Let me preface this by saying I know almost zero about sidecars and riding them first hand, only what I've read here, most of it recent. Man if you get through reading this novel, you deserve a medal
I toyed with the idea of a sidecar rig for my dog quite a while ago, but arthritic pain that my elderly German Shepherd was in at that time (since passed on), precluded that as an option for taking him along on trips.
I have luckily recently adopted a 4 yr old female Shepherd rescue. She's a beautiful dog and really settling in well all things considered. I had mentioned on another thread her stress Colitis from separation anxiety, it's much improved and I'm starting to get out for more day rides and she's adapting well, and I look forward to having her with me for as many years as possible.
I can tell, by her bull headed determination to be by my side,that for her & my own well being, if I do any over night trips, she will be coming with me. One of the things I've really enjoyed doing recently, is volunteering with the VRRA, they race vintage bikes 3-4 weekends a year, I've taken the new dog with me to the local racetrack for one weekend recently and it worked out really well. I can see it working out well in the future, having her with me at the races; only one track is close to home, 3 of the 4 tracks are over night trips 3-5 hrs away.
My dilemma, is coming to terms, with possibly giving up 3-4 precious weekends of potential riding myself in an already short season, taking my dog in my vehicle, and volunteering so others could ride their race bikes,lol.
I don't want to ruin a perfectly good motorcycle or get us killed either for that matter, but if I had a sidecar rig to take the dog with me, all of the racetracks in our area that are 3-5 hrs distance away, have beautiful back road routes that are possible, with the exception of a few miles of 4 lane close to CTMP formerly Mosport; so getting a good ride in with my dog, having a great weekend with her at the track, helping out and being around good people, is good for my soul,,, sounds like a win/win in my books; so I've been devouring every bit of sidecar info I can find on this board for the last while.
Due to unfortunate circumstances, we recently lost a good member of the local riding community, a family friend of the deceased, is helping the former owner's widow sell the following rig, it's a 2003 Honda VTX1300 R5? w unknown model California Sidecar, no longer in production since 2010?.
I know nothing about that model of bike and would appreciate any knowledge or experience you may offer, value,problems, desirability in the cruiser crowd for resale etc.
My primary interest is the sidecar itself, it's the first one I've seen for sale locally that doesn't look lightweight/crappy or expensively designed for HD's.
I'd love to know exactly which model/year range this California Sidecar is and if there are available parts for it, ie windscreens, step platform etc. It has no windscreen, but it does have snaps for the tonneau cover that comes with it, I'm not sure if you can install a windscreen easily? Anyone know?
Is the frame on this sidecar strong/sturdy/well designed enough that with some attachment pieces from Lee Bruns, I could end up with a well behaving rig without doing a bunch of sub frame work or having to modify the frame or attachments extensively to attach it to a Tonti guzzi?.
I've seen some available Norges in black that would look well with the sidecar, excellent weather protection and I'm sure it would solve my ergo back problems, but I'm getting the impression that the CARC bikes are relatively ill suited as tugs? I've read enough on here, to form the opinion that a Tonti Frame bike would probably be the most suitable guzzi tug, I'd appreciate knowledge or input on the following as possible tugs and some of the issues I foresee
The bike I have running and available now, that I think would be most suitable as a tug would be my 2008 Cal Vin,
The 2008 Cal Vin has good strong brakes and reasonable power, it's running well and strong, although a bit hot and lean around idle, I haven't installed a new Beetle map in it yet, I know that will improve the running, the performance/power idk?
I think the Steer-Rite triple clamps are no longer available; if I dropped the stock triple clamps lower and raised the ft fork tubes in the Cal Vin as much as possible, tightening up the geometry a bit, would that make any noticeable improvement in the steering/handling with a sidecar attached? Could it possibly create problems?
Without any steering mods,with Lee Bruns' attachment system and this sidecar's frame, would the handling be brutal/manageable or an unknown wildcard?
Obviously a good set up would be crucial, but if it was perfectly aligned/balanced?/toe in? set up,,, would/could it still be a handful without steering or front end mods?
On the Cal Vin I've rotated the stock handlebars as far forward as I prudently can, and sometimes rest my toes on the back edge of the floor boards,use an Air Hawk, also cranked the pre load on the rear shocks up,,, all of which have helped the ergos for my back immensely, but the straight up and down still bothers me a wee bit in my lower/mid spine, I intend to try a sheepskin as well, but are there any other cheap easy fixes to alleviate the straight up/down spine pressure, that I'm missing? I'm not far away from being very comfortable on that bike, I sometimes wonder if I had foam/height added to the rider area of the stock seat if it would be the final piece of the puzzle on the road to comfort,lol.
I find the gearing on the Cal Vin tall already, I can envision with a sidecar, I'd be tempted to just leave it in 4th once I got rolling and probably only hit 5th on downhills or flat with a tailwind. I can see that working for the highway, but would the bike's lack of overall gearing advantage kill the power for the first 4 gears pulling a sidecar?
The reality is, the Cal Vin is already my relaxed zen ride bike,,, I don't envision wanting to race around on it with a sidecar attached,, particularly if the dog was along for the ride, fwiw.
I have a G5, work in progress that is a possibility for a tug, I know the ergos would suit me better "if" it was running reliably but imho, I think the old P08 brakes would be marginal at best with a sidecar in comparison, and if the tonti 5 speed and diff gearing would be the same overall gearing as the Cal Vin, I can envision it would suffer from a power loss even more than the Cal Vin? I know the G5 is not hauling as much weight as the Cal Vin, but I know it has substantially less power.
It just so happens that right now, there are 2 Converts available being sold as a pair a few hrs away, I've noticed RK and others have used them for tugs, is there a mechanical gearing advantage from the Hydraulic Auto Tranny that makes them more suitable for tugs, or are the rear diffs known to have lower gear ratios in them? One of the Converts is a '77 for parts and the other is an '81 that is supposed to be very close to road worthy, to the owner's knowledge they both have stock diffs fwiw.
If there was a gearing mechanical advantage the Converts might make senses as tugs, Ergos would be great, power? but the brakes would still be imho the marginal P08s.
Do you lose engine braking power on a Convert like you do in an automatic car or not? I've never ridden one. I do know that the Converts have a low and a high range in the auto tranny, would that come into play or be a consideration for use as a tug?
I've read most of Lee Bruns posts pros/cons extensive advice, articles etc,,, is there anyone here that has done the conversions using Lee's attachment parts,,, was it something you were comfortable setting up yourself with his instructions or did you need the assistance of a local expert with the initial/final set up?
I do have a very well respected sidecar fabricator/installer/racer by the name of Jean Guy Radcliffe who lives within a couple of hours from me if I felt I was getting in way over my head and needed assistance getting a good safe rig set up.
Ps Lee Bruns, if you happen to see this and have time, I'd appreciate your input, and thoughts, feel free to pm me with any fine details, costs or concerns;bearing in mind, shipping to Canada would be required.
Tia
Kelly
