Well, I've made some progress re installing my Friendship II on my GL1500. Last weekend I trial fitted the frame, and confirmed that there was no way the short chassis was going to work as is - the distance between the front & back mounts is just too big. I pulled the tub off the frame and brought the frame into the house to prep it for welding the frame extension on. This was the first chance I really had to have a close look at the frame. No idea when my sidecar was manufactured, as the date is not stamped on the identiplate, but mine is S/N 102206. I've heard lots on the forums about how there was considerable variation in configuration during production, what with suspension design changes, etc., so I thought I'd post a few pics of my frame (excuse the dirt - haven't cleaned 'er yet, it's winter here). Note the swingarm has caliper mounts, but there's no rotor on the hub. I e-mailed CSC asking if they still had stock - am awaiting their reply, but from what I've heard here, they have exhausted their stock of spare parts - correct? Anyone know where I can get a hub/rotor assy and brake caliper? Pics are with frame extension parts freshly welded on. I found an aircraft repair certified TIG welder today who did a fantastic job. Talk about nice looking welds!
Daryl Martel - 12/20/2011 10:49 PM Well, I've made some progress ... No idea when my sidecar was manufactured, as the date is not stamped on the identiplate, but mine is S/N 102206.
The previous owner bought mine new in 1996. It is number 103016, not that that means anything.
Now that you have an extra hole in your frame, do like me. Stick a pipe in there and build yourself a footrest. 
Great idea Mike! I removed my RH engine guard entirely, so am lacking a highway peg on that side. You notice a difference on my frame? I noticed on your frame tabs are welded on and that the tub secures through holes in them... I'm assuming rubber spacers of some type fit between the tabs and sidecar body? On my frame, holes are drilled thru the tubes for the 4 bolts that secure the tub to the frame. I think my Friendship II frame is narrower overall too (makes sense - Friendship III is a 1 1/2 or double wide).
Daryl Martel - 12/21/2011 12:14 AM Great idea Mike! I removed my RH engine guard entirely, so am lacking a highway peg on that side. You notice a difference on my frame? I noticed on your frame tabs are welded on and that the tub secures through holes in them... I'm assuming rubber spacers of some type fit between the tabs and sidecar body? On my frame, holes are drilled thru the tubes for the 4 bolts that secure the tub to the frame. I think my Friendship II frame is narrower overall too (makes sense - Friendship III is a 1 1/2 or double wide).
Perhaps, but CSC told me the FII and FIII share the same frame. A little hard to measure with the body on, but mine appears to be about 29 inches wide. Measured from outside to outside.
Hi Mike - measured my frame... 21.5" across (excluding of course where sidecar mounts attach), to the outside of the tubes.
I'd sent CSC an e-mail enquiring into the possibility of buying a wheel hub with brake rotor, and matching brake caliper. I knew it was a long shot, but thought I'd give it a try anyhow. Here's the response I received: "Unfortunately, we have nothing at all for sidecars anymore. What we had was destroyed in a fire about two years ago."
We all know they didn't make these parts themselves, so where did they source them from?
I don't know where they sourced them from originally, but Jay at DMC sells rotors and pads, now. In fact that is who CSC refers me to when I call them. Jay sells the rotors for $90, (I think that was the price he gave me). My understanding is that the hub is a trailer hub and it just looks like they welded on an adapter for attachment of the rotor. I'm going to do a little research and see if a hub at Tractor Supply or a trailer sales place will be a good match for new hubs. I'm sorry that CSC had a fire, but product liability should be better than just no help at all... They still sell tires and pads but that's it.
Say, can you post a few really good pics of how your electric lean is attached? My Friendship III doesn't have the
Electric lean on it. I am going to make my own and order the actuator off eBay. It would be great if you could make a little drawing with dimensions, too. I want to get my FS III attached in the next few weeks, (if I ever get off 12 hour work days at Amazon...)
Thanks, Don W.
dwitgoldwing - sure, I can take a couple of closeup pics of the electric lean setup for you. The fellow I bought my Friendship II from had it installed on a HD UltraGlide. It was a crappy install... poorly made (heavy!) frame brackets, and the electric height adjust wasn't hooked up (I don't think he knew it had it) and it was at lowest adjustment. I functioned it to make sure it worked (it does) and set it for 25% extension for when I attach sidecar. The actuator has a 10 cm stroke BTW.
Regarding sourcing the brake hub/rotor & caliper from Jay at DMC, I did contact him already, and this is the reply I received: "We make a hub that will fit the axle and runs the same brake rotor as California sidecars did however I doubt that the off set for the brake rotor is the same and nor is the off set for the wheel, We have a couple of different bolt patterns for the wheel."
From this you can see he could set me up with something that could be made to work... was kind of hoping for direct bolt-on fit, no messing around.
dwitgoldwing - 12/22/2011 8:22 AM...Say, can you post a few really good pics of how your electric lean is attached? My Friendship III doesn't have theElectric lean on it. I am going to make my own and order the actuator off eBay. It would be great if you could make a little drawing with dimensions, too. I want to get my FS III attached in the next few weeks, (if I ever get off 12 hour work days at Amazon...)Thanks, Don W.
Here are a few to start you off.
Near the beginning of this thread is a wiring diagram for the elctric lift switch. I just used a double throw momentary switch. To make it easier, I mounted mine sideways so that if the bike pulls left I move the lever to the right and if it pulls right, I move to the left.
dwitgoldwing - Mike beat me to it with the pics. Does that do it for you, or do you need more specific close-ups? I had a good look at how it operates... the pivot mechanism is not an easy do-it-yourself project!
For what it's worth, I replied to CSC asking them if they'd be willing to share their parts sources given they no longer support their sidecars. This is exactly what I sent: "I totally understand. Trouble is, now there's a lot of your customers that no longer have "factory support" for their sidecars. Would it at least be possible for your company to share where these parts were sourced from? ...I'm talking specifically the brake hub/rotor & caliper assembly." We'll see if anything comes of it.
@Daryl Martel Unless there is a problem with your existing hub, it doesn't look like need a new one. From what I can see in your pictures, your hub has the welded on collar that has threaded holes. The rotor that DMC can supply bolts to that collar. The caliper is going to be more of a pain. If you read this thread I detail my quest for adding brakes to my CSC.
Here's a quick recap..... It looks like you have mounts for the F04 caliper which is no longer made by Brembo and after extensive searching, I was unable to find anyone making a replacement. You'll probably need to cut off the existing mounts and order a P32F Brembo caliper ,which is used on later CSC's, and universal bracket from DMC and have your TIG welder weld the new bracket on the swing arm in a place that the new caliper will clear the body. I haven't welded mine on yet but it looks like it might be at the 9 o'clock position. If that's the case, I probably wouldn't have needed to remove the original mounts, but it looks clear w/o them.
The hub was a standard trailer hub that they welded a ring to the back side of. If a person wanted to go this route the only hissue is finding hubs that are cast steel rather then cast iron. You would still need to make sure that the spacing is correct. The rotor is an obscure at least in the USA Citoren car that was never imported into the USA. We have the rotors as these are the rotors we use. Rather then welding a ring onto a stock hub and then having to machine it to work, we make our own hubs from scratch however I am sure our off sets are different. The early CSC brake calipars were Brembo FO4 calipars, we have not been able to get these in years. The later Brembo calipars we stock. We also stock pads for both early and late. To identify which you have the FO4 brake pads were held in with 2 pins, the current uses a single pin. The manifacture of the acturators has changed hands a couple of times but can still be ordered in. We no longer use these as our design uses a more expensive more reliable acutuator however our supplier can order them in. The steel parts in the electric trim system CSC built in house.
Jay G
DMC sidecars
www.dmcsidecars.com
866-638-1793
Yeah, Jay is definitely the man to know for all things sidecar...(I'm not affiliated with DMC), because he actually takes time to answer questions and get you squared away.
Back to the electric lean...Daryl or Mike, could you give me the length and width and thickness of the steel links attaching the acutator to the top of the frame post? Also, bolt center to bolt center distance would be great. That part looks pretty easy to build...just looks like welded steel and a round threaded rod to attach a Heim joint to. I am a pretty competent DIYer with a lathe/mill/welder and can make that pretty easily. I figure while it's winter and I have my car off the frame for fixing/repainting, I might as well work on the frame and brake system.
I am doing a separate master cylinder with brake pedal for the car. That way there is no splicing into the bike and I won't have to bleed either brake system except once a year during annual maintenance. Looking forward to learning how to make quick right hand turns with the sidecar brake. Should be fun learning how to feather the brakes... 🙂
dwitgoldwing - 12/22/2011 11:30 AM Yeah, Jay is definitely the man to know for all things sidecar...(I'm not affiliated with DMC), because he actually takes time to answer questions and get you squared away. Back to the electric lean...Daryl or Mike, could you give me the length and width and thickness of the steel links attaching the acutator to the top of the frame post? Also, bolt center to bolt center distance would be great. ...:)
I'll defer to Daryl on this, as mine is on the road. His is disassembled and will be much easier to measure.
I concur with your comments on Jay and Barry as well. They have given me a lot of help and great advice in the past. And let's not forget Lonnie (Hack'n) as well.
They all add a lot to our experience here.
