I finally did it!
Just made my first ride today.
Thanks to all the forum members who helped me especially DoubleA and uralsharps.
Well, it handles like a motorcycle.
So maybe it's not for typical sidecarist.
But it suits my needs.
I can take my 3 year old son to everywhere I go without worrying about flying the car in tight right hander or tipping over in fast left hander.
To uralsharps:
I moved rear pivot point 5" off the center line.
I didn't feel any pull on either side when I went one block with steady 50 MPH. I know this is not enough testing but that's the first impression. Maybe because my Velorex 562 is much lighter than Ural..
To snowbeard:
I see you lurking in BritBike forum. How is BSA A10 coming?
Any plan to work on the sidecar project again?
And finally here are some pictures.
Very nice job. do you have any pictures of the mount on the bike and how it was done? lease keep us informed of how it goes. Well done
Thank you!
The sub-frame is attached to the bike frame at four points.
I used existing center stand brackets for the rear two points.
For the front two, I used U clamps came with Verolex. Left side goes straight down. Right side had to go between two exhaust headers so it's tilted.
Looks great, would love to have you as a member on the flexit page, we speak leaner their. http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/flexitsidecarclub/
Dave
PS I posted one of your pic's on our homepage
Quite a clasic the 3 cilinder Yami.
Long time a ago I saw th last one.
Congratulations
Sven Peter
Originally written by DAVE on 10/7/2007 5:32 AM
Looks great, would love to have you as a member on the flexit page, we speak leaner their. http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/flexitsidecarclub/
Dave
PS I posted one of your pic's on our homepage
Thanks. I just joined the group.
Nice pictures of Flexit! My next dream.
I should go out and buy that pipe bender on sale at Harbor Freight. LOL.
Originally written by Peter Pan on 10/7/2007 6:16 AM
Quite a clasic the 3 cilinder Yami.
Long time a ago I saw th last one.
Congratulations
Sven Peter
Thank you.
Here's what I rebuilt so far.
Thumper '79 Yamaha XT500F
Twin '71 BSA A65T
Triple '78 Yamaha XS750E
Multi '75 Honda CB750K5
Next one... Honda CBX or Benelli SEI (nah, too expensive for me)
Happy to have you as a member at the flexit page http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/flexitsidecarclub/
I opened it up for you to post, and please introduce yourself and meet the gang. Would love to have your pic's their also.
HELL YEAH!!! that's awesome!! very nice work!
so are the unpainted "legs" going to the bike a part that you added on? and the tensioners at an angle from them, were those originally attached to the steed before it was a leaner?
is that a third hiem joint in the middle to get the plate mounted between the two exhausts? or just a linkage to extend it?
I've been quite busy with the BSA, it's true. I wanted to get it titled ASAP before the paperwork got too stale. Just got back from the DMV and they took all my ITS paperwork with little hesitance!! now I just have to get my paper title from the state and I'm home free! I'll probably still be working on the BSA's for a good while, but spring is coming and I'll wish I had built my rig if I don't ';-)
and I must add that your triple is superb!! looks practically brand new!!! kudos!
Originally written by snowbeard on 10/9/2007 11:19 AM
HELL YEAH!!! that's awesome!! very nice work!
Thanks.
Originally written by snowbeard on 10/9/2007 11:19 AM
so are the unpainted "legs" going to the bike a part that you added on? and the tensioners at an angle from them, were those originally attached to the steed before it was a leaner?
Yes and yes. I just painted the "legs" by the way.
Originally written by snowbeard on 10/9/2007 11:19 AM
is that a third hiem joint in the middle to get the plate mounted between the two exhausts? or just a linkage to extend it?
It's a U clamp came with the Velorex as a part of generic mounting kit. I put another one on the right side also.
Originally written by snowbeard on 10/9/2007 11:19 AM
I've been quite busy with the BSA, it's true. I wanted to get it titled ASAP before the paperwork got too stale. Just got back from the DMV and they took all my ITS paperwork with little hesitance!! now I just have to get my paper title from the state and I'm home free! I'll probably still be working on the BSA's for a good while, but spring is coming and I'll wish I had built my rig if I don't ';-)
Good to hear you are getting the title.
So how far is the A10 from being reliable?
Originally written by snowbeard on 10/9/2007 11:19 AM
and I must add that your triple is superb!! looks practically brand new!!! kudos!
Thanks again.
well, I don't know if they're ever fully reliable, but it is running strongly. I need to get to the breather and probably pull the engine apart to replace gaskets at the least, it seeps/bubbles oil from under the rocker box, indicating a high pressure in there. the drivetrain needs a thurough going over as well, checking chain tensions, lube, etc. the rear wheel needs to be rebuilt I think, there's a good bit of play at the hub axle interface, as well as being loose from the drive gear/brake drum...
front forks need to be taken apart...
it's a project, but the wife's out of town for three months, hence the purchase in the first place! ';-)
I'll be in touch for sure when I get back to the leaner project. I have found a pile of 3" aluminum I-beam stock that I plan to use for the frame, then I just need a good wheel/axle, some plates to connect it all together, and a running GS850!! good thing it's a long winter.
"the wife's out of town for three months"
Wow, I wish I had an opportunity like that.
I rebuilt almost all of my A65. The only things untouched were tranny and swing arm bearings (I couldn't get them out but it feels okay).
As for the leaner, now it seems to me really a straight forward thing. I haven't heard about any one who tried but failed.
Keep me posted and send me some pictures when you accomplish something major.
That's how I plan on mounting my homebuilt rig. Let us know how it handles with the mounting points on different planes. I thought they would have to be the same front and rear. That was the problem I saw with mine as I don't have much ground clearance at the rear, and my exhaust is low on that side as well. If yours works fine like that it would make mounting mine much easier.
I am pretty much satisfied with the out-of-the-box behavior.
As I wrote in the thread in Technical forum area, I rode through the twisties I frequent on both solo bikes and rigid rigs. So I can compare the feel fairly accurately. I don't really feel the existence of the sidecar during accel/decel/constant-speed/left-right turns.
I made a provision to experiment with front (up/down) and rear (left/right) pivot points but I already cut the rear mount plate to increase ground clearance. No adjustment at the rear any more.
Off-centering rear pivot point to the right (sidecar side) gives me more lean angle without sacrificing the ground clearance also. I had a similar issue with exhaust/muffler interferring. I think most bikes have similar issue unless you live in UK or OZ and you have 4-into-1 header or something.
The track width is about 52". The sidecar weighs around 150 lbs plus my son's weight (25 lbs). I can give you the wheel lead number if you need. It was determined by the dimensions of motorcycle and sidecar frames. I didn't have much room to consider.
Skiri,
Congratulations! I've been away from this site awhile. Looks like a great job. You are obviously pleased in going this route. The bad thing is you'll never want to go rigid again. I think your handling issue, "grave road" feel, could very well be due to the amount of offset you have in rear mount. I felt a bit of that after offsetting my front mount. I believe the dynamic forces pushing offcenter of the frame causes this. However, I believe this is a tradeoff for tracking either right , left or center. Mine seems to track to the left but not as much after adding the offset. I would be interested to hear just how any other mounting point adjustment have on the handling characteristics. I think I'd like to have a higher front mounting point but I'm not sure. For instance if I inadvertantly allow the sidecar tire to get too close to the edge of the road and I suddenly lean to the left to bring it back, the tire will initally get even closer to the edge(or go over the edge) until the bike begins its left turn. If the mounting point were higher up a sudden left lean would instantly pull the tire away from the edge of the road. However, I think this extra mass up high will also slow the bikes responsivness. My best guess is that the ideal hight would be at that spot that is fairly "nuetral" during the lean process.
Lots of fine tuning could be done I suspect.
Anyway, keep us informed.
Roy
