Sidecars?

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cinelliphyle

New Member
Nov 30, 2009
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bonney lake wash.
Trying again to see if I am being allowed to post attachments. I do not have photos of my side car bike on a photo hosting site yet but would be glad to send pictures to anyone who requests them at [email protected]. It is a must see creation. I am working on a fiberglass mold for the purpose of making raw bodies with vintage style available to site members.
Cinelliphyle...
 

fasteddy

Well-Known Member
Feb 13, 2009
7,440
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British Columbia Canada
Image hosting, free photo sharing & video sharing at Photobucket

Here are the latest photos of the side car. Seven coats of spar varnish and the medium mahogany stain.

Starting on the interior this afternoon and my niece is going to make the cushions for the seat and then it's on to figure just how to tie this thing to the bike.

Now the questions that may arise.

What did he use for for the fake exhaust pipes? They are drain pipes from under a sink cut down to fit. I cut a wooden plug out with a hole saw and JB Welded the plug into the pipe and then whole thing into place. Life without JB Weld? Impossible!

The scoops are drawer handles from Home Depot. I have to pull the cover up to get to the batterys. Only thing I could think of.

The metal around the engine hatch is carpet edging when you go from wood to carpet floors with a very thin strip of foam weather stripping under it. Home Depot

Plexiglass windshield.

Mohawk refinising supplies, medium mahogany stain. Just my choice from restoring furniture for years.

It will have a canvas cover to go over it.

As always any questons, please ask.

Hope you enjoy it.

Steve.
 

silverbear

The Boy Who Never Grew Up
Jul 9, 2009
8,325
670
113
northeastern Minnesota
Image hosting, free photo sharing & video sharing at Photobucket

Here are the latest photos of the side car. Seven coats of spar varnish and the medium mahogany stain.

Starting on the interior this afternoon and my niece is going to make the cushions for the seat and then it's on to figure just how to tie this thing to the bike.

Now the questions that may arise.

What did he use for for the fake exhaust pipes? They are drain pipes from under a sink cut down to fit. I cut a wooden plug out with a hole saw and JB Welded the plug into the pipe and then whole thing into place. Life without JB Weld? Impossible!

The scoops are drawer handles from Home Depot. I have to pull the cover up to get to the batterys. Only thing I could think of.

The metal around the engine hatch is carpet edging when you go from wood to carpet floors with a very thin strip of foam weather stripping under it. Home Depot

Plexiglass windshield.

Mohawk refinising supplies, medium mahogany stain. Just my choice from restoring furniture for years.

It will have a canvas cover to go over it.

As always any questons, please ask.

Hope you enjoy it.

Steve.
Boy, did that turn out nice! Wow. You're going to turn some heads for sure. Best make up little printouts you can give to people or you won't get far on rides. That's got to feel really good, Steve. Ya done good, boy. Does your brother like it? Keep those pictures coming, please.
SB
 

fasteddy

Well-Known Member
Feb 13, 2009
7,440
4,877
113
British Columbia Canada
Thanks Silver Bear. It did by far, out do what I even hoped it would be.. I'm pleased with it.

I think it will be fun to park it and listen to peoples comments as you act as a bystander.
Thing is once I'm done, I tend to lose interest in things since the challenge to me is figuring how to do it.

The next one I think will be a 180 degree turn from this one. Maybe a WW I tri plane as a pull behind trailer with the wonder dog as Snoopy?

My brother is indeed pleased with it. He had some exellent ideas that made it better than it would have been.

Steve.
 

diceman2004

New Member
Aug 26, 2009
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Kitchener , Ontario
wow man , lookin good eddy , just took a look at your latest pics . Reminds me of the ( African Queen ) I had to look twice to see if Bogart was passed out somewere in there .
 

fasteddy

Well-Known Member
Feb 13, 2009
7,440
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British Columbia Canada
Image hosting, free photo sharing & video sharing at Photobucket

Well at long last I have some more photos of the sidecar. I mocked up the sidecar frame and labled what went where and just what I was going to do.

I have made it so the sidecar will float up and down and the bike will be able to lean left or right going into turns.

If those of you how know what thier doing see something wrong please say so. I'd hate to launch a load of beer and the sidecar into the ditch. Even worse I might be going with it.
May get it welded this weekend if it is not raining.

As always questions and criticism are most welcome.

Steve.
 

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silverbear

The Boy Who Never Grew Up
Jul 9, 2009
8,325
670
113
northeastern Minnesota
Sidecar Steve,
The interior looks great and the frame set up looks good to my eye. Thanks so much for sharing this and setting it all up so that it uses off the shelf parts. Sidecar Steve! Awesome!
SB
 

fasteddy

Well-Known Member
Feb 13, 2009
7,440
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British Columbia Canada
Image hosting, free photo sharing & video sharing at Photobucket

Yipes 2 months to get the frame welded. Bad weather and a lazy Steve are to blame. Steve found out that welding in the rain isn't really healthy.

The welds aren't pretty but it is 50 years since I did any. I wasn't very good then either.

Hope this gives you some idea of what I did. Waiting for the last of the parts to get here and I'll paint it and put it together.
Still working on how to hook the sidecar to the bike.

Ideas and questions why are always welcome.

Steve.
 

BarelyAWake

New Member
Jul 21, 2009
7,194
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Maine
I agree - there's nuffin' wrong w/those welds for this application (^)

Besides, if some critic ignores alla yer beautiful mahogany work to crawl under the sidecar and saz "this bead here is a lil lumpy..."

Well, obv it's the perfect opportunity to test the bike's handling over rough terrain :D


I thought you were lookin' into the Watsonian style mount?
 

fasteddy

Well-Known Member
Feb 13, 2009
7,440
4,877
113
British Columbia Canada
Well I've pretty well got the sidecar frame finished until the bike is painted. Weather here gets interesting here this time of year. Good Friday, the wind was doing 65mph and it was raining like mad.
I hope we will get some at least dry days since I have to paint outside.

Image hosting, free photo sharing & video sharing at Photobucket

This is how I did the plate for the bike mount cover. Plan to mount it to the seat stay and the chain stay as well as the rear wheel axle/bolt.
I'm going to use U bolts and blocks cut out of a hockey puck to pad the stays on both sides.

I used a piece 3/4" mdf board to make the cover pattern based on the size of the steel that I was using to bolt to the bike.
I smoothed the edge with a belt sander until I was at the pencil mark. I then routed the edge of the board with a 3/8 round over bit in a router.

I drew around the mold with a heavy felt marking pen on a piece of body metal. This is just a cover so the thickness is up to you. I cut to the outside of the marking pen with sabre saw and a metal cutting blade and ear protection. Smoothed the edge on the belt sander turned upside down and clamped to the bench,like the fiber board.

After it was squared and clamped I turned it over in 4 places where the X's are in the photo. This helps keep it from moving. Then I turned it over part way, going around the edge in sections. Found that turning it from the top to the edge was best. I finished it off by going around it making sure that it was tight to the mold.

Sanded the edge with crocus cloth to make sure it was smooth and no sharp surprises.
I welded the cover to the metal mountings but they could be bolted or riveted on. I smoothed the cover with a 60 grit flap disc to level the welds.
The steel that is going to mount to the bike is 31/2" wide. I had to weld two pieces together to get that.

The rest of the photos are how it will mount on the bike. It will move in and out to square it to the bike and will move up and down independent of the bike to help with turns so the rider can bank into them and not have to worry about dive and lift in the sidecar as much.

Any questions or thought are most welcome. If you want a copy of the pattern I used for the cover PM me. Just understand that it will be a while before I can send it out. Might take 2-3 weeks.

Steve.
 

silverbear

The Boy Who Never Grew Up
Jul 9, 2009
8,325
670
113
northeastern Minnesota
Your cover makes me wish once again that I had knowledge of welding on any level. I'm wondering if the cover could be made from heavy gauge aluminum plate. My brother and I built a dock for our boats out of a municipal dock from a local park which in turn had been made from football stadium bleachers. We had enough material from that for two docks and leftovers. I've found lots of use for the leftovers and immediately thought of that. How wide and long is that cover?
It looks great, Steve, and the mounting setup is very clever. You've put a lot of thought into this and your solution to the riding side of the equation is impressive. Of course, I want one someday when I grow up.
SB
 

fasteddy

Well-Known Member
Feb 13, 2009
7,440
4,877
113
British Columbia Canada
Silver Bear, I put the form I used to make the cover on Photo bucket. It has all the measurements on it. Planned to do it when I did the rest but forgot.
Added photos of the bike now it's stripped and sand blasted. Try and get some with the body work I did on the fenders. Yes,I would think that you should be able to use aluminium to make the plate. The steel I used is only 1/8" thick and it will be bolted to the bike frame.

I'm using mine as a mounting point for the power system so it is going to be beefy as I can make it.
Tend to over build at times.
With yours, so long as it is strong enough to pull the sidecar along you won't have a problem I don't think.

Steve.
 

silverbear

The Boy Who Never Grew Up
Jul 9, 2009
8,325
670
113
northeastern Minnesota
Silver Bear, I put the form I used to make the cover on Photo bucket. It has all the measurements on it. Planned to do it when I did the rest but forgot.
Added photos of the bike now it's stripped and sand blasted. Try and get some with the body work I did on the fenders. Yes,I would think that you should be able to use aluminium to make the plate. The steel I used is only 1/8" thick and it will be bolted to the bike frame.

I'm using mine as a mounting point for the power system so it is going to be beefy as I can make it.
Tend to over build at times.
With yours, so long as it is strong enough to pull the sidecar along you won't have a problem I don't think.

Steve.
I'll check out the new additions to photobucket. I can see why you would tend to over build your sidecar attachments and the whole sidecar. The sidecar is pulling/pushing you and the bike around so it has to be strong enough to not even think about failure which would be disastrous. I have given some thought to a sidecar sometime down the line with an electric wheel since I have one (26") which I got from Goldenmotor some years ago along with three very heavy 12 volt lead acid batteries. It is nothing like your setup in quality, but could still be used as a pusher sidecar. With yours as a model I would have a pretty good idea of how to set things up. And in the meantime I want to make a sidecar that is just a sidecar, mostly for the dog, but also maybe for my grandchildren. That would be great fun, I think.
SB