Well I respect your DIY thinking process , but after all is said and done ....A new Gold Wing with side car will cost 1/3rd. of what the Spyder & side car is going to cost ...and the GW set-up will be SAFE ....yours will be a GUESS on the Safety thing .......... Stay safe ..... Mike :thumbup:Quote:
Originally Posted by fatenhappy
OK my 2 cents. Fatenhappy I give you credit for thinking out of the box and trying to get a mc unit to take your wife with you.
Years ago when I was more energetic and wild I built at 2 different times 2 different sidecar units. The first one was a Harley
bike with a harley sidecar I managed to find. The 2nd was a Honda Gl1200 with a off brand sidecar. Both worked reasonably well.
But for saftey and longer distance they were not the best. Next came factory trike conversions in my opion they were 100% safer
and better. Next came the Spdyer. Great but not what you need. For safety and enjoyment I would recommend you check out
some manufactures which make factory sidecar units. The Russian Ural seems to be the best and has been around the longest.
Also please drive a sidecar unit if you can because they drive horrible but can be a blast for short drives. Please remember
these are only my thoughts and experiences. Best of luck to you and your wife. Bob
Quote:
Originally Posted by BLUEKNIGHT911
That's not even vaguely on the money ... This has nothing to do with cost and all about building something totally suited to my wife's requirements ... Why because I can! .. Besides I don't won't Goldwing crap hanging off the beast ... This is what I am shooting for and all is ago right now ... Just try and tell me that's not about the prettiest side car you have ever seen ..
Thanks Bob ... If I knew how to put a link up here that would work I would do so but the twice I have tried in the past all I got is a black screen - I can't be bothered wasting my time on that right now .... But, in the mean time just take a moment and go onto YouTube to google up Schwenker based side cars design ....Quote:
Originally Posted by cheska
These are the only thing that come close to what I envisage ... As well as what they have, I have added so the thing is 'bagged' and will drop totally to the ground for my wife to get in and out.
With respect ... If everyone just stayed with the norm, we would still be scratching our heads to see what we could do with a 'rolling stone'.
(Certainly not getting ansy so please don't anyone take it that way ... I am just explaining) A lot may well scoff at what I am about to say and again I really don't care .... I asked the Lord to provide the Spyder for me late last year so I can do what ever he has install, and as far as I am concerned he did, as originally I had no way of affording it! .. (So again, apologies straight up to any who are not of the faith, but I am) ... If I wasn't willing to sit in it myself (as I used to say to my aviation students) ... then sure as hell I'm not putting my wife in it.
beautiful little set up had a lambretta once:clap:Quote:
Originally Posted by SPYD3R
Mate its all good ... everything is steam rolling ahead ..Quote:
Originally Posted by blacklightning
So hopefully everything is in the final stages of the planning phase for the side-car project..
I was really heartened to have found the 'Schwenker' based side car architecture on YT. I am currently still spending further time enhancing it to what we require. I have worked things out to the point of now totally and safely adding air bag suspension to the unit. This will also allow for the passenger compartment to drop to the ground as required for Cathy as we require it. In the mean time whilst in the driving height, everything is locked for total safety.
So in the mean time not wanting to be idle, I've been changing out my secondary muffler / silencer and aft, to something more of a straight through easier breathing system. My shock of horrors really came home when finding out by measuring with a micrometre, the inlet to the stock muffler was cut back from 49mm from the cat area, to a 42mm inlet .... (that's at the pipe entrance to flow to the pipe itself - not at the mouth entrance) .... Anyway, by my calculations, limiting the machine to 111 hp max.
I suppose when the bike is rated to 115hp @ 7200 rpm its spot on BRP's calculations! From all my research on air flow, exhausts etc, apparently we are supposed to go down in size rather than up so as to not sacrifice back pressure, pulse effect etc.
Anyway I am driving to-wards what is to be achieved rather than what is stock ... By my calculations I need really close to just under a 2" system so 2" it will be. That's exactly what has been installed so far, and that's what I honed in on finishing off today .... or at least started to ...
So I got most of the exhaust cut and trial fitted yesterday and left it right there over-nite..... Today everything was supposed to be real easy..... it was supposed to be full steam ahead to finish off the main support bracket for the main muffler ... Well, that's what was intended ... What actually resulted was ... "you know when you are sure you've got exactly that peace you're after some-where and all you have to do is find it ...."That's right, the whole damn garage finally got a good clean up and sorting out" ... And, no bracket was there to be found ... anywhere ... so about 5 or 6 hours later I still had to make one .. "Idiot!" So at the close of play tonight, the new bracket has been finished, painted and drying (and that's where it will stay for a few days until it hardens) ....
As far as the attachments ... the first is a fantastic example of a 'Schwenker' architecture side car .. I love it ... , the second is the actual design that goes into making the basic side car along these lines (minus my dropping / bagging or the actual bike attachment specs) ... the third was close of play last night and where it will remain for the next few days ... and finally ... guess what .. I haven't spoken about this at all ... these are my hub conversion fresh and back from manufacture from the standard Spyder 3*90 pcd to of all things the 'Smart' car stud pattern ... Why, because IMO, the Smart Cars have truck loads more wide wheel choices than what are available right now out there for the Spyders ...
Am I a happy camper right now tonight ?... you bet ya!
:clap::clap::clap:........ I have voiced my concerns about this project ... ( from an engineering standpoint ) , but I'm VERY impressed with your muffler work ...... from the pic, it looks like you have figured a way to have your exhaust system SWIVEL in sync with the swing arm ..... very ingenious Mate :yes::yes::yes:............ Mike :thumbup:, however I am still sending :pray::pray::pray::pray::pray:................... Mike :thumbup:
I am sure you have already thought of this, but thought I would mention it anyway. I see a possible problem with the exhaust. First, it will be positioned close to your wife's left ear. So you wont want it to be very loud. Second, to fit a sidecar to a spyder, it will have to be located farther to the rear of the bike. This could mean your wife will be inhaling exhaust fumes. Ideally, you would want the muffler to exit the left side of the spyder which could be a challenge with the drive belt in the way.
Other challenges I see are, trying to find enough structure at the rear of a spyder to securely attach a sidecar. And then there are some physics problems you will have to overcome. Not so much during acceleration, but definitely during braking.
As a mechanical engineer, I am very interested to see what you ultimately come up with and if it works. Safety should be priority #1!!! Test your sidecar using sandbags first to see how the spyder reacts to all that weight attached to the side.
I am not going to tell you it wont work. But there will certainly be many challenges to overcome, making the whole project very daunting. I hope you succeed. But I do agree with others, that there are better and safer alternatives to using a Spyder.
:popcorn:Watching with great interest.
Hey Joel .. I really do appreciate your input ....Quote:
Originally Posted by Joel The Biker
Bingo .. this is the sort of thing I was after ... Because we are in Australia and drive RHD and not like the US on the left ... The side car actually gets mounted on our kerb side, which is the same side of the bike where the belt drive is located ...
You have indeed made me think a bit more about the exhaust exit point and its direction at any rate ... As it is, you probably can't see it from the photo, but it is currently situated down and 'away' from the bike. I'll see how its finally positioning goes as far as the exhaust tip is situated when I get the final bracing mounted in a couple of days time after the paint 'hardens' up a bit more.
A longer term goal is to manufacture and fit up a complete 2" length tuned exhaust system to the bike .... There may possibly even be a turbo fit .... It has been done using the aero turbos from Canada in the past ,,, but that would be some time away as yet ...
It took a lot of research, but as far as the actual mounting up goes, the way the German's and other Europeans do it, is build and add a complete custom sub frame to the bike, secure that in place and then mount everything off to the side-car unit from the sub frame . They then anchor off that with 'heim' joints and adjust things up accordingly and so effectively 'spreading the load' .... Works very effectively for them so I see no need to try to improve on what they have already perfected ... As an extra bonus straight off the pillion foot peg points are going to be removed so they are also available .... cheers again ...
Well, it's been a couple of weeks of silence but everything has been literally ago and 'burning the mid-night oil' most nights to make sure things are right the first time.Quote:
Originally Posted by fatenhappy
Got to admit, I don't have things 110% right, just at the minute but probably at least a minimum of 95% the way there …
I am basing everything on the European - 'Schwenker - Swing - Sidecar' system ... These sidecars are as close as I have ever found for a suitable basis to my thoughts ... I
All guns are blazing so the unit drops totally to ground level ... (this has been the total hold up in the design) ... all so as to service Cathy's MS as best I can …
Maybe another week or two and I should be right to build the initial 'trial' mock up before the real thing .... (I would prefer to get everything sorted right at the get go rather than going back, time and time again) ... This sort of things reminds me a lot of doing trials with aircraft mods :) :) :) ....
Hey buddy, for what it is worth, there is a sidecar guru in Washinton Named Jay at Dauntless Sidecars and he truly is amazing. It would not hurt to pick his brain a bit, he is old like us and has many mile on sidecars. His shop build custom rigs. Project looks doable. Tim
Appreciate your thoughts Tim … My only problem with the suggestion is I am based in Queensland Australia … However, I will still have sniff about and see if he has anything listed on the web .. thanks again !Quote:
Originally Posted by tim1
Joel, on this topic you are :bdh:.... I'm not a " Mechanical engineer " , but I have created many items ( check my album on the 917 project car ) and I would be last person to throw water on an idea ..... there are usually ways to get an IDEA to a Physical reality .....and Elon Musk and or Bill Gates could get this done .... But I think the OP is probably not in that financial company ...... I changed the shock ANGLES of all my Spyders by creating a bolt on bracket that was formed to fit the frame area of the shock top. Quite a few people have told me what I did was extremely dangerous and foolish ( not the two BRP Techs who drove my Spyder though :roflblack: ) the change was only 18 degree's ..... what the OP is trying for ... to me is mind-boggling, and I believe almost anything can be worked out. But what the OP is trying to do is beyond a normal amount of development $$$ .... look what ISCI charges for their Spyder handbrake system ..... Does anyone believe the parts are worth $ 1300.00. I have posted to the OP my concerns, so this isn't a roundabout way of slamming Him..... I have genuine concerns about HER safety.... A few or a few hundred miles with sandbags is only going to prove it didn't FAIL within that mileage. There would be no guarantee 10 miles further and the sidecar wouldn't suffer a catastrophic collapse. I hope the OP reads this post and maybe He will have a new prospective about the possibilities of it's construction ....... Later .... Mike :thumbup:Quote:
Originally Posted by Joel The Biker
Thanks Mike … (and say no more !)Quote:
Originally Posted by BLUEKNIGHT911
Here are three good reasons why I KNOW I can do this by modifying, building and adapting a version of the Polish ‘Swenker’ side car setup ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GntsHZY6KPQ … The German giant BMW know it’s possible as shown here … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=235TVSBjIlY&t=106s Then another ‘Swenker ‘adaption … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m28XZXu1_7Y
Never say never ! ... I used to say to my Aviation based students ... “If you are notwilling to swap seats with the passenger looking down at you, don’t release the aircraft” … For the greater part of my adult life I was based around a highly safety based industry. Just because I am now retired does not mean my ethos has changed one little bit !
I’m impressed with your project! I don’t doubt you will make it safe, if it is possible.
My first thought was to swap the rear end with a IRS, from a Trike manufacturer. Extend the one side of that transaxle to support the sidecar. I’m hoping your plan works out. If not, that K1600GT with sidecar looks perfect for taking her for a ride!
If you're not totally attached to your F3, maybe given your wife's opinions on motorcycles and her health...have you considered getting a slingshot. Not sure given her health if she would have difficulties with getting in and out.
Wishing you both a happy medium.
First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.
Here's a concept to think about....
Well they look great on PAPER .... and I think the OP never made any headway with His Dream .... He hasn't been on this site since Nov. of 2018 .... I think that says where His project has progressed to ..... JMHO .... Mike :thumbup:Quote:
Originally Posted by dirrad
Hopefully he got a nice little convertible sports car and flipped the top down, and is riding the heck out it!!