Hello all,
So, a little introduction. I have been riding for over 40 years and have a large collection of vintage motorcycles, all of which I have restored myself and all of which get ridden regularly now matter how rare they are. My girlfriend has always ridden with me and she loves riding. However, for the last 2 years, some physical & medical ailments with her legs prevent her from being able to sit on the back of a bike anymore. So I started considering a sidecar hack, which I have never owned or ridden one. So after a long time looking for something suitable to me, I found the bike mentioned in the subject line. I always like the 1st generation Goldwings and didn't have on in my collection yet. So I bought the complete setup from a very nice owner. Upon getting the bike home and inspecting things I noticed that one of the mounting brackets seemed to be moving around and I didn't think it should be. Attached you will find some pictures of what I saw. I think there should be another piece inside the bracket that mates up to the frame when the attachment piece is threaded in further and locks the bracket in place. As of now it can and does slide up and down on the frame. Can someone send me a pic of what I should be looking for, and where I can get one?
Thanks,
Rob
The clamps is Champion's "universal" frame clamp. These usually work very well if tightened enough and used in the manor as it is on this bike. I.E. trying to resist sliding up and down not resisting a twisting motion. When we tighten these up we tighten them very tight, the keep turning in order to get the angle right for the bolt to go in. Normally we use an 18 inch crescent wrench as it has a wide jaw for maximum contact with the eye bolt. It is very hard to over tighten these. One thing I did notice on this however is the eye bolt is a lot longer then needed. It works better when it is shorter. If your strut has enough adjustment you might shorten this eye bolt. Take the clamp off. thread the block or a nut down the treads then cut it off with a hack saw or similar, grind/file it flat when you remove the block or nut it will chase the treads for you. And you are right, you are missing the "slipper" Champion has these as do we. $15 With out this slipper the frame will be damaged and it will not hold.
You may be able to move this clamp higher up on the frame of the bike, it would work better and clear the spot on the frame that may have damage from the lack of a slipper.
Once you have ridden it a while you might try and remove the steering damper, Champions damper is quite stiff, often not needed and does make steering a lot harder.
When if comes time for a front tire go with a flat profile sidecar tire I like Heidenou tires. They do not really last any longer but your stopping distance may be shorter and they have less of a tendency for a front end shake.
I put over 150K on the GL1000/1100's with sidecars. If you do not know the service history change the timing belts. These can be had at an auto parts store for a Civic for less money then buying the same belt in a "motorcycle" parts package. I would also go ahead and replace the water pump and tensioner bearings as long as you are that far in. Then refill the cooling system with Honda coolant. Aftermarket coolants seem to take out the water pump seals.
Jay G
DMC sidecars
Hours Monday - Thursday 6-4:30 west coast time
866-638-1793
www.dmcsidecars.com
Thanks for the reply Jay.
I just spoke to you and ordered the part. When I get the slipped and tighten up the eye bolt against the slipper (right now the eye bolt is back almost all the way out) I am sure that will make the i-bolt not as long and hopefully ok. I will try to move the clamp up higher and repair the frame damage that is already there. Doesn't look to bad. Some sanding and paint and should be fine.
I already ordered some new Gates timing belts for the bike as I agree with you that since I didn't know the history, I wanted to get these changed asap. The radiator was just replaced by the PO in September with all new antifreeze. He gave me the leftovers and it is safe for aluminum engines, so it should be okay. I cannot seem to find a replacement for the timing belt tensioners though. Any thoughts? They appear to not be rebuildable.
Thanks for advice on the steering damper. It is indeed difficult to steer and I may try removing it later and see how it acts.
Do you have any recommendations for a rear tire that would fit on this bike and be more sidecar friendly? Something car like perhaps?
Thanks again for help,
Rob Hatfield
It has been a long time since I worked on one of these. I always purchased the bearings from Honda as well as a water pump gasket set. As to the rear tire, no good recommendations. When I had mine I ran a custom built 15 inch automotive wheel and a 145 tire. Not all that hard for a Fabricator to change the rim on your type wheels. Not some thing we are currently offering. You would have to run a 135 15 inch tire I had to modify the swing arm of my GL1100 to run a 145. The rim needs to be an automotive rim NOT a motorcycle rim as in the 15 inch size motorcycle rims are lager diameter then automotive rims. Coker tire offers a 135 15 tire. Changing to an automotive rear wheel also helps with the gearing as early GL1000 tend to be geared high. Sidecars eat up rear tires quickly. I recommend you run what you have for a while. Chances are you are going to get hooked on sidecars and will start dreaming of the next rig as such may not want to put a lot of money into this one.
Your bike will always steer hard unless you reduce the trail which traditionally was done with a leading link on these bikes. Newer bikes with larger diameter fork tubes we often will go with triple tree's that change the angle of the forks which while looking like you have "raked" the front end you have not changed the rake at all, just reduced trail. I only know of one company making these tree's (machine and design) and I was a whole lot less then impressed with the product or the company when we tried a set on a GL1100. They were on and off the bike many times and had we not had a milling machine would never have worked. The tree's while needing to be made in 3D were made 2D with part bolted on with out lock washers or locktite. They gave us a partial refund however it took them about 6 months of sending us checks $20 and $30 at a time. I have however heard good reviews on some of their other triple tree's
In the mean time, go with the least expensive tire on the rear you can find that has a high enough load capacity. In general cheap tires tend to be harder rubber and some times last longer. If not at least the tire was cheaper.
Jay G
DMC sidecars
866-638-1793
