I've been spending a bit of time with the tub off the sidecar and recently acquired a river kayak that's almost 8 feet long. The rig averages 34mpg, almost twice that of my jeep. I was struck with the idea of making a bolt on attachment to carry the kayak. It seems like it would be easy enough to build a brace and the last thought I had was adding enough ballast.
Today I found 6 gallon marine fuel tanks on sale for $12 each. Twelve gallons of water weighs roughly 100 pounds and is easily gained or discarded. If I strap two of those to the outside of the rig, I think I would have it weighed well.
I'm still new to the sidecar world so I'm not sure if this is a good or bad idea. However, I'm sure you guys will set me straight.
The only problem I would have is that water sloshes around and can change handling. If I were to try this, I would make sure they were well anchored and as full as possible to minimize sloshing. If it doesn't work, fill them with sand. :0)
That kayak is wider than most sidecar bodies. Before you get too carried away, set it on the frame in various positions. Some kayaks, especially river boats are quite wide and if you tip it up on it's side it can block your vision.
If you think it will work, consider making something like a Thule Sport Rack. It mounts on a round tube, so you could just loosen it and lay it down to attach the body.
And by all means post photos when you're done.
Are you taking the body off the frame?
I thought about the water sloshing. I plan to fill them to the brink so that as I close the cap, water will come out the vents. The goal is a complete fill though if that doesn't work- sand it will be!
I plan to mount the kayak on it's side. It's a little more than 2 feet wide so I should be fine with being able to see over it.
And yes, I would be taking the body off whenever I did this. I can't think of a decent way to do it other wise short of a trailer... and I'm not sure I want a trailer yet.
Trailers are nice, but by the time you add tongue length for turning and make sure taillights are back far enough to be visible, it could end up quite long.
Now, imagine someone following you in a car. He is seated behind the wheel near the centerline. You may want to consider some sort of a light strapped on the tail end of the boat, in case it blocks him from seeing your sidecar turn signal.
8 feet is not much larger then the bike.
I do not know what kind of s/car you have. but some are relatively easy to take off the frame. If so, think about a frameatachment that might substitute the boat in such a manner with fast locking devices that you just can take the boat off, mount the kajac subframe and fill the gallons when you took of the kajac. (The gallons should be allways in the back where you normally have your trunk, never in the nose.)
Building high on top of the s/c boat isn't nice. I tried that once in one of the 7 house moveings I had to do as student with the sidecar. The bed was so tall I could only see some 2" abouve the bed. Any cop would have stoped me inmediatelly The 20-30 miles were preety strange and in bad memory.
Regards
Sven
see attached
Hello Claude,
The first foto is perhaps about how I must have looked like when I pulled the bed.
The last one is very neat - Congratulations to the owner!
Sven Peter
You talking about something like this?
Or you could go the route OLD SPOKE took. :0)
HI Claude;
I was wondering if anyone had a pic of that one that was at the Finger Lakes rally a few years ago. It certainly got a lot of attention!
scott
Originally written by claude #3563 on 3/26/2008 10:37 PM
see attached
Now this thread has really got me thinking! Where does one buy something like ed pels moturist sidecars.jpg ?
Or how about the dog seated in the tub? It's a regular canoe conversion I assume. Would it be legal with the motor department though? Theoritcally just a differnt tub (no pun intended) i.e. a body on frame.
Carring the canoe/boat seems like a good idea. I do wonder how it effects handling etc. especially at higher speeds.
I would think crosswinds would pose more of a threat than road speed in handling. Canoes being hydrodynamic are pretty aerodynamic.
Lonnie
Originally written by Hack'n on 4/5/2008 6:14 PM
I would think crosswinds would pose more of a threat than road speed in handling. Canoes being hydrodynamic are pretty aerodynamic.
Lonnie
You got that right. The day the photo of my Canoe was taken I hauled it down Coast Hwy 1 about 5 miles before turning inland. The side winds and curvy highway was a little tricky but not uncontrolable. Had it been on a heavier rig then a KLR it might not have been too bad.
Originally written by sdpc2 on 4/2/2008 12:22 PM
HI Claude;
I was wondering if anyone had a pic of that one that was at the Finger Lakes rally a few years ago. It certainly got a lot of attention!
scott
Originally written by claude #3563 on 3/26/2008 10:37 PM
see attached
The last picture I posted was from the Finger Lakes Rally
