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Sidecar Logo SA

Just bought a rig with a one piece sidecar, top of car near rider has logo 'SA'
Anyone know the name of the maker of this car? Thanks.

Jake,

"SA" might be Spirit of America but I've never seen a Spirit with any marks at all. How about a picture? You can attach pictures on this site.

Thanks for the note. I'll try to send the pics, at least one. The letters SA are on the top side, under the windshield. I'll also include a pic of the car. That may help.

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Looks like an early Friendship body.

Can you tell us more about the Kawasaki Vulcan. Is it the vn800?

Pre- 1989 California Sidecar FSI (Friendship I).

Lonnie

Thanks for the info. Bike is a 2005 Kawasaki Vulcan 800B, the classic. Seems there have been some changes to the bike, not sure how many. Bought it with the car from a guy in Oregon, who said he bought it from a Harley dealer near his home. Bike has 15K miles, seems to be in pretty good shape. Thanks again.

Thanks Lonnie. Appreciate the info. Question: The wheel hub is missing its cap. Any suggestions where I might find one? Jake

Post an ad here in Misc sidecar related Wanted. They haven't been around for a long time. Someone's got one.

Lonnie

2005 was the last year of the Vulcan 800's which ran for 10 years.
Great cruisers with plenty of torque for a tug. Not to many around set up this way though. I have a 1998 with a Velorex 562.

Lonnie came through with some parts needed and is a wealth of knowledge along with the rest of the guys here.
Hope to see you post often and if there's something we can help with the Vulcan also let us know.

This is an "American Spirit" sidecar body design originally made by Spirit of America. It has the stylized SA formed into the dash. The body was made from Marlex plastic. But your sidecar was probably one of the first that was made after California Sidecar purchased the SOA company in about 1974 as yours has the CSC trade mark 8 spoke mag wheel. This body mold was reworked and they use a torsion arm suspension, 8 spoke mag wheel and the body was made from fiberglass and they got rid of the SA in the dash.

Sidehack05 1999 H-D FLHR with Champion Legend Sidecar

It's 4/3/15. Thanks to you, and to all, for the help. Appreciated. Took the car off the bike today, bikes going in for a full service. Still trying to find a cover for the hub on the cars wheel. I'm learning perserverance, like all of you folks. Thanks

Hey, Jake, are you still looking for a hub cover? I recently bought a nice Vetter Terraplane for my Voyager and it came with the original black plastic cover over the axle nut. Most of these original covers get bashed and shattered, so a lot of these sidecars run with no cover since their bearings are pretty well sealed. Ugly as sin, but not harmful. Well, I'm all for appearances so I made up an adapter ring to mount a three-point spinner. The spinner I used was from a set of four intended to be used on car wheels. They actually do spin onto the threads of a bolt-on adapter, but the adapter would make the spinner sit about another 2" out from the wheel, making it a prime target to be hit. I removed their adapter and made up my own adapter ring that bolts to the hub face and makes the spinner sit tight against the hub face. Under each "spoke" of the spinner is a set-screw, originally intended to bite into the adapter's threaded area to prevent backing off. These three set-screws now hold the spinner to my new adapter. They set into a groove that I machined into the adapter and they hold it really tight against the hub face.

Your wheel looks very similar to mine, and if you haven't found a suitable cover yet, I could make you up a spinner-cover set. You would have to give me some very accurate measurements from the bolt pattern on your hub face though. I also still have three of the four spinners from the set, so I can provide you with the whole assembly, ready to bolt on.

Here are pics of my original wheel with it's black plastic cover, then the wheel with the new spinner/cover, and a close-up of the repainted wheel with the spinner/cover. Personally I think they really gave the sidecar a big boost in appearance.

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