The Ugly Duckling sidecar. We have to start somewhere

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woody1

Bachelor Dog
Joined
May 21, 2012
Messages
13,202
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Location
Riversdal Weskaap
Bike
Yamaha Super Tenere
So for a few years I had this mad idea to get a sidecar on my bike. We old toppies are not getting younger, and we need the extra stability from time to time.

BUT !!!! I will not ride another BMW and nobody is interested in getting a sidecar on the Yamaha Super Tenere in South Africa.

So if I want one, I have to make one myself.

But one must crawl before you can run.

So a while back I purchased a sidecar project in PE.  Frame an glass fiber tub.  R900.00..... BARGAIN.
But I decided to put this on my old 1984 Honda XL 600 Dakar special first.  Just to see what it takes to get a sidecar on a bike before I venture into the BIG world.

Let us put this straight up from the beginning..... This current build is NOT PERFECT and a lot of things are against the EXPERTS, but for me she works.
I have ridden other sidecars before and this setup handles pretty well on the road.

We do not have adjustments on the current experiment... all the Toe-in and camber is calculated and build into the frame. But the big one on the XT1200 will be fully adjustable... trust me.

So after I got the tub, I purchased some 38x38 x 3mm square tubing for the frame.
Went to the Classic MMC in Germiston and got 21 inch front wheel.....remember this is a scrambler sidecar of sorts.

I got the basic frame together, but had no idea how to get it on the bike.

So the past Good Friday period we planned to go to Vryburg to visit my brother in law on the farm. I wanted to take Pierre's Xt 125 and the XL 600 with so that he could ride around on the farm ( by the way we had a ball riding the farm roads together).
But if I take the bike, I can just as well load the steel and parts and have my brother-in-law help me out.

So we set of getting the frame on the bike.  I told him about Toe-in, camber etc.
Putting the frame I made at home under the bike he quickly spotted where the mounting points could be.

Remove both footrests, remove the front bolt and 2 spacers holding the engine to the frame.
Turn 2 bigger spacers for the front.  Put them on the bike between the engine and frame.
Then weld some 5mm flat bar on the lot.
Same with the footrests....some 5mm flat bar, some holes and onto the frame.

 

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