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Explain Mounting and Parts Needed

I just bought an older california side car. The frame has two tubes that are suposed to connect to the frame of the cycle. I am missing the part the goes on the cycle. I can't figure out what the cycle part must look like. The picture at left is what I have (off of the frame). My cycle is a 82 Yamaha Maxim 750 xj.
Where the side car frame is supposed to conect to the cycle looks like a little bucket on the end. About 1 1/2 inch deep. It has a large 1 inch hole on one side and a 3/8 inch hole on the other side. It is set at a about a 45 degree angle. If you can help please let me know. I am a newbie to this side car stuff so the more info the better thank you

There was a ball and collet that went into that tapered 'bucket' area. As things were tightened the ball could no longer move.
I would suggest maybe getting in touch with Dauntless and going from there. Many have converted the stock ends on the early rigs over to heim ends in lieu of the ball and collet connections. These are readily obtainable and do the job well.
For on the cycle itself there are strap type connectors utilized. Look at the pictures at the Dauntless website.

What you have are pre 1988 mounting bits. California Sidecar Co. can bring you up to speed with replacement connectors that fit their earlier parts.

Where in Minnesota are you? There are a few of us in Wisconsin with the same sidecar. One in Menomonie and one in Rice Lake for a few weeks yet and then it will come to Menomonie as well.

The parts you are looking for we call "bosses" They come with either a 45 or 70 dgree end on them. We keep these in stock. You will want to up grade to the newer style that use 5/8 inch heim joints on the ends as the type of conectors you have are known to fail.
Other things to watch out for on early California sidecars (latter ones are not a problem) Real early friendship 1 ( I assume this is what your sidecar is ) were made by Spirit of America and were made from Plastic on a different chassis. We will skip these as they are very rare. If your sidecar has a cast motorcycle wheel you will want to inspect the cast spokes for cracking. They are known to fail! If you do have this wheel you will want to think about up grading it. The up grade goes to a 13 inch wheel running a 145 tire on it. There are two ways to do the up grade. The first is to either shorten or replace your swing arm and of course with this also reposition your sidecar body on the frame so as to center the wheel in the wheel well. With this you simply run a trailer hub set up for a 1 inch axle. (we keep these in stock as well not only in the standard 4 hole on 4 inch pattern but we also make our own billet aluminum hubs that are 4 hole on 100mm so you have a much larger selection of wheels.) The other way you can do this is we offer a frame up grade that does away with the torrsion bar and goes to a progressive coil spring/shock assembly. With this set up we can also add a brembo disk brake.
You will also want to inspect the torrsion bar set up. Early ones where on bronze bushings that wear quickly. Latter ones where on bearings. The bearings hold up much better. Last time I checked California sidecar could not supply the bushing. At that time I offered to give their parts department the bushing number so that they could either stock it or at least pass it on. They did not want to even right it down this may have changed as this was about 5 years ago. We stock these bushings or you can pick them up at most any good bearing house. If these bushings are worn you will not be able to set the alignment and you will also find that the front end of the bike shakes badly. You will want to also check the springs. These are 5 flat bar's. They made them in a couple of lenghts. They are known to break. Last time we needed these California did offer them and had imporved thier design.
One last thing to check. If your sidecar has strap clamps for attaching to the frame of the bike the early clamps were not cross drilled with 1/4 inch bolts. These are known to fail. You will either want to put them under tension so every thing fits properly and then cross drill them for two bolts or replace them. We stock complete clamps or can also sell you just the stap and block with the 1/4 inch bolts in them.
feel free to ask any further questoins you may have.
Jay Giese
Dauntless Motors Corporation
http://www.dauntlessmotors.com