1 On the road at last Fri Apr 25, 2014 10:48 am
carlmclelland
active member
Well after two months of fitting it in between work & other things I finally took her for the Mot this morning and she went straight through (phew). I have never fitted a sidecar before but I must say that any question I had or any problem that arose was answered from this forum. Absolutely brilliant to get that sort of input when you need advice.
I would like to thank Sidecar Paul & Albyalbatross1 for sending me the drawings for their subframe designs, thanks a lot lads they were really appreciated. I decided to go for half & half as I had the materials for Alby's lower subframe design but I also liked Paul's idea of separate upper bar mounts. I wanted to try and avoid the continuing bars coming up the side of the bike so with this in mind I constructed the lower subframe that fits the the engine & centre stand holes & used mounting clamps to the frame for the upper angled bars. The rear one was easy & the front one took a while due to me having to remove the radiator, hoses & some fairing etc. I had to make two cuts with my trusty Dremel in the belly pan cover so it fitted round the subframe & one cut on the side fairing for the front upper bar. It was worth it for me has I wanted to keep the bike as much like before has I could & I didn't want to loose any fairing parts. I'm just glad that the toeing in & the lean out were ok has this was my biggest worry. The front forks are too soft for my liking so I'm going to replace the fork oil with a 10w and take it from there. Also the rear shock is too soft so I will be on the lookout for a more rigid one. I replaced the standard BMW damper with an adjustable one as the original was shot but I'm considering a damper from the forks to the sidecar. I have rode solo bikes for 35 years but never before a combo and I have to say it was different, lol. Any views on the damper from the bike to the chair would be greatly appreciated.
Forgot to say the colour matching is not on my list this year so I can live with the sky blue & silvery white. Besides when I put my shades on it tones it down, lol.
I would like to thank Sidecar Paul & Albyalbatross1 for sending me the drawings for their subframe designs, thanks a lot lads they were really appreciated. I decided to go for half & half as I had the materials for Alby's lower subframe design but I also liked Paul's idea of separate upper bar mounts. I wanted to try and avoid the continuing bars coming up the side of the bike so with this in mind I constructed the lower subframe that fits the the engine & centre stand holes & used mounting clamps to the frame for the upper angled bars. The rear one was easy & the front one took a while due to me having to remove the radiator, hoses & some fairing etc. I had to make two cuts with my trusty Dremel in the belly pan cover so it fitted round the subframe & one cut on the side fairing for the front upper bar. It was worth it for me has I wanted to keep the bike as much like before has I could & I didn't want to loose any fairing parts. I'm just glad that the toeing in & the lean out were ok has this was my biggest worry. The front forks are too soft for my liking so I'm going to replace the fork oil with a 10w and take it from there. Also the rear shock is too soft so I will be on the lookout for a more rigid one. I replaced the standard BMW damper with an adjustable one as the original was shot but I'm considering a damper from the forks to the sidecar. I have rode solo bikes for 35 years but never before a combo and I have to say it was different, lol. Any views on the damper from the bike to the chair would be greatly appreciated.
Forgot to say the colour matching is not on my list this year so I can live with the sky blue & silvery white. Besides when I put my shades on it tones it down, lol.
Last edited by carlmclelland on Fri Apr 25, 2014 11:02 am; edited 1 time in total