Silverbear's sidecar
- Thread starter silverbear
- Start date
silverbear
The Boy Who Never Grew Up
dag,
Thank you for your very kind and complimentary words. I'm sure we can all use some more good redneck technology. I have always admired small time farmers for their jack of all trades can do approach to things. Fixing the tractor with something found in the junk pile, re using one thing in place of another. I've met some very smart farmers with a lot of knowledge about a wide range of things. Same goes for mechanics who can listen to an engine and see in the mind's eye what is going on. A good mechanic is a good detective able to reason things out. I'm not much of a mechanic, can't weld, am still learning a lot of pretty basic things about bikes in general and motor bikes in particular thanks to this site. What I'm pretty good at is recognizing a good idea when I see it and listening to people who know more than I do. And this place is loaded with ideas and folks who know an awful lot. What I can't get over is how freely information and ideas are shared here. Pretty cool. Thanks again. Share pictures when you make your sidecar.
SB
Thank you for your very kind and complimentary words. I'm sure we can all use some more good redneck technology. I have always admired small time farmers for their jack of all trades can do approach to things. Fixing the tractor with something found in the junk pile, re using one thing in place of another. I've met some very smart farmers with a lot of knowledge about a wide range of things. Same goes for mechanics who can listen to an engine and see in the mind's eye what is going on. A good mechanic is a good detective able to reason things out. I'm not much of a mechanic, can't weld, am still learning a lot of pretty basic things about bikes in general and motor bikes in particular thanks to this site. What I'm pretty good at is recognizing a good idea when I see it and listening to people who know more than I do. And this place is loaded with ideas and folks who know an awful lot. What I can't get over is how freely information and ideas are shared here. Pretty cool. Thanks again. Share pictures when you make your sidecar.
SB
silverbear
The Boy Who Never Grew Up
I'm still wondering about that third support arm. Thanks to ferball's "sidecar questions" thread for the link below...
Watsonian Sidecar Images - Gentleman Cyclist | Google Groups
In all of the above photos of Watsonian sidecars for bicycles I don't see any indication of a third support arm. I do know that Watsonian made mostly sidecars for motorcycles and I'm guessing that at low speed and pretty light weight there was no need for that third arm with the bicycle models, but at higher speed and larger sidecar it became necessary (not that I have any theory on why it might have been necessary). We are somewhere in between, going faster than your average pedal bike, but much slower than a motorcycle. Can anybody weigh in on this to help clarify what might be needed for our purposes? I wish I better understood the principles involved here. Once I'm able to do test runs I think I will put some weight into it to approximate the dog being there. She never signed up to be a test pilot, just wants to go for a squirrel spotting ride. Maybe a case of beer will do. A full case on the way out and if all goes well, one short coming home.
SB
Watsonian Sidecar Images - Gentleman Cyclist | Google Groups
In all of the above photos of Watsonian sidecars for bicycles I don't see any indication of a third support arm. I do know that Watsonian made mostly sidecars for motorcycles and I'm guessing that at low speed and pretty light weight there was no need for that third arm with the bicycle models, but at higher speed and larger sidecar it became necessary (not that I have any theory on why it might have been necessary). We are somewhere in between, going faster than your average pedal bike, but much slower than a motorcycle. Can anybody weigh in on this to help clarify what might be needed for our purposes? I wish I better understood the principles involved here. Once I'm able to do test runs I think I will put some weight into it to approximate the dog being there. She never signed up to be a test pilot, just wants to go for a squirrel spotting ride. Maybe a case of beer will do. A full case on the way out and if all goes well, one short coming home.
SB
silverbear
The Boy Who Never Grew Up
Dag,
I had meant to comment on your suggestion of using a kayak instead of canoe as a donor for making a sidecar. It would be more aerodynamic and narrower. The width of a canoe is what concerns me without being able to take measurements until I get home. A longer canoe, say a 17 or 19 footer would have a longer taper, so would have less beam at the cutoff point for making it into a sidecar stubby, but it still might be too wide. On the other hand I would think that the aluminum would be lighter than the glass or plastic of a kayak. And there is also my being enamored with canoes. I first started using a 17 footer by myself when I was six years old. I had to sit or kneel turned around in the bow and had a pile of rocks in the other end to keep it from blowing all over in gusts of wind. I recall some tearful struggles which I lost and found myself at the far end of the lake with a long way home. Then my father let me use a boat with a 2 1/2 hsp motor... oh yeah. Anyway, me an canoes go back a long way. I also figure that my local town being kind of a canoe town due to all of the outfitters for the B.W.C.A. it is appropriate and will be appreciated more than a kayak which some of the locals view as being kind of citified and hoity toity. And there's the added factor that with so many canoes the chances of finding a mangled one is pretty good. But a kayak would be a real good choice I would think.
SB
I had meant to comment on your suggestion of using a kayak instead of canoe as a donor for making a sidecar. It would be more aerodynamic and narrower. The width of a canoe is what concerns me without being able to take measurements until I get home. A longer canoe, say a 17 or 19 footer would have a longer taper, so would have less beam at the cutoff point for making it into a sidecar stubby, but it still might be too wide. On the other hand I would think that the aluminum would be lighter than the glass or plastic of a kayak. And there is also my being enamored with canoes. I first started using a 17 footer by myself when I was six years old. I had to sit or kneel turned around in the bow and had a pile of rocks in the other end to keep it from blowing all over in gusts of wind. I recall some tearful struggles which I lost and found myself at the far end of the lake with a long way home. Then my father let me use a boat with a 2 1/2 hsp motor... oh yeah. Anyway, me an canoes go back a long way. I also figure that my local town being kind of a canoe town due to all of the outfitters for the B.W.C.A. it is appropriate and will be appreciated more than a kayak which some of the locals view as being kind of citified and hoity toity. And there's the added factor that with so many canoes the chances of finding a mangled one is pretty good. But a kayak would be a real good choice I would think.
SB
silverbear
The Boy Who Never Grew Up
Actually everything motorbike related is on hold since I am finishing up some jobs here in Maryland where I've been working as a handyman/caretaker for the winter months. The last couple of days I've been dismantling some roof trusses to haul back to Minnesota with me to make into a motorbicycle shop with an attached bike 'garage', all to be skinned with billboard tarp. Yes, it sounds bonkers, no doubt, like making a gas tank out of a juice can or a sidecar out of a kiddie trailer. I'm at the point of staring at all of the boards, bikes, boxes of bike stuff, wheels, sidecar, tools and personal belongings, wondering how in the heck it is all going to fit in/on the back of the truck. I'll leave in a few days, drive 1200-1300 miles, get out of the truck.... breathe in the forest, take a baptismal swim in the lake and thank the Creator I'm still alive. When the dust settles I'll post results of the sidecar trial run.
Your project sounds great which I hope is being documented with photos as you go and which will become a thread we can all follow... hint, hint. Check in with you later.
SB