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An international forum for people interested in modern high performance road going sidecars.
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TimothyPilgrim
Joined: 23 Nov 2006 Posts: 6 Location: Ajax, Ontario
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Posted: Tue Dec 19, 2006 2:04 pm Post subject: A Newbie Hackster |
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Hello guys, my name is Tim, this is my first post.
I've been interested in sidecars for a while, originally coming from cruiserdom but now mounted atop a CBR1100XX. I just purchased a nice sidecar off of a nearby rider who sold it on eBay. It's a Hitchhiker model with a colour very near that, almost perfect, to my Candy Pheonix Blue bike. It was unfortunately painted with silver flames to match the PO's old Harley, but I'll probably just leave them there until after it's mounted to my bike.
So the next step is installation. I've found a sidecar dealer/installer a couple hours from my house, but he won't be able to work on it until March, will require 3 weeks turnaround, and the cost, while high at ~$800, is in line with what I've seen other dealers charge. The XX doesn't have a tube frame, so a subframe will need to be fabricated for attachment. Currently they both sit, next to my wife's Bandit 1200, in my garage for the winter months.
So, here I wait.
Tim |
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TimothyPilgrim
Joined: 23 Nov 2006 Posts: 6 Location: Ajax, Ontario
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Posted: Tue Dec 19, 2006 2:16 pm Post subject: |
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The Bike:
The Sidecar:
Tim |
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zentime
Joined: 22 Jan 2005 Posts: 837 Location: Massachusetts USA
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Bandit Bill
Joined: 31 Jan 2005 Posts: 202 Location: Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
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Posted: Wed Dec 20, 2006 2:01 pm Post subject: Re: A Newbie Hackster |
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TimothyPilgrim wrote: | Hello guys, my name is Tim, this is my first post.
I've been interested in sidecars for a while, originally coming from cruiserdom but now mounted atop a CBR1100XX. I just purchased a nice sidecar off of a nearby rider who sold it on eBay. It's a Hitchhiker model with a colour very near that, almost perfect, to my Candy Pheonix Blue bike. It was unfortunately painted with silver flames to match the PO's old Harley, but I'll probably just leave them there until after it's mounted to my bike.
So the next step is installation. I've found a sidecar dealer/installer a couple hours from my house, but he won't be able to work on it until March, will require 3 weeks turnaround, and the cost, while high at ~$800, is in line with what I've seen other dealers charge. The XX doesn't have a tube frame, so a subframe will need to be fabricated for attachment. Currently they both sit, next to my wife's Bandit 1200, in my garage for the winter months.
So, here I wait.
Tim |
Hi Tim:
Welcome to the forum, from the other side of the GTA.
Beyond attaching the sidecar to the CBR-XX with a subframe, have you any other planned changes to make the outfit act as a unit?
Looks like an interesting project in the making.
And my photo site link, which you may or may not find handy for ideas in putting your setup together.
http://www.chairintheair.ca/gallery/v/website/ _________________ Homebrew '99 Suzuki Bandit 1200 / '88 Hannigan Comet
'78 Honda CT70 playbike
http://www.chairintheair.ca |
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TimothyPilgrim
Joined: 23 Nov 2006 Posts: 6 Location: Ajax, Ontario
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Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2007 8:11 pm Post subject: |
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Great links guys. Thanks.
Bill, I'd still like to have my 2-wheeler available for solo riding, so I don't intend to convert the front end. What's it called, a leading link suspension? Or is it a reverse trailing link suspension?
I also don't know about what I can do myself. If I were planning to mount it on the wife's bike, a Bandit 1200, I'd do it myself because it's got a tubular frame. But the XX does not, hence the need for expertise. Budget is tight now though as I've got my firstborn arriving in a month or so.
Tim _________________ Canada's Motorcycle Podcast
http://www.thetwistedwrist.com
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Bandit Bill
Joined: 31 Jan 2005 Posts: 202 Location: Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
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Posted: Wed Jan 03, 2007 12:16 am Post subject: |
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TimothyPilgrim wrote: | Great links guys. Thanks.
Bill, I'd still like to have my 2-wheeler available for solo riding, so I don't intend to convert the front end. What's it called, a leading link suspension? Or is it a reverse trailing link suspension?
I also don't know about what I can do myself. If I were planning to mount it on the wife's bike, a Bandit 1200, I'd do it myself because it's got a tubular frame. But the XX does not, hence the need for expertise. Budget is tight now though as I've got my firstborn arriving in a month or so.
Tim |
Hi Tim:
I don't want to dissuade you from a plan, or experiencing setting up a rig of your own, according to your own mechanical/fabrication aptitude.. but i guess i need to interject a little reality into the process of planning, whether you want it or not
First off.. frankly, the CBR-XX is going to need work to make it an outfit with that sidecar, work that will disqualify it from being an easy-on / easy-off solo motorcycle.
A properly fabricated sub-frame is likely going to require mods to your bodywork, and it may also cause some clearance issues in cornering. A sub-frame by it's nature, is not an easy-on / easy-off affair, generally speaking.
You are going to need to look at spring rates of your suspension, even keeping the stock solo suspension. You'll need to stiffen up all three points of the triangle. In pulling the sidecar off for solo use, you'll likely then find the CBR-XX is an extremely harsh ride .. comparatively speaking, it'll now be shaker bicycle in terms of suspension compliance, or lack thereof.
The first year i took my rig to Deals Gap (04), i had just mounted my sidecar on and gone through round 1 of mods - rear car tire, and swaybar. Front suspension was stock telescopics - It was dangerous, and did NOT want to corner. I almost did an endo off into a Blue Ridge Mountain abyss, because it would not turn when it needed to, no matter the desperate muscling i gave it at that moment of near disaster. Your's will have that similar trait of handling like a fully loaded Mack truck with a shot power steering box, without suspension mods..
I don't want to dissuade you from the sidecar experience, but it might be more economical for you to buy, modify AND insure a more appropriate motorcycle and set it up as a dedicated rig for the upcoming 'family rides', while leaving the CBR-XX unmolested for 'getaway from the family' rides if you aren't prepared from the outset to put a bit of money into a rig that will be both safe and enjoyable, by general sidecar duty standards, or the higher performance variety.
I'm thinking that chair would go very well with an 1100 V-Star or similar.. in terms of compatability and the lesser overall need for changes to a more appropriate bike...
Simply my opinion, such as it is. Take with a grain of salt _________________ Homebrew '99 Suzuki Bandit 1200 / '88 Hannigan Comet
'78 Honda CT70 playbike
http://www.chairintheair.ca |
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Bandit Bill
Joined: 31 Jan 2005 Posts: 202 Location: Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
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Posted: Wed Jan 03, 2007 12:41 am Post subject: |
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As a secondary thought..
It might actually be easier to approach the project from this angle, if you've got a competent fabricator on your side..
http://www.armec.com/kmr1.html
This way, you can leave the suspension largely alone, retain all of your stock front end bits, and have the potential of easy-on/easy-off a lot easier than a rigid rig _________________ Homebrew '99 Suzuki Bandit 1200 / '88 Hannigan Comet
'78 Honda CT70 playbike
http://www.chairintheair.ca |
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zentime
Joined: 22 Jan 2005 Posts: 837 Location: Massachusetts USA
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Posted: Wed Jan 03, 2007 3:12 pm Post subject: |
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Bandit Bill wrote: | TimothyPilgrim wrote: | Great links guys. Thanks.
Bill, I'd still like to have my 2-wheeler available for solo riding, so I don't intend to convert the front end. What's it called, a leading link suspension? Or is it a reverse trailing link suspension?
I also don't know about what I can do myself. If I were planning to mount it on the wife's bike, a Bandit 1200, I'd do it myself because it's got a tubular frame. But the XX does not, hence the need for expertise. Budget is tight now though as I've got my firstborn arriving in a month or so.
Tim |
Hi Tim:
I don't want to dissuade you from a plan, or experiencing setting up a rig of your own, according to your own mechanical/fabrication aptitude.. but i guess i need to interject a little reality into the process of planning, whether you want it or not
First off.. frankly, the CBR-XX is going to need work to make it an outfit with that sidecar, work that will disqualify it from being an easy-on / easy-off solo motorcycle.
A properly fabricated sub-frame is likely going to require mods to your bodywork, and it may also cause some clearance issues in cornering. A sub-frame by it's nature, is not an easy-on / easy-off affair, generally speaking.
You are going to need to look at spring rates of your suspension, even keeping the stock solo suspension. You'll need to stiffen up all three points of the triangle. In pulling the sidecar off for solo use, you'll likely then find the CBR-XX is an extremely harsh ride .. comparatively speaking, it'll now be shaker bicycle in terms of suspension compliance, or lack thereof.
The first year i took my rig to Deals Gap (04), i had just mounted my sidecar on and gone through round 1 of mods - rear car tire, and swaybar. Front suspension was stock telescopics - It was dangerous, and did NOT want to corner. I almost did an endo off into a Blue Ridge Mountain abyss, because it would not turn when it needed to, no matter the desperate muscling i gave it at that moment of near disaster. Your's will have that similar trait of handling like a fully loaded Mack truck with a shot power steering box, without suspension mods..
I don't want to dissuade you from the sidecar experience, but it might be more economical for you to buy, modify AND insure a more appropriate motorcycle and set it up as a dedicated rig for the upcoming 'family rides', while leaving the CBR-XX unmolested for 'getaway from the family' rides if you aren't prepared from the outset to put a bit of money into a rig that will be both safe and enjoyable, by general sidecar duty standards, or the higher performance variety.
I'm thinking that chair would go very well with an 1100 V-Star or similar.. in terms of compatability and the lesser overall need for changes to a more appropriate bike...
Simply my opinion, such as it is. Take with a grain of salt |
Well put Bill. That needed to be said. I'm sure it's what a lot of us were thinking. Not what you wanted to hear I'm sure Tim but Bill, having done the incremental approach is speaking from experience. There are a ton of cheap good used bikes out there you could put a sidecar on. Get an EasySteer kit or have the top tree modified on whatever bike you can find. Nothing worse than a sidecar that doesn't work well. You could probably put together some sort of conventional rig on a bike with a frame that worked pretty well for you at this stage. And probably cheaper and safer. One of our members here, Norm P has done some pretty interesting things. Maybe he'll chime in with some suggestions.
bill |
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TimothyPilgrim
Joined: 23 Nov 2006 Posts: 6 Location: Ajax, Ontario
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Posted: Wed Jan 03, 2007 6:06 pm Post subject: |
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Excellent advice guys and that's why I'm here, to gain knowledge from those wiser than I. I still want/need the sidecar rig since I'm adding a 3rd member to the family. My wife and I both want our child to grow up with bikes, and this is a good way to do it we feel. Of course, I don't want to compromise safety either, so if I have to go the hardcore route, so be it.
And it may end up that we put the sidecar on the Bandit, in fact that's a very realistic possibility. My wife is a more laid back rider and values the travel experience moreso than highspeed leaning. That the colours don't match is a non-issue, we're quite skilled in repainting motorcycles.
The leaning hacks are a new concept to me and that Armec looks sweet. Hmmm.
Tim _________________ Canada's Motorcycle Podcast
http://www.thetwistedwrist.com
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Flint
Joined: 07 Aug 2005 Posts: 91 Location: Austria
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Posted: Wed Jan 03, 2007 8:09 pm Post subject: |
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Hi Tim
If you think on a leaner Concept, dont forget the other one who is building such things. I was owner of a Kalich Swing and i think its a very good possibility.
Look at this one, maybe the colour is not really good, but it is a bandit 1200 and the combination is ok.
this one and more on http://www.kalich.de/html/schwenker.html
and this one was mine, i was so happy with it
if you need some infos about this one, tell me, i try to answer you.
good luck by surching the wright one
some tecnical infos on my site (only in german) http://www.flint.at/html/schwenker.html |
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