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Honda Africa Twin-DCT based Cargo sidecar rig build...

FlyingMonkeys · 2025-08-15T20:47:07Z

I'll go ahead and plant this seed, or start this thread, as it will be a 5 to 6 month build, and whilst things have already started rolling along, I will be in Europe for 3 of these upcoming months, however...the build will continue to progress even while I am gone. After seeing Jan @CCjon do his thing, and ride his Red Dog sidecar rig from Houston to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, then down to Key West, Florida, so that he could set the new record for the Eldest rider to complete the Ultimate Coast to Coast, it pushed certain buttons of mine and made me kick it into gear that I needed an Alaska sidecar rig, not to do the UCC from Alaska to Florida, but to simply CLAW my way through most of the roads of Alaska, on a sidecar rig that will be build to handle that kind of terrain, and make it home in one piece. I have been to Alaska many times on 2 wheeled motorcycles, have been up to Deadhorse/Prudhoe Bay, Alaska on 5 separate trips, and four of those were to go from Deadhorse/Prudhoe Bay, Alaska down to Tierra del Fuego/Ushuaia, Argentina, and back. But those trips were years ago, when I was younger, more fit, and I never stopped to smell the roses, or the grizzly bear scat. Now I want to build a sidecar rig to travel around Alaska, as a Cargo Box style rig, on a bike that can easily do this, whilst I stop to smell a few roses, kick around the grizzly bear scat, and avoid the State Bird...the Mosquito. Whilst Jan Daub was on his record setting ride, I purchased a 2018 Honda Africa Twin DCT that had been sitting on my local dealers showroom floor for close to a year. This bike had been used by a Washington State local, along with his wife's Africa Twin, to ride all around South America for a couple years, until HER bike got butchered by so many different wanna-be mechanics down in South America, that they were forced to abandon her Africa Twin, and had his shipped back to Washington. Lesson learned was....you cannot have wanna-be mechanics use coconut shells and banana peels to fix a Honda Africa Twin. {blue}:scared: This 2018 Africa Twin DCT was gone over by my local Honda dealer, and made certain that everything was in excellent condition, before they put it on the showroom floor, but...because of the mileage on it, and all the added accessories, most buyers shied away from buying this bike, as they either wanted a blank canvas to build themselves, or wanted a bike with a lot less, or no, miles on it. Because I have stared at this bike for the past year, because I know this dealership, and their mechanics/technicians, and because I have pawed this bike myself for the past year, I knew what I was buying. 2018 Honda Africa Twin DCT....loaded with top of the line accessories, even a Garmin Zumo XT GPS and mount, upgraded RaceTech suspension front and rear, Bumot panniers and mounts, Cyclops LED driving lights, Koura throttlemeister, Heated Grips, and on, and on, and on. I just received the Pelican BX255 cargo box that will be used for this build, and already have lined up the Ural cT chassis that will be used. In less than 3 weeks I take the bike down to Russell Day Long seats to have my 19th RDL seat built for me, then on the way home I drop this bike, and the Pelican box off at my metal fabrication expert in Oregon, and he does his "thang" whilst I jet off to Europe for a few months. This completed rig should be done around mid-February, and will be BUILT with the intention of driving it up to the ferry in Bellingham, Washington, taking the Alaska Marine Highway ferry up to Whittier, Alaska, then driving this rig around Alaska, and up to Deadhorse/Prudhoe Bay, and back down to Whittier, for a ferry ride back down to Washington State. Plan is to do this in 2026, 2027, and 2028...then sell it to one of you younger folks....so that you too can see The Last Frontier Having done most of the roads of Alaska, the Yukon, and the Northwest Territories, I am used to the gravel, the rain, and worst of all, the Calcium Chloride that they lay down to make the roads as slippery and sticky as whale snot. This rig will be built with that in mind, to go where other bikes or sidecar rigs cannot go, to carry-on when others say No Mas, and to clean up easier than most so that 6 months later we are not digging out dried on Calcium Chloride that dries like cement. And yes, Scott, all three wheels will be tubeless, so tubeless tires all around. ALL forward lights will be YELLOW colored LED lights, even the Givi windshield in covered with a YELLOW tint, to protect it. And No, Scott, there will NOT be a sidecar brake on the sidecar. There will be a custom built Leading Link front end on the bike, and...all shocks on the Leading Link and on the sidecar swingarm will be 2Win shocks. Oh, and YES, Scott, I have already installed one of your company's ScottOiler's onto this bike, and it works perfectly, as usual.

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sheath

(@scott-h)

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Simple, clean and tidy appearance. Will be a big help to wash all the grime off when you're back home. Nice ground clearance too. 😎

Hold my keyboard and watch this! 🙃

Posted : October 26, 2025 12:18 pm

FlyingMonkeys reacted

FlyingMonkeys

(@miles-ladue)

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Posted by: @scott-h

↑

Simple, clean and tidy appearance. Will be a big help to wash all the grime off when you're back home. Nice ground clearance too. 😎

Oh, Scott.....wait 'til you see the finished project. My plans are to wrap the underside with aluminum diamondplate, to keep most of the debris off the upperside.

And, given my experience with the Alaska roads, and their use of Calcium Chloride, I know what to spray the entire bike and sidecar with so that the Calcium Chloride won't stick to 93.14159 % of this rig, and the remaining 6.85841% can easily be washed down.

I am not kidding when I say that "Squatch" will be battle ready for the planned rides.

Two Million Mile Rider
Exploring the World in Comfort

Posted : October 26, 2025 2:34 pm

Thane Lewis, Brstr and sheath reacted

sheath

(@scott-h)

Posts: 1345

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When I raced in muddy conditions I used Pam cooking spray. Worked great for a single race. Well, except in the state of California where I'm sure it caused cancer. 😉 But that was just simple mud. Not man made ice melting, metal eating, wire corroding Nastiness.

Hold my keyboard and watch this! 🙃

Posted : October 26, 2025 4:34 pm

SwampFox, FlyingMonkeys, Thane Lewis and 1 people reacted

MGV8

(@mgv8)

Posts: 271

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I neglected to spray any thing any where.. Two days of rolling around on wet driveway with a pressure washer and a scrub brush.. And she still ain't real clean.. don't underestimate the power of calcium chloride

Posted : December 15, 2025 7:17 pm

sheath, Brstr and FlyingMonkeys reacted

FlyingMonkeys

(@miles-ladue)

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Posted by: @mgv8

↑

I neglected to spray any thing any where.. Two days of rolling around on wet driveway with a pressure washer and a scrub brush.. And she still ain't real clean.. don't underestimate the power of calcium chloride

-- attachment is not available --

Brian, because I have been up to the last frontier of Calcium Chloride so many times in the past....as have you....I was all too familiar with spending days and weeks trying to remove hardened Calcium Chloride from the nooks and crannies of various motorcycles, so my last trip up on my '17 Suzuki V-Strom 650 XT the entire bike was sprayed with ACF 50....an anti- corrosion formula. It worked well enough, and in fact it's remarkable considering that my bike sat for close to 24 hours in Inuvik, before I got the bike back from being "stuck on the roadway to Tuktoyuktuk".... and yet with the bike encased in Calcium Chloride, I only spent less than 20 dollars Canadian...or 10 Toonies...to get it sparkling clean.

The ACF 50 is good, and worth the price, but it's not cheap. In any future rides up North, and now considering that I will have a cargo box Sidecar rig on any future rides...I will simply carry a case of WD-40, and spray the entire bike and Sidecar several times in advance.

As Scott also mentioned, PAM cooking spray is another good alternative.

Check Amazon...find a case of either WD-40 or PAM.... whichever is best price, then haul that case in the Sidecar....for use in the last frontier of Calcium Chloride.

Two Million Mile Rider
Exploring the World in Comfort

Posted : December 15, 2025 8:16 pm

sheath and Thane Lewis reacted

MGV8

(@mgv8)

Posts: 271

Honorable Member

@miles-ladue I knew about ACF 50 just never thought of it before I left on this last trip.. Silly me.. I did spray down parts with WD on occasion.. Carry a can with me.. But never underneath. I still think it is just unavoidable to get dirty when going North. Part of the fun. Once I get some ambition the rig plastic is coming off so I can clean more where I can. Something to do on a cold wintery day 🙂

Posted : December 15, 2025 8:49 pm

sheath, Brstr, Thane Lewis and 1 people reacted

FlyingMonkeys

(@miles-ladue)

Posts: 1716

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Topic starter

UPDATE, dateline December 21, 2025:

I am officially putting this 2018 Honda Africa Twin w/DCT trans...Cargo Box style sidecar rig UP FOR SALE.

Health issues dictate that I am changing course, and need to rein in my plans for future rides/drives, and this rig that is still currently being built by Chuck @54vintage needs to go to someone that can drive it as it is being built to be used....to Alaska, Yukon, NWT, down to South America, to Panama, through the Southwest Deserts, chasing after @BenFranklin on his 2021 Africa Twin sidecar rig.

The work being done by Chuck @54vintage is almost complete...he is ready to disassemble, and send all parts out for Powder-Coating, then reassemble the entire rig.

Lots of information, and pictures available if someone is interested.

I can tell you, in a brief statement, that the bike is as close to flawless as is possible. I would not have even looked at this bike if I didn't think it was THEE correct bike for its' intended purpose. It's not new...it's a 2018 Africa Twin w/DCT trans, and its' a ride by wire throttle, which is an improvement over the previous throttle cable bikes. This bike has been ridden all around South America, have been thoroughly gone through and over by my local Honda dealership, was ridden by the owner of my local dealership, and he is the very best Honda tech I have ever met...not joking when I say that customers line up to buy his slightly used motorcycles, because we all know what he has done to improve or upgrade each of them.

A long list of items comes with this bike, such as a brand new RDL seat, less than 200 miles on that seat...a full set of BUMOT hard panniers, including all racks and mounts, and the Bumot hidden toolbox, and the Bumot rear rack. If you are not familiar with Bumot panniers, they are the company that makes the TouraTech panniers.

Rather than go on and on, as I have a tendency to do.....if you are interested in this 2018 Honda Africa Twin w/DCT, and Cargo Box style sidecar rig, contact me off the forums, and I can send you many pictures, and explain everything from beginning to end, including pricing.

Anyone that has ever bought a sidecar rig from me, knows that I don't sell junk to other people, I don't offload projects that need to be repaired, and I generally don't ask full resale prices for my rigs, as I like to pass on good deals to fellow sidecarists. So far, no one has complained.

Thank you for your time...

send messages to: Miles at midliferider@aol.com

Two Million Mile Rider
Exploring the World in Comfort

Posted : December 21, 2025 9:26 am

Thane Lewis and sheath reacted

sheath

(@scott-h)

Posts: 1345

Famed Member

This rig is going to make someone many fantastic memories. 🤩

Sorry to read you won't be able to enjoy it Miles.

Hold my keyboard and watch this! 🙃

Posted : December 21, 2025 10:13 am

MGV8, Thane Lewis and FlyingMonkeys reacted

MGV8

(@mgv8)

Posts: 271

Honorable Member

Yeah, not something we wanted to hear..

Posted : December 21, 2025 7:22 pm

sheath, Chris Murphy and FlyingMonkeys reacted

Ben Franklin

(@ben-franklin)

Posts: 337

Prominent Member

Well, really sorry to hear of the change in plans, Miles.

Someone is going to get a fine rig for little money. I have a friend that Chuck built a nearly identical rig for about a year ago. He is ecstatic about it, yet.

Looking forward to catching up after the Holidays!

Posted : December 22, 2025 8:13 am

sheath, Thane Lewis and FlyingMonkeys reacted

Dynamick

(@dynamick314)

Posts: 11

Active Member

Mr F'ingMonkeys,

I haven't been on the USCA forum for about a year, long story that doesn't need told here in this thread. Saw and read this thread with great joy for you, excitement of the build and anticipation for the future ride reports to come from your trip(s). Only to not see this plot twist coming.

You gotta do what you gotta do and only you know.

I wish I was in a position to join the Q though I know I'm not the right fit for that rig and pleased to say my 3Strom rig is still doing it for me.

Happiest of holidays to you and I wish tater tots and pears to you and yours .

Mickey

Posted : December 22, 2025 9:17 am

Thane Lewis, MGV8, FlyingMonkeys and 1 people reacted

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