fitting a sidecar

[scubabiker]

thinking of buying a sidecar for my GS, never fitted one before, but i seem to recall something about a steering damper being neccessary?
anyone got any input on this subject for me?

[daytona-supersport]

Make an appointment to see a psychiatrist as soon as possible. :laugh:

Unless you are some sort of beardy weirdo that needs to carry his dog around all the time. Even then, why not just buy a car? A lot more comfortable and safer. (thumbs)

These things were used at a time when people could not afford cars. :laugh:
Mind you, for the price of a decent outfit you could probably buy quite a selection of very nice used sports cars. Have you considered an MX5?

Er, Yep, used an outfit way back before the learner laws changed. Back then you could hang any old piece of junk on the side of a motor bike of any capacity and ride it on L plates. Some of the outfits were bloody lethal. :woohoo:
Ah, Those were the days. Elf and Safety, shove it up your bum. :laugh:

[Redmurty]

there's a guy off here who is Travelling America on a GS with a chair (thumbs)

Had a Honda KZ750 with a chair on it great fun, if I was going that way again I would seriously look at leading link forks get rid of a lot of combo problems (thumbs)

cheers Spud

[Heff]

Don't see many outfits here in Northern Ireland, the odd sighting every once in a while.

On saying that, I seen 4 yesterday, all old BMWs, travelling in twos, a few hours apart, but all travelling in the same direction, ie towards Belfast

Maybe heading to a sidecar rally?

[Peirre]

I saw this in Combles a couple of years ago, ridden by an eccentric Frenchman. But well sorted for off road travel.

[Richard Simpson]

There's a lot more to it than just bolting the sidecar on....you have to set up the geometry of the third wheel in terms of lead over the rear wheel, toe-in etc.

It's best to ditch the tele forks in favour of leading-links and use car rims and tyres too...the rounded profile of modern motorcycle tyres is useless with a sidecar.
You end up with a really expensive creation...probably better to buy a sorted outfit off someone else and save a lot of time and tears.

As an alternative consider a TriKing or similar...they are surprisingly fast and very 'engaging'.

I knew TriKing's inventor Tony Divey back in the day and did the Lands End Trial with him in one in 1980-something...24 hours of near non-stop laughter!

http://trikingsportscars.co.uk/about-us

[92kk k100lt 193214]

As the advice goes, leading link front end is essential. Eliminates diving and extreme changes that occur in wheel base during extreme braking etc. These things don't matter too much on a solo bike but with a sidecar it affects many things. A well set up one is great, a badly or incorrectly set up one is hairy.

Reckon you should go find a sidecar forum. We have a section on the K100 forum for sidecars and quite a lot of them out there.

This isn't what you are looking for but a nice front end set up.

LeadinglinkHagon.jpg (59.67 KiB) Viewed 2575 times

https://www.donedeal.ie/motorbikes-for- ... t/12555897

[OnHellas]

I'm the guy mentioned above that is riding the Americas with an outfit.

I haven't got a beard and neither has my passenger, Mrs OnHellas.
The bike hasn't got and doesn't need a steering damper.
Leading link forks would probably make the steering lighter, but we haven't got them.
It isn't as simple As bolting a chair to your bike.
We went to Watsonian-Squire who have been doing sidecars for a while. 100 years plus.
They have also fitted them to 1150 and 1200 GS's. Speak to Ben.
No it's not cheap.
And as for 'you may as well get a car'......yawn. We all have different reasons why we end up with an outfit.
We both used to ride our own bike bike Rach had an off a couple of years ago (no, a car didn't 'just' pull out, it was all on her own) and has decided not to ride for the foreseeable future.
Two up on a long trip didn't appeal to me due to all the stuff making it quite cramped (I'm not the smallest person in the world). So, next best thing.....sidecar.
Go and see the guys at Watsonian for more information into, Ben may even take you for a short demo ride.

So there you have it.......that's what I think.


You are welcome to check out our ongoing story at www.sidecartravels.co.uk

[diggermanbob]

I'm sure the modern outfits are well sorted , I used to have a 600 Panther with a sidecar chassis fitted , two bits of angle iron bolted on it to carry my 250 greeves scrambler on backwards , mate on the pillion went to loads of meeting , ah those were the days (thumbs)

[Treadtrader]

I've had a couple of outfits.

All the disadvantages of a car and bike, without any of the advantages.

But they are good fun and everyone should try one at least once. :woohoo: