Hello uralsharps,
Unfortunately (fortunately?), I was so satisfied with the out-of-the-box performance that I already cut the bottom portion of rear mounting plate (it touched the ground in left turns.)
So I have no ability to experiment with different offset.
My two "connecting pipes" are designed to slide in the outer pipes welded to the sidecar frame but I didn't think about distortion caused by the welding. (They were MIG welded. I should have asked the welder..)
So now major tow-in change is a (relatively) big deal. I can still fine tune it at the heim joint, however.
I went out for the second time and thought that steering issue was more like low speed wobble I felt with the rigid rigs. It occured @ low speed straight run also. So maybe the steering damper is in order? (But don't want to buy those $500 ones for modern bikes. Where can I buy VW damper?)
- skiri251
NAPA Auto parts stores hav VW damper listings.
The earlier Beetle ones have the longest throw.
Lonnie
Northwest Sidecars
Thanks Lonnie!
I love this setup. The car look great. Any chance you documented your plans and are willing to share? I have a sidecar but always wanted to build one to suit my needs. I even thought about making one with hidden bladders on the far side away from the bike (to be filled with water) to act as a balast.Regards, Les'99 V-star w/Velorex 700
put a search for the german side car site kalich-gespann it is in german but is a leaning sidecar site or maker
Originally written by xs1100sgman on 10/19/2007 6:52 PM
I love this setup. The car look great. Any chance you documented your plans and are willing to share? I have a sidecar but always wanted to build one to suit my needs. I even thought about making one with hidden bladders on the far side away from the bike (to be filled with water) to act as a balast.Regards, Les'99 V-star w/Velorex 700
Here's what I did.
I used existing center stand brackets for the rear and generic U
clamps came with Velorex for the front. The two clamps are attached to
horizontal portion of cradle frame as forward as possible.
Left one goes straight down, right one needs to be tilted to go
between two exhaust headers.
The subframe is constructed of 1/8" thick 1-1/2" square steel tubing
and 3/8" thick front/rear mount plates. I used 5/8" race spec CroMori
heim joints. The connecting pieces are 1-1/4" OD 1/8" thick DOM
tubing.
Two 1-1/4" ID DOM tubes were welded to the sidecar frame so that the connecting pieces slide to adjust tow-in and track width (unfortunately they don't slide any more due to welding distortion to outer tubes..)
Currently rear pivot point is 4" closer to the sidecar from the bike center line. Front pivot point is 5" higher than rear and on the bike center line.
Rear pivot point is 3-1/4" above the ground (no rider/passenger/luggage).
I adjusted front/rear suspension preload to max. I weigh 145 lbs and the rear mount plate does not touch the ground under normal riding.
The track width is 52~53". Tow-in is 3/4".
Why not GAS and not water?
Originally written by Ron Campbell on 10/20/2007 12:14 AM
Why not GAS and not water?
Excellent question, maybe it should be gas instead of water, then there would be no more worries in the middle of nowhere. Okay you're hired 😉
Using gas as a diminishing ballast? It might create a handling problem somewhere down the road. Permanent ballast and a reserve fuel supply might be a better option.
Lonnie
My thought's were that if you are going to carry a liquid for balas why not make it usable
I also recall a hacker, that showed up at a UMCI rally at Bridal Falls BC Canada, with a rigid mount chair on a V-max. He had a ~4ft. long x 6" (minimum) diameter tube between the bike and chair body, as a secondary tank. This would provide an additional 5.8 USgal. of fuel. I don't think the V-max even carried that much stock. As the tank was close to the bike, it shouldn't affect the handling that much.
Drinking water ballast? You would use it at a slower rate and if you had to jettison, no expense.
I have been toying with the idea of a Rokon with sidecar.
Rokon wheels have hollow rims that can contain either gas or water. I would keep the sidecar wheel full of water for empty ballast.
Where I live I might never need any extra gas but if I did, I would use the bike wheels.
Hi Lloyd!! I remember that guy. His name is Peter and he built that sidecar himself. Excellent work. I've got photos of him and his outfit but not on this computer...
That looks good , very much like the set up the sit up on my land speed sidecar rig that holds all the records on the east coast 201 mph in the standing start mile.
The Rokon sidecar with the same front wheel drive mounted to the sidecar must be a blast!
But they never made it with a bigger engine then 300ccm.
in big conditional letters:
¡¡¡¡¡ If i'd live outside central valley up in our fabulous mountains, I'd make that job for fun and agricultural work !!!!!!
Rokon seems to be in off road something comparable to Hommel in precision machinery.
"Die eierlegende Wollmilchsau"
"The pig that gives milk and wool and lays eggs."
http://www.lathes.co.uk/hommel/
unbeatable
Sven 😉 😉 😉
