lower front reinforcing lateral brace is taking up the mount point holes for my bellypan/chin spoiler. I'm sitting here installing this brace and just thinking to myself ... that belly pan is NEVER going to fit again. Crap.

The air-filter does not fit. I had to squish it. It looks fine from a standing position, but I may see if I can source a narrower cone.

The RH Passeng

That looks great. I, too, am new to the sidecar world. I have a much smaller outfit -- a Honda Nighthawk and a Velorex sidecar that I purchased already hooked up together at the first of November. As soon as I got it home, I decided to take it for a spin around our circle driveway. I figured I'd take it for a few easy laps first and then go get my helmet to take it for a ride in the neighborhood. I figured -- how hard could it be?!!! So I hopped on the rig, rode for about 20 yards around the driveway, was white-knuckled the whole way and scared half to death. I stopped, ran in the house, and put on every bit of protective gear I own 🙂 -- then rode it around the circle driveway for a couple laps and was worn out within 15 minutes. But I persevered. I put about 200 miles on it, and I started getting a little more confidence. But it still seemed very hard compared to riding a motorcycle and required a lot of effort. So I took it to a professional and had the alignment checked out; it was a little off but nothing major. Had it realigned and sturdied up. That did make it a little easier to drive, but I have since put about 500 miles on it. Now it seems tremendously easier. My shoulders don't get as sore. It was suggested I might get wider handlebars, but now I don't think I need them. It doesn't seem to require as much effort to drive. So my suggestion, from one beginner to another, is take lots of short, frequent trips. And see if you can find an accomplished sidecarist in the area to take it for a spin and check out the handling to see if it is handling well,

That's GREAT input. I really appreciate your comments considering that you just went through what I'm going through now.

I've put only a grand total of 15 miles on any sidecar, and have a whopping 30 minutes of experience at most. So I'm in complete agreement. I think what I need more than anything is good 'ol seat time.

I still remember the first time I road a motorcycle nearly 20 years ago. It scared me half to death and it was extremely difficult to turn ... especially left !

I'll also look for somebody knowledgeable to test the rig out, and see what they think. I am of the opinion that I just need larger shoulder muscles and more confidence.

I suspect in a month I will have both 🙂

stunning.

first time jitters fellas,it happened to all of us,hehe! ..the art of countersteering becomes a necessity to steer, and to keep the car planted in corners, but it takes some getting used to,..there are several instructors and " wise 'ol men" here that can offer instruction, literature and hands on riding coarses for hack pilots, through out the states, ask and they shall deliver, or at least tell ya where to look,.. nice rig geek, good luck. crawf.

Thanks Crawf! I'm gonna keep at it. Too much at stake. The sidecar is what will allow me to get back on the road this summer with my wife and new baby, so I'll persist and learn to ride the rig so that I can haul them around safely and comfortably.

I think you're right ... just first time jitters.

my daughter's car seat was installed, 2nd day with the hack, when she was age 4, 3 years later it's still there and she loves to ride with the club,..hehe.. she's the coolest kid in school,..check youtube for how to videos also,..have fun,..crawf