Bleading the front brake !

[fredintoon]

Hi ret'dgent,
I caught my lady 28 years ago but she wouldn't ride pillion. Said if she wanted to sit like that she'd get a medical checkup. I installed the sidecar so she'd ride to bike rallies with me. These days the rig's "chick magnet" function works to attract the elderly and their grandchildren to visit with the rig in supermarket car parks.
And Ken,
if your bike had been wearing a sidecar it's ancient tires wouldn't have gripped the cold drive any better but you'd have been able to spin the rig through a 180 and drive away from the garage instead of falling off the bike trying not to hit it.

 

[Bob Kelly III]

you know that may not be such a bad idea ! the old tires on my Haritage have seen better days..... rather than spending a few bucks on new tires I could spend thousands on a sidecar and not have to change my tires ! what a brilliant idea !!!!!! LOL !
( sorry I couldn't resist !!!!! )
....
Bob............

 

[fredintoon]

you know that may not be such a bad idea ! the old tires on my Heritage have seen better days..... rather than spending a few bucks on new tires I could spend thousands on a sidecar and not have to change my tires ! what a brilliant idea !!!!!! LOL !
( sorry I couldn't resist !!!!! )
Bob............

Hi Bob,
you ol' exaggerator you.
Reasonable quality new rubber on the bike can be got for a tad less than $100 a wheel. Mebbe $200 a wheel if only the best will do for you.
OTOH, any fool can weld up a rectangle from square tube and bolt an indespension unit on it to make a sidecar frame for about the same money.
Then scrounge up an old chest deepfreeze from the dump to make a carrier box for free.
A brilliant idea indeed!

 

[Bob Kelly III]

LOL Yah I know I made 2 side cars from DT1 Rear sections of the frame ( engines were blown) welded some water pipe to the Wheel suspension and actually welded it to the bike ! .... It worked but wasn't the best in the world, anything over 45 was gettinng kind'a harry !
but Store bought Side cars cost big bucks ! you are very fortunate to have the one ya got my friend ! their really hard to find now days !
and at last check it was minimum of $75. 00 for the front tire and over $100 for the rear..... I needed some for my Honda shadow 1100cc
that's the cheapest they had ! I asked him don't you have $25 dollar tires any more and he laughed ! and believe me I wouldn't have given him $25.00 for his cheepest tire ! it was paper thin and would ball up if you had a flat before you could stop ! that's Lees Honda/Kawasaki in Redding california for ya ! ..... stick it to ya at every turn !
but HAY I gott'a Hurrass ya ! if we didn't give you a bad time you'ed think we were mad at ya ! LOL
hahahaha !
Later!
Bob...........

 

[fredintoon]

Hi Bob,
yeah, bike dealers can swim with sharks because the sharks are scared of them.
But you WELDED your sidecar on? And you wonder why it rode all hairy?
A sidecar's attachments have to be ADJUSTABLE fer fuxake!
I learned all about that a long time back, Mr. Careless set up my BSA/Garrard rig with 2-5/8" toe-in instead of 5/8".
Weird thing is, that extreme misalignment didn't affect the rig's handling at all. It was lucky that 100 miles later
I happened to notice that my newly installed sidecar tire's tread had worn down so far that it's cords were showing.
Agreed that new sidecars ain't cheap but WTF is, these days?
A bottom of the line Velorex costs $4,000+ and they'll add another $1,000+ in accessories if you let 'em.
Sidecars made by Cozy cost less but those lightweights are best installed on scooters or lightweights.
Mind you, used bargains can be had if you keep looking. I bought my collision-damaged '82 Velorex 562 for Cdn$500.
Cost me another C-note in parts plus a load of effort to fix and install it.

 

[kshansen]

you know that may not be such a bad idea ! the old tires on my Haritage have seen better days..... rather than spending a few bucks on new tires I could spend thousands on a sidecar and not have to change my tires ! what a brilliant idea !!!!!! LOL !
( sorry I couldn't resist !!!!! )
....
Bob............

Well as fred probably already knows I have the sidecar that was on my 1981 XS650 for over 15 years. It is very rough but a possibility and I also have a twin to the one he has on his XS650. So for me out of pocket hanging on a sidecar would be free or at the worst the price of some bits of tubing to put the better one on there. I'd just like to ride it solo for a bit to be sure it is "Good to Go". And if I want to go "picking up chicks" I have a Sportster with a sidecar on it!

 

[Bob Kelly III]

HAHA Sounds like your sidecar poor kshansen....
I have no idea how to setp a side car.... I guessed at it it had 1/2" tow in if I remember right and sense we lived 2 miled out from a paved road
I made it strong.....LOL
I placed the side car tire at the half way point between the bikes tires and out i think 4 feet sense the dt1 frame /swing arm was so wide
all in all the expirement was a flop as it was scary to drive.... I took it to town 20 miles away several times just getting used to it...
I had it welded to a 250 suzuki twin.... which had the guts to get up and go.....it pulled it nicely I found I could lean and get the tire off the ground doing left hand turns and right hand turns I could really hook in there.....but straight lines were scarry I guess I didn't have enough toe in ...LOL
my 2nd one was the same setup same old frame but bolted on with plates I'ed made this time I set the wheel back from center about a foot
it was better but not much.... that was my total experience with side cars LOL never did put a shell or seat in it I did put a big metal box in it, but couldn't get the tire off the ground any more LOL
and that helped the handling allot.... but it just wasn't as fun to ride as a normal bike to me so I took it back off
.... Bob........

 

[Bob Kelly III]

I'm thinking about making up my own bronze bushings for the rear swing arm, from hardware store ones if I can find the right size ...
I discovered there is no need to put Zerks in as it has a zerk on the end of the swing arm.... I guess earlier ones don't ???
.....
I havn't pulled it appart yet but I'm thinking about it ! LOL
I spent most of the night cleaning cylinder fins with a wire wheel and they do look a bit better but they definately need something more !
they were at one time painted black.... I think with most of the paint gone now I was just trying to get it all off.... didn't quite work out as planned !
it's still ugly as sin !
Bob........