Ha - I knew you couldnt resist the urge..

Yep - we fill 'em up with bags of cement over here.

Dai wrote:Yep - we fill 'em up with bags of cement over here.

They do that in Italy too. Put it in your boots when you are going swimming.

Waz wrote:Love the look of that front tyre Waz. What is it?

MITAS E-07 rear enduro.

Was in all the stuff I got from Rockman.

I run them on the back of my Super Tenere.  Keep an eye on the tyre pressure, they lose more than the main brands it seems, Heidenau is worse (thats my Super Tenere front tyre).

Al

Rockman wrote:Ha - I knew you couldnt resist the urge..

Ditto.

Al

what size rim and tyre did you fit to the chair.
the DJP I have runs a 10" inch. yours looks bigger, might be the angle of the pic.

It's a 10inch mini mag, 145 10.

The MITAS E-07 will be going soon. picked this up through the week, next bit to fit.

I took 140kgs of salt out of it today it makes a big difference.

Waz wrote:It got the better of me, looking at it almost ready to ride was too much, I took it or it took me for a ride without a leading link or steering damper it shook a bit and scared the crap out of me, tried to turn left and it scared the crap out of me. I took it  home and parked it for half an hour and couldn't help my self again so I took the seat out and went to the pool shop to get 7 x bags of salt for the pool on the way home I realized what a real scare was. The extra weight made every thing more noticeable it's too much fun. Better than a roller coaster. I see why they are addictive.


Thanks Al for the tips on what to expect. Still took me by surprise when I loaded it up with salt.

The weight made left corners stable but almost ripped the bars off trying to turn right.

To help counter that, accelerate or hold your speed up till you turn right.  At the beginning of the right turn, turn into the corner AND chop(or reduce) the throttle at the same time the momentum of the sidecar will help you turn into the corner which lessens how much muscle you have to use.  

Push that to the limit(on purpose) and that's how you see sidecars do 180 degree turns on loose surfaces.

For left turns, go slow in and accelerate the bike around the corner.  The whole thing wants to turn left anyway, use it to your advantage.  If  you dont know the left turn and cant see the turn, go slow.  If it tightens up and you are going too fast to handle it you may end up in a bit of trouble.  Take it steady while you're working it out.

I carry enough ballast that the sidecar will still lift around left corners (if I want it to).  Probably around 10kg of toolbox/tools and a 10 litre water container strapped inside the left side of the sidecar 'boot'.

Thanks Al 

I was doing the opposite yesterday. I backed off into left hander and it pulled to right and when I was turning right I was accelerating so It was trying to pull left. If there are two ways to do it I will do it wrong the first time. Will try the 20kg bag a cement, 140kgs made it dance a bit but I don't have a ute anymore so it had to be done.

Waz wrote:Thanks Al 

I was doing the opposite yesterday. I backed off into left hander and it pulled to right and when I was turning right I was accelerating so It was trying to pull left. If there are two ways to do it I will do it wrong the first time. Will try the 20kg bag a cement, 140kgs made it dance a bit but I don't have a ute anymore so it had to be done.

A passenger and a stack of gear will run you up towards 140 kg.

Having a bit of trouble getting a willing passenger, even the dog won't go near it.
Should have a leading link on it tomorrow afternoon.

With the dog you might have to take it in stages to make him/her comfortable with it.  Depends on the dogs nature and previous experience. 

1. Just get the dog to sit in the sidecar while you're fiddling about nearby, give him his bedding and maybe some treats.  make it a nice place to be.
   
2. Start the engine and let it run, dont ride it you're just trying to get him used to the noise.
   
3. Short rides first maybe go to a favourite place, visit another dog friend, go to the park or the creek or something.  Try to make him associate a ride in the sidecar with a good experience.
   
4. Then work on building more confidence.  Make sure you give him a break regularly, it's good for stretching your legs too.
   

Mine have always started as pups, usually with another more experienced dog around.  Plus they go everywhere in the car with us anyway so they are quite used to travel.  The mutts are my only passengers for around 99.9% of the time.




Al

same action pics of Waz , out and about on a fact finding mission.

a quick left ....


then a quick right .


shaping up well there Waz.

Found my first fearless passenger for a ride around the block.

woohoo !

Waz, I bet that was more fun than having a bag of salt in the chair.

Nice to see the smile on the passenger when heading out, was the smile still there when you were arriving back home?

Cheers

Great project! Nice to see you getting used to the sidecar.

I am slowly getting used to it. The leading link makes a huge improvement.


was the smile still there when you were arriving back home?
Yes still smiling but did ask if it was legal because it doesn't feel like it should be. She was silly enough to get in again.

[quote="Waz"]
was the smile still there when you were arriving back home?
Yes still smiling but did ask if it was legal because it doesn't feel like it should be. She was silly enough to get in again.
[quote]

If you ask me I reckon you are both smiling.

Top work Waz.

Good one Waz,  rosskko's right ,your both smiling! good to see that your enjoying the project.

Now we need a photo of faces at speed....smiles will continue.

Waz, if I turn my head on the side it looks like the RS tank has made it onto the sidecar. You're getting like me with the musical seats on the K75.

Yes it is the RS tank, I removed the orange tank to paint it red but now seeing the black tank on it I want to paint it black. Already bought the red paint. Now I like the black. Was going to be white, blue, black, red now black again.

Sidecar tank receiving some TLC.

Just got another bit

Very nice, now you may have to paint the bike black with red stripes to match.

I just finished painting the tank red and cutting back with 1200 almost ready to buff, could put black stripes on the tank

looks like a black widow ( Redback in Oz). 
that was a nice pickup there Waz.

Nice looking chair, Waz.

Once you've had the rest of your brain cells removed, you'll become a fully fledged one of us. 

Paul.

So Waz...the idea now is to have a sidecar on both sides of the bike? At least your handling issues will be evened out.

I like this one

That is cool.

It's on. It looks a lot better in a photo and will need to be repaired and painted later, almost all of it has crows feet cracks you can't see in the photos. Looks good from a distance.
Need to rewire then fit the hand brake tomorrow.

looks very nice waz

I like the spirit level in the photo....must be level all times.

Tank is done

Looks good mate

looks like Santa has a new sleigh this year. top job there Waz.

Now you've done it! You're going to have to paint the sidecar red with black stripes 

Now you've done it! You're going to have to paint the sidecar red with black stripes 

Will do that, it needs stripping back first all the paint has to come off to get under the crows feet. I like the idea of a red back on the front.

I will learn to drive it first and have some fun. I am getting sick of working on it.

Waz, I'm just looking at the suspension unit pics in post 68 & 69 of this thread. Am I right in thinking the stub axle is above the Torsion axle bar? Is that a flexiride unit & Does that affect the performance of the unit? Reason I ask is I'm thinking of building a trailer but don't want it to ride too high.

Yes the stub axel is above the torsion axel and yes it is a flexi ride. I have had it below and above and the suspension seems the same in either position but the whole thing feels better with it above, possibly because the sidecar is lower when the stub axel is above.

don't get sick of working on it just yet waz

we need a sidecar outfit in the "crew" mate

we come in ALL the variations that are possible ....just to turn heads ? maybe not,  but wake folks up to the outstanding durability of the old k bike

cheers mate its looking good

Ok

Centered the rear wheel. Hoping it takes the wobble, shakes and bucking away.
Before


After I moved the rear wheel 20mm to the right

  should take some load off final drive bearing.

Just test rode and it's a different bike, 20mm made all the difference.

so we'll be seeing a bit more of you on the " RedbaK". now that it feels better.

Yes, I will take it to the Alpine rally because it has heated grips and plenty of room for blankets.

Had some luck today, unfortunately it was bad luck. Went for a ride and the beast developed a nasty knocking sound then jammed up, feels like dead gearbox but hoping prop shaft is kaput.

There is no shame in bringing the bike home on a truck. Good luck with the repairs.

too many sidewinders Waz, bet you've been having fun though.
did the bike roll to a smooth halt? could it be anything in the final drive gearing , maybe not holding up for you , just a thought.
start your inspection from the rear and work your way forward. Lift the rear off the ground and rotate the wheel , you may feel something grinding from back there, that may give a sign of where the damage is.