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Getting a Gemini Ready for the Road (fixed fotos)

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Hello All,

I'm the proud owner of an Auburn Gemini! (Same molds as the Ride-by-Side and the TwinStar, but predates them both). I'm disassembling the unit for painting, inspection and general rebuild. She'll need a new interior before she gets mounted too. It came off a GoldWing GL1000 and I plan to mount 'er to a GL1100. Mounting hardware was included!

I have a few questions before I get too deep.

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1. The wheel rim needs to be either replaced, or rechromed or otherwise refinished. I'm considering replacement. The rim I have is 13-inch with 4 bolts. While looking up rims on-line, there are a few more numbers to consider. As an example, I see a 13-inch, 4-100 or 4-110 (as well as others). What does the 100 and 110 mean? Is that the measurement of the hub hole in millimeters? Distance between studs? Stud diameter? What is the wheel off-set?

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2. Can I mount any 'ol 13-inch tire on the wheel or do I need to match the original as close as I can? Radial or Bias Ply? Does it matter?

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3. I don't know anything about the shock, so I'd like to replace it. How does one go about sizing a replacement shock as far as strength? Is an air shock an option?

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4. Going to replace the wheel bearings too. No questions here other that if anyone knows of anything unusual about this hub, I'd appreciate it.

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Thanks in advance for all your help and encouragement!!

If you can find a short air shock, you can give yourself some easy ride adjust. We used to use a bicycle hand pump on the Hitchhiker. About three strokes took you from very soft to very hard.

Looks like a standard 4 on 4" trailer hub with 1" axle stub and Timken bearings.
Measure the offset needed from wheel mounting flange to the swingarm pivot point. Do the same with a mounted replacement wheel. A 13" high speed trailer wheel/tire assembly will work just fine.

L.

Thanks Mike, Thanks Lonnie,

I'll keep you posted as the restoration continues. Bolts that haven't moved in 30+ years sure don't like to move now!!

Mike, Just checking, The three strokes were on the bicycle pump, right? 😉

OK, got the tub off the frame and have removed the windscreen, reflectors, brake light and other misc nuts and bolts. Fender and tub are at the paint shop while I ready the frame and tug. Found that GL1100 air shocks are the right length. Handy as the tug is a GL1100 and consistency of parts, IMHO, adds to the elegance of the solution.

Windscreen:
It's rather cloudy and has paint on it from a PO's ham handed paint job. Can this be cleaned up? Replaced? The creases in the screen are all pretty straight. Would it be difficult to get a lexan sheet of similar thickness (3/16th it looks like) then use heat and a straight edge to make my own?

Windsheild doesn't look all that bad. Find yourself a tube of Flitz Polish and follow the directions on the box.

Thanks for the tip Mike. I see my local Auto Zone has tubes in stock. Not cheap, but not outrageous either. I'll give 'er a shot!

OldSchool_IsCool - 3/7/2011 12:38 PM Thanks for the tip Mike. I see my local Auto Zone has tubes in stock. Not cheap, but not outrageous either. I'll give 'er a shot!

🙂 It lasts a long time. I'm still using a tube I bought in 2004 for the Valkyrie.

If you do end up needing a replacement, yes, you can bend it your self or I can look up where I had a replacement made in original size. You might also think about how high or low you want it. I cut mine and contoured it some to have a lower one for the kids, but my wife likes a higher shield. I've got a local guy who is going to make me a higher one as soon as I get off my duff and measure how high my wife would like it.

Here is what it looks like with the short windshield.

DFW Ride for Kids

Thanks Sidecar! Looks AWESOME!

It would appear that there was a change to the fender configuration in the years between your car and mine. My fender is much bigger and covers the shock. Also, my shock angles to the back, not the front.

As for the windscreen, I'm guna try to clean it up as suggested already. If it doesn't turn out, then I'll try bending my own. I wana keep mine rather tall as I plan to mount a bow behind the seat to drape a convertable-ish canopy for sun and/or rain protection. I've seen a picture of just such a setup in the photo gallery here, but can't seem to find it now.

As I mentioned before, Happiness is not only an empty bladder and a full tank (ala Mike), it's also takes a contented monkey! But I have found that calling her a monkey does NOT lead to contentment 🙁 And "ballast" doesn't work either -- double
🙁

Yes, I notice the differences you're talking about. My frame is also made of square tubing rather than the round in yours, but it all looks similar and has the same tub. You probably already know that Texas Sidecars (now in Leonard, TX) inherited/bought the molds for this model, but they had a fire at some point that damaged the molds and have chosen not to redo them. If you do need something for yours, Bob at Texas Sidecars might be able to help with that.

For lighting, as you can see, I wired up a basic $20 driving light going forward and ran the wires underneath along the frame to quick connects to the bike. I started with 100 watt, but changed to 55 as it seemed to be too bright for those in front of me. I used some surface mount oval LED taillights on the back (surface mount so that I only had to drill holes big enough to run the wires inside), but realize I don't have any pics of the back.

I'll be very interested in how the canopy turns out. I had considered that at one point, but never gotten excited enough about it to take action.

Here's one of the last Texas "Twinstar's" made. Note that the shock/swing-arm is set up different than the Gemini. Frame is square tubing and it used a trailer fender.

Lonnie

Attached files

Thanks for those pics.

Same frame & shock setup (different shock, though) as mine. I removed the chrome trim piece around the middle when I painted it all black. On mine, the wheel has an exagerated natural negative camber that I wish wasn't there or was decreased a bit, but it appears that the block on the frame that mounts the wheel assembly was made that way from when it was assembled. But, I'm guessing you've seen every kind of combination imaginable with all the rigs you have seen and had a hand in.

Looks like someone did a nice job on the taillight in the fender. I keep thinking about putting a turn signal out there to go along with the running/brake lights I mounted on the rear of the tub.

Thanks Sidecar, Thanks Lonnie!

Yes, that fendor is definitly different than mine. My fender is a BEAST in comparison! It bolts up directly to the tub. My painter has found stress cracks in the tub's fiberglass right where the fender connects and is prolly a result of the heavy fender bouncing along. There are a couple of lower supports for the fender (you can make 'em out in a few of the photos in the original post). Those lower supports were attached to the underside of the body at only one point (read poor mechanical support!). I'm guna see if I can attache the fender without need to bolt to the tub. That way I can pull the tub and drop a cartop carrier on the frame instead and still have a fendor with brake light.

Lonnie,

I see the cover on that car is secured with snaps. Any issues with stressing the fiberglass? I'm considering using turn buttons so that I'm less likely to rip a snap out when I remove the cover. Am I being needlessly concerned?

I've got the same cover setup on mine. No issues on it pulling anything out of the body. Mine does flap enough that it rubs the paint where the edge of the cover contacts it, but we use ours as the family SUV for my kids and lots of others and I don't worry about scratches or rubs here and there.

Look forward to seeing how yours comes out. Are you going to use the tub and the car carrier interchangeably or is the rig going to be more of a freight hauler?

Gary

Gary,

Thanks for the advice on the snaps. I'm going to look in snaps a little closer as turn buttons are not only more expensive, they require special tools to install. And those tools are CRAZY money! So much so that I was just going to farm out the top to a custom boat cover maker. That would be an expensive option too, but the results would prolly be much better.

I imagine the setup will be 80% sidecar, 10% hauler and 10% solo. Those numbers may change if my monkey... er.. wife... finds the car uncomfortable. Since we wana take our pooch along with us, she may ride pillion with the dog (and a whole lota ballast) in the car. If that's the case, I may put a lexan bubble and venting in the carrier for the dog and use that more.

I like the flexibility, in theory anyway!

Body and fender sanded, filled and primed. Ready for paint next week! The primer was lifting the original paint, so had to sand it A LOT!!!

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What color are you going with? Any graphics?

Gloss black on the fender and below the body seam, metalic gold above the seam. Prolly paint the tire rim gold too. And a black convertible cover. No graphics or stripes.

Here is the fender with final color. The painter found a deal on a metalic black, so I went for it!

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