Thought I'd start tackling wiring up the sidecar today... try at least to figure out what's what. I start peeling back the electrical tape further back on the harness, and discover what I thought was a bunch of wires actually feeds back to only 4 wires. Looked to me that it was wired up with 2 seperate connectors so 1 would feed a trailer. Cutting the heat shrink off completely all the way back to the sidecar body revealed a positive battery lead that'd been cut short, speaker wires, and another 2 wires. Of course none of the colour coding matches the CSC colour coding SidecarMike provided... so I'm on my own. I suspect the 2 "stand-alone" wires will be for the actuator... will find out shortly - I have a spare mc battery and am going to go play a little to try and figure it out.
Daryl,
My CSC had 2 connectors as well, I do not think there was any real standard to color coding or wiring of the CSC hacks. I found almost all the wiring in the hack was #14 yellow stranded wire. I had to trace/meter out all the wires and label them. I installed a flat 5 conductor trailer connector and got rid of the 2 connectors.
On the above post showing the relay, I disagree with the comment that the relay is used to prevent arcing. The function of the relay is to keep high current draw away from the light weight switch contacts. The switch actuates the relay ( low current) and the relay contacts handle the high current draw.
I too have been thinking of putting a battery in the hack. I would suggest using a diode to isolate the battery so that if one battery is low, it won't draw down the other battery. This will NOT allow you to use the hack battery for starting the bike unless you put in a switch. Also, the diode drops the charging voltage to the hack battery about .7 volts which should not be a problem.
Reporting back - was easy to figure out... whoever did the job defaulted back to standard trailer wiring colour coding; i.e. white being ground, red brake light, brown running/tail lights and green turn signal. There were two other wires, a blue and a yellow, which were for the linear actuator... blue to positive up, yellow to positive lowering the tub.
Boatzo - 1/8/2012 7:52 AM Daryl, My CSC had 2 connectors as well, I do not think there was any real standard to color coding or wiring of the CSC hacks. I found almost all the wiring in the hack was #14 yellow stranded wire. ...
Perhaps that's true, but the colors I quoted were from the wiring diagram that came with the sidecar when it was new. I wouldn't expect them to create a new one for each car sold, so assumed it was standard. My two Motorvation Formula 2's were each wired entirely with yellow wires.
Hey VLAD.... That rig in your picture is sure the strangest looking California 11 that I have seen....done some bodywork ??
Joel
Thnx for posting that wiring diagram Mike. Nice resource this thread has turned into.
Thanks Daryl. I had hoped that by now the Terraplane owners, Equalean guys, and those owning other orphan sidecars would have started their own threads to share information.
I need to also commend people like Mary and Gary at Motorvation for continuing to support their sidecars, old and new. You can be the 6th owner of a 1970 model Milray and they'll treat you just as if it was a brand Formula.
Then, of course, Barry & Jay at Dauntless, Claude from Freedom, and Lonnie(Hack'n) from Northwest, all for being so free with their help and advice.
To dwitgoldwing and Daryl,
I have a GL1800 Goldwing (non ABS) with a Champion Escort attached, I think it would be about the same weight as your CSC. Mine has the brake on the sidecar wheel like what Jay at DMC describes. Last summer I decided to do a test to see just how much stopping ability the sidecar brake added to the rig. During the test I did not have a passenger, only 80 pounds of ballast strapped in the sidecar seat. At the time I made a post of my findings, which I copied below. The results might be different with another rig, but with mine it appears the sidecar brake make straight line braking much easier, but only shorten the stopping distance about ten feet. Of course that ten feet could be important some day. I have the brake attached all the time.
So I wondered just how much braking the sidecar brake actually adds to the rig. Today I found a secluded road to check it out. The weather was dry. With the sidecar loaded I did four panic stops from 55 MPH, the first two with the sidecar brake working, the last two with the brake line disconnected (there is a quick dis-connect between the bike & sidecar). Results; the first two with the sidecar brake were within five feet of each other. The longest distance of the last two with just the bike's brakes was ten feet shorter than the shortest distance with the sidecar brake working! Between each run I allowed the brakes to cool down.
Of course using only the bike's brakes there was a pull to the left, as expected. With the sidecar brake attached it appears my stopping distance was reduced about ten feet at 55 MPH. Note: this bike does not have ABS.
Let me throw in a big Thanks to Peter & Brock over at Side Effects too. They were both very helpful and free with their time to help get me on track. MUCH appreciated everyone that shares their time & knowledge to benefit the SC community.
I just re-read the second paragraph of my post, where I described the testing procedure and see a error. The braking distance was ten feet shorter with the sidecar brake working than when it was disconnected. I need to proof read things a little better.
WingInCamera - Jeez! Who'd a thunk it! ...you're making me feel a bit better about not having a brake on the car (yet). Thnx for sharing that. Daryl
I see you guys have the friendships. Is the brake setup the same for the companion GT? I need to add brakes too.
jrapose - 1/8/2012 4:37 PM
Hey VLAD.... That rig in your picture is sure the strangest looking California 11 that I have seen....done some bodywork ??
Joel
Bone stock Frendship III not II. No mods.
@razorface I have no idea, but I wouldn't be surprised if all the CSC rigs are built on the same or similar frames. Does your wheel mount with wheel studs and lug nuts like a car, or is it a spindle mount, with one nut in the center holding it on? Some pics with the wheel off might help determine if it's the same setup as a Friendship.
tvking63 - 1/25/2012 9:10 PM @razorface I have no idea, but I wouldn't be surprised if all the CSC rigs are built on the same or similar frames. Does your wheel mount with wheel studs and lug nuts like a car, or is it a spindle mount, with one nut in the center holding it on? Some pics with the wheel off might help determine if it's the same setup as a Friendship.
The very first post in this thread shows a picture of a Friendship 3 frame. On around pages 3 through 5 are photos of the brake setup used on it and on some Friendship 2s from what I've been told.
I don't have photos of the F1 my daughter redid, but if I remember correctly it was altogether different.
Actually, I just found photos on my good friend Gust Jensen's website of one he used to own. http://grubygust.com/bikes_/Dauntless/Friendship%20upgrade_.htm
Jay can pipe in with the upgrades pictured.
