Basic Maintenance Conversation

I'm new to sidecars but not to motorcycles. My best maintenance suggestion is change the fluids regularly. Most modern cycles are well designed and  robust. But all the fluids and lubrications need constant attention. A well lubed machine will last.

@scott-h Hey Scott,  some thoughts on maintenance:

Doing as much of it yourself as is practical for your skills, or desired to acquire skills, is a big deal.  NO ONE will ever care about the maintenance quality of your bike/rig as much as you.  There are great people out there doing maintenance work, but they are few and far between.

Detailed logs on maintenance (yeah I am a spreadsheet nerd) are very helpful.  I write notes to my future self in a comments field that logs my observations and inspection results.  I'm not big on cleaning the offroad rig too often, so when I do maintenance, I usually wash it, prior, then take the maintenance activity as a good time to inspect a lot of the unrelated stuff that takes a beating.  I then will note how much brake pad remains on each caliper (quick visual estimate, not typically measured), what has cracked and needs welding, etc.

I tend to keep a running log of parts costs.  Probably just obsessive, on that, you can do really good quality maintenance on a reasonable budget, if you can gain the skills needed.

Keep the bike and your work area clean and organized (yeah, I know, do as I say, not as I do, for those of you that have seen my shop.)  Cuts time on hunting for tools, lost springs, etc.  Trays for small parts (even tupperware) can really speed up reassembly operations, if you get into something complex. 

Take a lot of pictures during disassembly, like way more than you think necessary.  They are your friend on reassembly, when you wonder which identical connector plugs into what identical socket.

Skill development:  Find a friend that has better skills than you, and combine maintenance days at their place, if they are amicable. 

Watch Youtube videos on bike specific stuff; there are many for almost any machine you can imagine for almost any activity.  The Ural stuff covers a lot of general sidecar alignment that applies to many rigs.

Acquire manuals.  Cheap manuals (Haynes, Clymer, etc.) generally are good enough for most activities; read the intro section for your bike and thoroughly read the section on the activity that you are about to perform.  Factory service manuals are usually the best.  It is possible to snag a copy on some of the bike specific forums, if you search the forum and ask nicely.  I carry soft copies on my phone, and find them very handy when out in the middle of nowhere.  Don't get hung up on all the special tools the factory manuals list; some are needed, but for most there are workarounds.

Build up a decent tool set for on rig/in shop:  I can be a tool snob, yeah there, I admit it.  However you don't HAVE to have $20k in Snap-0n tools to do most maintenance work.  You do need the stuff that fits your basic fasteners; usually box-end/open wrenches, short and long; metric/SAE sockets, shallow and deep, 3/8" drive, and maybe 1/2" drive; and yeah, 1/4" as well.  20 years ago, I would have laughed and said stay away from Harbor Freight/Princess Auto.  These days, they have upped their game on their better series of stuff, the Quinn and Icon lines.  Maybe not Snap-On, but pretty competitive, compared to the old days, and between 1/3rd to 1/2 the price.  Milwaukee and DeWalt are doing more with hand tools like screwdrivers, drill bits, etc. these days; Craftsman is still around, but not terribly impressive when compared to HF's Icon line.

Electrical:  It is probably good to have decent wire strippers, crimpers, a 12v test light, maybe a cheap (or really expensive) multimeter.  Sidecars have a way of forcing you to find electrical shorts and opens at inopportune times.  Usually inflicted on you by the builder.  Maybe a heat gun and a soldering iron if you want to make really nice connections and shrink sleeve them.  Extra points for an ODBII analyzer, if your bike has a port.  Reading the codes can save a lot of chasing when there is a problem.

Tires have a special place in hell...  I bought a Rabaconda tire machine for about $700, and there is no going back.  I have changed about thirty tires with it over the past couple of years, and it makes life easier.  Barring that, Motion Pro tire tools (irons) have a bead breaker that is awesome out in the sticks. 

Have swapped a tube out on the rear of my older Africa Twin, halfway up the back side of Mt. Lemmon.  The bead breaker function of those irons is handy.  You can also break a bead with your hand scissor jack that you carry as a sidecarist, though, right?  On two wheels, the MC side stand can break a bead.  Getting a tubeless bead to seat, on a wide rim, in the field, with a wimpy little compressor (no big air tank) can be interesting.  A 1.5" ratchet strap long enough to go around the circumference of the outside of the tire will squeeze the tire enough to force the beads outward to allow building up the intimal pressure to start the seating process.  Don't' be cheap on WD40, dish soap, or whatever you want to carry to help with bead seating with the afore mentioned wimpy compressor.

If your rig pulls to the right (left in those parts of the world that see things that way) at highway speed, it isn't set up right.  Lesser quality builders will just tell you that is normal.  If you want to get a couple of decent 8 ft. straight edges (I like 1" aluminum square tube, some like fluorescent light tubes), a decent tape measure, a level or a digital angle finder, and some bungee cords, you can use resources in the library here to adjust your rig's toe-in, lean out, spring preload, etc. to get the rig to drive straight at a chosen speed.  My chosen speed is about 80mph.  Others may choose higher or lower, but you can pick a speed that you want to spend time at, not fighting the rig.  If you go faster, the basic physics will force a gradual pull to the chair side, but it still should not be something you have to fight.

Suspension spring rates.  Part of the setting up of a rig is picking the right spring rates.  Few builders do this.  It can be somewhat iterative, as well.  However if you have a couple of bathroom scales that you can put a board across, under each wheel, you can add the two readings up and be pretty close to the weight on each wheel.  You can then maybe find out what spring rates are currently installed (mfg. propaganda, builder discussion, etc.), then measure loaded sag under your most typical operating scenario (camping gear? passenger? dog?) and attempt to consume 30% of the full suspension travel sitting still, with a little preload on the springs.  If it sags more, like 40%, well, probably next higher rate springs would be a good idea.  The correct spring rate can be calculated, if you know the weight on the wheel, and the ratio of wheel travel to shock travel (motion ratio.)  Or you can just give that info to one of several good suspension sellers, and they will likely match you up with the right springs.

Welding/Machining:  Unless you have a real interest in this, probably best to get to know someone that does, especially a professional that likes to build race cars.  Maybe trailers, as well.  If you do decide to go down this slippery slope; MIG (metal inert gas) is about the easiest to get good results with. You can also fuse steel with Oxy/Acetylene, stick weld, forge, and my favorite TIG (Tungsten Inert Gas.)  But do your really want to?  For machining, it is good to have a friend with a lathe and mill.  You might want to own a set of thread taps and dies, and a set of thread chasers for Metric or SAE, depending on where your rig is from.  Probably both, knowing most manufacturers.

Paint/Glasswork?  Every thing from rattle cans to flawless deep metal finishes.  It's only time and money!  This really depends on your desires and budget to achieve them.  If you have plenty of time and are a bit obsessive on surface quality/prep, painting isn't all that hard.  Finding a place to do it that doesn't have dirt, spiders, kids, pets, whatever, is a little harder.

That's enough for now...

Wow, don't think I can add any thing to that.  Except, bearings. I am usually pro active and replace before they become necessary. but then my trips tend to be multiple thousands of miles ( kilometres )at a time and have Bearings that may or may not be easy to get. I do carry spares and the tools to change them on the road. 

Well, this one brought me out of the woodwork. The only thing I can add, all three of my motorcycles. One of which is a sidecar rig, and another is being turned into a sidecar rig. Our chain drive. Be religious about lubricating your chain. It makes a massive difference or get a Scott oiler put on it. The amount of money it saves you in the long run is well worth it 

That’s actually one reason I sold my VStrom.  It’s the only chain drive bike I’ve ever had and I felt like I was always oiling the chain.  I couldn’t get a solid sense of how to install the used Scottoiler i picked up.  In the end, after the stroke, 2 wheel are still a big question mark for me.

I am a diehard believer in using a ScottOiler on any of my chain driven motorcycles. In fact, during this last trip around Europe, when my wife and I were buying new 2 wheeled motorcycles back in the US (yes we were still in Europe, but it's helpful when dealers in the US know you well enough to do a bike sale long distance)...I also ordered a new ScottOiler for my 2025 V-Strom 650, so when I got home from Europe, picked up the new bike the very next day, and 2 days after that the new ScottOiler was delivered to my house.

Have installed at least 20 of these ScottOiler's, and they are worth every dollar spent on them 

@miles-ladue 

Agreed.

I have two Scottoilers, on 2 different motorcycles (both single track), an '06 KLR and an '89 Transalp.  

I installed the Scottoiler on the KLR just before I round-tripped Prudhoe Bay in '08, about 7600 miles.  Left home - Montana - with about 1200 miles on the motorcycle and the OEM chain removed link  Lots of rain removed link  Needed to adjust the chain only once as the new chain/sprockets finished settling in after about the first thousand miles of the trip.  Never needed to manually lube or clean it.  

Works great on the Transalp too.

The Scottoilers on those motorcycles use a vacuum source to open the flow valve while the engine is running.  That vacuum connection is spliced with a T-connector into an existing vacuum line.  I understand there's also a model that uses an electrically operated valve.  

I installed a Tutoro chain oiler on my Africa Twin/DMC outfit.  

The Tutoro chain oiler does not require a connection to a vacuum source so it doesn't require removing the tank and bodywork (PITA on the Africa Twin) to access a vacuum source and install a connector.  Nor does it need to be connected to an electrical circuit.  

The flow valve is opened simply by the unit sensing vehicle motion.  Rig parked or not moving - no oil flow.  Very nice design.  Works quite well.  I prefer it to the Scottoiler because of that simple design and easy installation.

I'm happy with the Scottoilers but if I add an automatic chain oiler to another motorcycle I'll definitely go with the Tutoro.  Much simpler installation.  No vacuum source or electrical connections necessary.  Works very well.  Comes with an excellent, and detailed, installation manual - Workshop Manual.  

I ordered mine from the manufacturer in England on their website.  Ordering and shipping was easy and efficient.  Looks like eBay also lists them but appears eBay links through to the manufacturer.  Probably simpler to just order on the Tutoro website.

TUTORO AUTOMATIC CHAIN OILER KITS,  tutorochainoiler.com

Both these automatic chain oilers work well.  Great not needing to regularly do the chain lube ritual, especially when traveling.  Some who've used chain oilers have said they throw lube all over the bike and rear tire.  They will, but only if you've adjusted/set the flow rate too high.  

The Tutoro website has excellent videos, installation instructions, and FAQs.  You can also view the Workshop Manual on their website.

Now... if I can just figure out how to get an automatic oiler to lube the u-joint on my '14 Gear Up drive shaft...  grin.

Ken

Official ROF (Retired Olde Farte)

Ken @official-rof-2 , I also installed a ScottOiler on my Africa Twin sidecar rig, and installed the electrically activated model. It was much easier to install vs the V-system model...the Vacuum model. However the E-system model is close to twice the price of the V-system model, which is one reason why my 2025 V-Strom 650 has the V-system model on it.

I'm a fan of Scott (AKA me) cleaning and lubricating the chain drive.  Probably due to coming from the dirt bike side of life, rather than the street bike side of things.  The automatic oilers sure seem like a great idea for long distance street rides though.  😎 

My MX bikes used standard chains (without O-rings).  They were removed and cleaned/lubricated after every race.  For Hare Scrambles, Enduros, etc., I used O-ring chains.  Depending on the environmental conditions they were either cleaned and lubricated on the bike, or removed for cleaning and lubricating.  Manual cleaning and lubricating became a very normal part of life. 

The Screaming Yellow Zonker has shaft drive.  I'm still trying to figure out where the chain is??? 😉

 Speedy & the Spyder has chain drive, mounted on the sidecar side of things.  An automatic oiler would make life much easier, but it won't see enough long distance travel to warrant the expense.  I really like to keep the drive sprocket area clean of gunk.  The bit of extra work is worth it for the peace of mind.