Hello from Waller, Texas

My name is Randy Bain.  Been riding most of my life and have a bit of sidecar experience.  The first rig was a Sputnik married to a Honda 550K1 (my old road race bike).  What an introduction that was.  Fettling the "quirks" of the Russin made rig taught me a bit about setting up a new rig.  

Living in Texas doesn’t afford much opportunity to take formal classes so on the advice of DMC a copy of David Hough’s “Driving a Sidecar Outfit” was purchased along with a bunch of cones.  Within a few sessions it was easy to fly the chair and operate the outfit.  Not the best way to learn but not the worst.

Current rig is a 1998 Motor Guzzi V11 (California) with a DMC hack.  The rig has electrically adjustable lean out, hydraulic brakes, and custom triple tree.  The brakes feed from the bike's rear master cylinder through a Wilwood pressure adjuster and a dry break. 

Servicing the bike with the chair attached blows so a dry break was installed in the line feeding the sidecar caliper.  The sidecar can be removed in less than 30 minutes.  A service stand was constructed to make the process easier.  The disconnected sidecar is easy to move and remount using the service stand.

I allowed the rig to sit up for a couple of years (no excuse) which, predictably, played havoc with the fuel system.  The tank was flushed and descaled.  All fuel lines were replaced with ethanol resistant hose.  The filter and fuel pump were replaced with new units.  Finally, the injectors were cleaned ultrasonically and fitted with new o-rings.

Ok, a bit more than a simple introduction. 

Randy