32 years out of the saddle (old slider)

[old slider]

The Birth of my 2nd son played a major role in my wifes decision for me to retire from speedway sidecars, this sad year was 1981.

32 years later, carrying some replacement body parts Ive decided to relive some of my youth.


The new year saw me become the proud owner of a mint 1999 Kawasaki W650 and with a recent rush of blood to the head i also became the proud owner of a trademe purchased sidecar body.
My Dilemma is finding someone to build a frame etc and get it affixed to the side of the W.278491278492

[Akzle]

top shit. enjoy. welcome. etc.

[Ocean1]

Nice bike, luck with the sidecar.

[pete376403]

theres a big sidecar forum on advrider.com, lots of useful information in there (once you get past the fact the yanks put chairs on the wrong side)

http://advrider.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=56

Hope you have more success with the sidecar than me - the GS1100 has been waiting in the shed about 6 years for me to even make a start.

[Akzle]

Hope you have more success with the sidecar than me - the GS1100 has been waiting in the shed about 6 years for me to even make a start.

i could borrow that, and err... keep it ticking over...

[Laava]

Might be worth sounding out trikeworks in Taupo?

[dogsnbikes]

The Birth of my 2nd son played a major role in my wifes decision for me to retire from speedway sidecars, this sad year was 1981.

32 years later, carrying some replacement body parts Ive decided to relive some of my youth.


The new year saw me become the proud owner of a mint 1999 Kawasaki W650 and with a recent rush of blood to the head i also became the proud owner of a trademe purchased sidecar body.
My Dilemma is finding someone to build a frame etc and get it affixed to the side of the W.278491278492

Hi old slider go talk too Terry Price at Restorations unlimted in Wanganui, he rebuilt a vintage sidecar last year that apparenty departed the bike after it was shunted by a 32 chevy...

[old slider]

Awesome guys, thanks heaps for the greetings and info, certainly one huge advantage of having such a great forum.

[Akzle]

certainly one huge advantage of having such a great forum.

...you'll learn better in time.

[GrayWolf]

certainly one huge advantage of having such a great forum.

:facepalm::facepalm:

[_Shrek_]

32 years later, carrying some replacement body parts Ive decided to relive some of my youth.

well as long as you can still :ride: it don't matter, welcome back to two wheels :niceone:

& the site :scratch: you'll learn as you go :rolleyes:

[old slider]

I have learnt with age to ignore most of the rubbish and mainly concentrate on the good stuff if i want to enjoy todays technology, ie forums. They can be havens of information and advice, many life long friendships can be aquired from such places. So far I think all of you are probably decent bastards.

ps, the sidecar that was damaged has been repaired by restoration unlimited and is back with the owner, they seem keen to look at building the frame for my new toy, price will be the determining factor.

[pete376403]

Have a look at this thread - W650 with sidecar
http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=317314&highlight=w650
Some of the pics may help (wrong side but you get the idea)

[old slider]

Have a look at this thread - W650 with sidecar
http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=317314&highlight=w650
Some of the pics may help (wrong side but you get the idea)


Thanks Pete, I notice both those rigs appear to have a subframe attached to the actual bike frame as well, I was hoping the supposedly strongly built W650 frame didnt need one.

[pete376403]

When sidecars were hung off old Brit bikes, the typically spindly frames made with brazed fittings or the day never needed subframes.
I'd guess that in litigation happy USA, sidecar builders are going to extreme lengths to ensure the outfit stays together.

My GS Suzuki has a twn loop frame, similar to the W650. I intend to use (if i ever get around to it) the centerstand mounting lugs as the primary chair mounting point, with additional braces under the steering head, the front engine mounts and the top of the shock mounts. I dont intend using any sort of subfrane.

BTW I'm also ex-speedway: solos at Te Marua for 15 seasons or thereabouts, only raced at Wanganui once.

[old slider]

When sidecars were hung off old Brit bikes, the typically spindly frames made with brazed fittings or the day never needed subframes.
I'd guess that in litigation happy USA, sidecar builders are going to extreme lengths to ensure the outfit stays together.

My GS Suzuki has a twn loop frame, similar to the W650. I intend to use (if i ever get around to it) the centerstand mounting lugs as the primary chair mounting point, with additional braces under the steering head, the front engine mounts and the top of the shock mounts. I dont intend using any sort of subfrane.

BTW I'm also ex-speedway: solos at Te Marua for 15 seasons or thereabouts, only raced at Wanganui once.


Thats awesome pete, 15 seasons is a whole lot of racing. I had a phuck-up at Te Marua 1980, while out in front I had a spin up on a wet spot, got smashed by 2-3 following sidechairs, left a few competitors spread eagled around the track, busted up my leg etc pretty bad, A Triumph trident did most of the damage as i was still sitting on my Kenny Roberts/Ron Grant built xs650 yammy when they hit at full noise, peed me off cos we were only doing the extra race after the saloons had pulled the pin, hence the wetter than usual track.

[RoscoP]

theres a big sidecar forum on advrider.com, lots of useful information in there (once you get past the fact the yanks put chairs on the wrong side)

http://advrider.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=56

Hope you have more success with the sidecar than me - the GS1100 has been waiting in the shed about 6 years for me to even make a start.


You want to have a talk to Kurt Neilson in Katikati. He is a sidecar guy from way back, used to have the Ural franchise for NZ. Did a wicked job mounting my sidecar and setting it up. here is his website. www.sidecars.nz

278768

[old slider]

You want to have a talk to Kurt Neilson in Katikati. He is a sidecar guy from way back, used to have the Ural franchise for NZ. Did a wicked job mounting my sidecar and setting it up. here is his website. www.sidecars.nz

278768


Very nice looking outfit, can you show a side view or a few more pics please.

[RoscoP]

Here are a couple more, handles really well

278796278797

[old slider]

Here are a couple more, handles really well

278796278797



Looks great,
does it dip its nose much on right handers? or fly the chair fairly easy on lefties, do you carry ballast when riding without a passenger?

[RoscoP]

Looks great,
does it dip its nose much on right handers? or fly the chair fairly easy on lefties, do you carry ballast when riding without a passenger?

It's very stable on right handers no real nose dive. I carry 40 kg of ballast in the chair, flying it is possible occasionally but I always weight shift to the inside on tight left-handers. The only real danger is if there is a steep camber (the wrong way) on a left hander or if the wheel on the car hits a massively big bump when cornering on a left hander.
Where the outfit really excels is on wet greasy roads or on dirt roads (from a stability point of view). It's great to be able to go for a day or overnight trip and be able to easily carry enough gear. Lately I have seen quite a few outfits out and about (out south)

[old slider]

It's very stable on right handers no real nose dive. I carry 40 kg of ballast in the chair, flying it is possible occasionally but I always weight shift to the inside on tight left-handers. The only real danger is if there is a steep camber (the wrong way) on a left hander or if the wheel on the car hits a massively big bump when cornering on a left hander.
Where the outfit really excels is on wet greasy roads or on dirt roads (from a stability point of view). It's great to be able to go for a day or overnight trip and be able to easily carry enough gear. Lately I have seen quite a few outfits out and about (out south)


Fantastic, sounds like you got it setup really well. I just dont see any around Town apart from Joe Letts Suzuki work horse, I know there is some here but just never see them, Im thinking of putting an advt in the paper to see if anyone wants to have a get together of 3 wheelers encompassing, trikes, hacks and spyders etc.

[leathel]

Nice to be on a bike again aint it... was only 15 odd years for me (road registered anyway,I still had Dirt bikes) but riding on the road again makes you wonder why I ever stopped.... I cant get enough of tripping around... well over 2000 K's in around 5 weeks :D

[_Shrek_]

Nice to be on a bike again aint it... was only 15 odd years for me (road registered anyway,I still had Dirt bikes) but riding on the road again makes you wonder why I ever stopped.... I cant get enough of tripping around... well over 2000 K's in around 5 weeks :D

welcome back to the good life :clap: & to the :weird: house :msn-wink:

[old slider]

I must apologise guys, I gave up trying to get back on the forum after going through a few surgical operations and mainly forgetting my password, I had several goes over a period of months trying to log back in but with my old age and limited tech savvy I simply gave up.

This time I got my granddaughter to help me and woohoo.

Update since last post, sidecar onto the parallel twin 650 is finally happening, The master of sidecars in Wanganui (Stento) has found some spare time and the chassis is attached and looking very sharp, will update some pics if anyone is interested, the sidecar body was cut in half length ways and had 50mms added to its width and also the cockpit was increased by roughly 250mms.

[jellywrestler]

Fantastic, sounds like you got it setup really well. I just dont see any around Town apart from Joe Letts Suzuki work horse, I know there is some here but just never see them, Im thinking of putting an advt in the paper to see if anyone wants to have a get together of 3 wheelers encompassing, trikes, hacks and spyders etc.

that's been parked up at joes for a couple of years now.... roger stent would be the first port of call in town for that sort of thing, he'll be able to point ya in the right direction

[old slider]

that's been parked up at joes for a couple of years now.... roger stent would be the first port of call in town for that sort of thing, he'll be able to point ya in the right direction


You are right, Roger was the Man I went to, he has been trying to find the time to do the job for a year or 3 now, lol, (road racing is, as it should be, the first priority) The bike with chassis attached are at Stentos and looking bloody awesome, he is one very talented guy. I certainly had no problems waiting for Roger to do the job, I can not think of anyone else around here apart from Steve Roberts who built my last sidecar for Don Cosford that is as capable.