Thumper Club Forum
Technical => Project Progress => Topic started by: guest7 on January 28, 2011, 07:47:42 PM
-
Once the GB500 is out of the garage my sidecar bike will be on the bench for a strip down. I need to have the chassis welded again (it isn't broken but the last repair was a bit ugly). Then it will be repainted and a 650 motor slotted in.
The plan is to mate it up to a Velorex chassis. I have leading link forks and a 15" rear wheel (that takes a car tyre) ready to fit too. The front wheel and chair wheel will be front wheels from a CBX750 (with the chair one converted to mate up with a 20mm axle). This wheel is a black 16" reverse comstar, exactly like the standard XBR wheel. I think they look funky and I know they're tough... oh and they're cheap ;)
Clip on handlebars will be fitted (come on, do i ever ride with anything else?) and I'm contemplating fitting my Powerbronze fairing, as used on my 1988 Bol D'or trip.
The only tricky bits are going to be getting a calliper mount made for the front wheel and having fittings made for the sidecar attachment, everything else is either standard XBR or has been fitted to an XBR before.
GC
-
It all sounds doubledutch to me Graham, but Im sure you know what you are doing ;)
Each to his own I say!
BUT if I can be of any help (manufacturewise) , please shout!
Hope it all goes swimmingly
Ian :)
-
First step is to get the wheel-less bike on to the bench, I am awaiting a neighbour's help with this and it should be done today.
After that I have to offer the wheel up to the leading link forks and measure up for the calliper mount. This will be spindle mounted and linked to a stay from the rear leg of the forks.
If I get really bored I can clean the rear wheel (yawn!) ;)
GC
-
I started cleaning the rear wheel and I discovered a fascinating fact. I always thought it was a dull grey colour... but oh no, it is actually polished alloy :D
Just shows how much I polish stuff eh?
My neighbour turned up and helped me move the bike onto the bench. I made sure he had the heavy end :D
GC
[attachment deleted by admin]
-
You do realise that you'll have to polish the rest now and we'll expect it to be so! :o
-
At a Ural rally a few years ago some wags mirror-polished a square inch of a bloke's aluminium jerry can whilst he was in the pub. The joke being that he would have no choice but to polish the rest :D
GC
-
Urals?....Polish??!!.....my the COC has changed since I left!!! ( used to be a hanging offence!!)
The wags in question didn't go by the name of the Northcote Brothers or Curtis Horsefall by any chance?.......(AKA the Northcote-Borg collective ( 3 legs, 3 eyes and 3 wheels between them) and the Newport Gnome respectively)
-
Yes the Northcotes were involved and the bloke they played the trick on was Alistair (from the IOW) who, as I'm sure you know, is the furthest thing from a slavish bike cleaner you could ever imagine.
GC
-
Oh goody!! ;D..the Codfish would be SO pi55ed!! (Alistair Curtis Horsefall AKA Alison Codfish Horseface) he prided himself on the godawful state of his outfit- Byopsy Byaxe- and his Sainsbury's shopping basket 'trailer' was a sight to behold!
Those Northcotes have an evil sense of humour....... ;D
-
what the thing with leading link forks. What are the advantages. I guess more travel and a longer wheelbase while keeping the bike low apart from that I cant think of any advantage.
Ken
-
I think links resist the twisting action that sidecars impose on forks (the bike doesn't lean around corners so the forces get transmitted to the forks in a very different way to a solo).
It's also very easy to beef up the front suspension with links because you just fit a set of shocks with a higher spring rating.
The major advantage is that you can position the wheel spindle further forward and this makes the steering much lighter. Riding an outfit with standard forks (and therefore geometry) can require a lot of physical input from the rider.
GC
-
links are used on outfits to aid stability and to make the steering lighter. not such an issue with a small light setup, but if youve ever tried steering a heavy outfit on teles then you will know what i mean. they also tend to resist dive on braking, which with teles makes the steering not what you want halfway through a bend. they also as has been said, resist twisting when the bike is cornering as all the suspension on a solo is only set up to work in one plane, up and down, so sideways forces tend to twist stuff out of shape more than with l/l forks.
links are just so much easier to set up than teles, though tele outfits can be tuned to handle reasonably well, its crucially when cornering with gusto and braking hard that their faults on an outfit become most apparent.
-
Although a light outfit with teles is quite satisfying to ride hard. A bit like hustling an old sportscar with no power steering through some bends whereas links make the bike steer with the less-involving ease of a modern one-finger-on-the-wheel sportscar.
GC
-
possibly. but my sidecars were always family vehicles, and i was never so keen to fling it round too much with the kids in the chair and the wife on the back.!!!!
-
LOL, quite right too Johnr.
For the last ten years all that my chair has carried is the tools of my trade or camping supplies, which are infinitely more expendable than my loved ones :)
GC
-
gonna have a do at making a set of links for the m21 this year. when ive a sidecar for it, im gonna make up a set.
-
Good man, if you want a good look over a set I can always ride over and you can see the construction. The fork legs are very thick tubing. I think some builders of home-brewed links haven't appreciated how much strength you need to build in to the fork legs.
At the Panther rally yesterday I saw a lovely little 650 Panther and Canterbury outfit, really got me spurred on to start my rig.
GC
-
its ok mate, im pretty much sorted on how they will go together, ive been building and riding sidecr outfits for over 20 years. ive lways bought my links from unit or wsp, but this time i think i'll make my own. as ive the stuff to do it now, and the space, for a change. this will be my 10th outfit that ive built for myself, nd ive probbly built s many agin for mates, but thanks for the offer. i'll post pics when i strt it, but ive the drkat to sort first!
-
its ok mate, im pretty much sorted on how they will go together, ive been building and riding sidecr outfits for over 20 years.
When I first read that I thought 'that's a long time' and then I realised that I've been riding sidecars since 1998!
Where does the time go?
GC
-
its ok mate, im pretty much sorted on how they will go together, ive been building and riding sidecr outfits for over 20 years.
When I first read that I thought 'that's a long time' and then I realised that I've been riding sidecars since 1998!
Where does the time go?
GC
Too right about the disappearence of time, I passed my test on a Jawa outfit in 1987 and I'd been riding 7 years by that time.
Mark