Hi Folks,
I'm contemplating a winter project using my new welder and the obvious thing is to sling a hack on my Kawasaki KLR 250, just as an experiment. I know it's underpowered and a single shock swingarm, and the rear subframe is weak. Bad candidate and ill-advised, I know.
Nevertheless, I'm going to try it. I know Doug Bingham submitted a prototype KLR 250 fold up hack to the military years ago. There're pics on the Sidestrider website. So, it can be done.
Most obvious problem is accommodating the throw of the kickstarter. (Car on same side of bike as kicker is the issue).
Anyone have any photos of sidecars on kickstart-only bikes? Anybody on here build such a rig? What did you do to get around the problem and still have a safe rig? I'd love to see subframes and mount photos.
Any help appreciated as always!
Through the years we've put many hacks on Kickers. Harleys, Limeys and the Jap bikes. We just configured where space was needed to operate the kick lever and allowed for clearance with the mountings.
Thanks for the reply, Lonnie. Yeah, I figured leaving space would be necessary.
I'll end up mocking something up out of cardboard or wood first. Just looking for ideas before i start.
As well it is important to remind you about space for the kick back of a bad adjusted indignition.....<if not, your knee will be suffering.
Luckily on my MZ rig I used knee protectors, but a Kawa (re)broke my right foot in Las Vegas the day the Doc took the cast off... Happy birthday 1988!
<so leave enough space to all sides including to the handlebar and foot pegs, S/C frame...so nothing can catch your boot.
just 2 cent
Sven
PS: Ah I forgot my Norton Comando used to kick back too and she was the one who sent me from Death valley to LV into hospital.
So be carefull with the old british Ladies too.
On a '50 Panhead/562 rig I had in the past, an oil slick kicker pedal caused a shredded ankle when my foot slipped off and I caught the rear mount clamp of the hack on the way down. Like a lock kneed kickback it took quite a while to heal up.
Lonnie
Ouch!
Thanks for the replies, fellas. I think I'm going to have to go with some kind of curved pieces that extend from the bike at some upper attachments and then turn to vertical to the car frame. Then a subframe bolted at the front motor mount and at the foot pegs, with an extension towards the rear to pick up a mount there, too. I'm starting to picture something, I think.
Start by ergonomic observation. Where do your bones move when everything goes all right?
Then where would they move when something goes wrong?
At the MZ the handle bar often was in the way of the knee. (tiny 250ccm toy)
and at the Norton I would be liftet into the air or would get hit into the back of the calf of the leg.
The Kawa simply sent me up to the air with such a hammer that....well everybody on the street heard my grawl...
and 15 years long I got a perfect barometer that anounced each wheather change.
As in the case of Lonnie a clamp or even a foot peg or break cable/lever in an unlucky position might cause ugly shoutings....
then position the rig where its supposed to come to and repeat your observations.
Make a good short stiff and clean design that leaves space for the most important. "get that thing running first" For sure soon you learn to adjust indigition to optimum performance....
Most of all remember Murphey's law...
good luck
Sven
A friend of mine put his homemade sidecar on British style to accomadate his kick starter. I'll see if I can find a photo. That's probably not the right answer for you but it worked for Jerry.
There are a few lefties around. We had a nice CSC Companion leftie in the shop a few years back that we sold to a guy with a Harley Kicker, and here is a CSC FS I leftie.
The scarey part of lefties (for the monkey) here in the US is when the driver pulls out to see if there is room to pass. By the time one is far enough into the oncoming lane to see if it's clear, the hack is in harms way.
L.
Thanks for all the replies, guys. I think a plan is forming. I definitely want a right side car. I think I can fab some mounts that will work. I'll have to get a toe in under a mount but I can make it so there's a free arc space to kick-through. Luckily i have a welder friend that can do all the crucial joints or watch over me and inspect the work.
Someone on another site had an idea for a kickstart lever apparatus that would allow the rider to kick over the bike from the rear. Intriguing, but probably bad if i was stalled in traffic on a hill and what-not. Plus I don't know how I'd reach the throttle to keep it running while I clambered aboard.
For the front end I'm just going with stock tele's, spacers, heavier oil and 10 lbs of air, plus an Eagle Mike fork brace.
Stainless brake line and EBC racing pads are about all I can do to improve the brakes without spending a ton of money.
I have a rear shock from a KLR650 that I can mod. That should be good and stiff. Drop a tooth on the countersprocket to lower the gearing. Other than that all stock.
How slow can I expect this thing to be, assuming I can build a car around 200lbs? Anybody pull a car with a small bike? I know they do it in Europe all the time. There's a Vespa with a Cozy I've seen around town. Seems to motor right along on secondary roads with a big Lab in the chair!
We've mounted several Velorex 562 cars on 250 Honda Helix and Reflex scooters. Also a couple of Chinese 250 Flying Tigers. They could still run about 60 mph with a passenger aboard.
Lonnie
MotoJ - 11/28/2011 10:23 AM Hi Folks, I'm contemplating a winter project using my new welder and the obvious thing is to sling a hack on my Kawasaki KLR 250, just as an experiment. I know it's underpowered and a single shock swingarm, and the rear subframe is weak. Bad candidate and ill-advised, I know. Nevertheless, I'm going to try it. I know Doug Bingham submitted a prototype KLR 250 fold up hack to the military years ago. There're pics on the Sidestrider website. So, it can be done. Most obvious problem is accommodating the throw of the kickstarter. (Car on same side of bike as kicker is the issue). Anyone have any photos of sidecars on kickstart-only bikes? Anybody on here build such a rig? What did you do to get around the problem and still have a safe rig? I'd love to see subframes and mount photos. Any help appreciated as always!
I bought one once that had a pin instead of a bolt in the top of the rear upper mount. To kick the bike, you removed the clevis pin and swung the mount to the sidecar. Once the bike started you put it back where it belonged. I was a little nervous about it at first, but it worked out fine.
That's a great fix- no reason why it shouldn't work, so long as the pin had something to keep it from backing out of the clevis, right?. Did you have to get off the bike to reattach the mount? In order to let the bike lean-out correctly?
MotoJ - 11/29/2011 2:40 PM That's a great fix- no reason why it shouldn't work, so long as the pin had something to keep it from backing out of the clevis, right?. Did you have to get off the bike to reattach the mount? In order to let the bike lean-out correctly?
The pin looked like this, but had a ring on the head and a small cable that attached the clip.
To remove it, you sometimes had to wiggle the bike side to side. You need not get off the bike to reattach it. It simply replaced the bolt that went through the top mount.
Other good pin would be the type You use on tractors with a ring clip that swivels arround. You can hook a small chain into it and have the pin and the lever together as 1 part and do not have to fear that one of the 3 parts gets lost.....
