Solo to Sidecar by STD

[bak189]

Just a thought.....don't you think you need to start at the beginning...like built the sidecar frame, and mount it to the bike.................Just a thought........

[Bruin]

Your point of starting with the sidecar frame is 100% right on. I am collaborating with my co-pilot, an aeronautic engineer, on the design and build of the sidecar. The rub is that he lives 1/2 way across the country so the going is slow and coordination tricky. I'm trying to get away from my usual last minute build, arriving at Bonneville with wet paint ways. So right now I'm rustling up parts, planning patterns, and hope to do what I can away from the sidecar mounting points... like the tail end and a little up front. And some of the other mods I have in mind to help the bike do its best.

[Nortonist 592]

When you talk about glass, are you talking about building a positive and negative form for the fairing? I would not have a clue how to proceed. I'm thinking it would take time and skill and you would need shop room and no small amount of supplies. For aluminum, I just make trial patterns out of cardboard, cut, bend, and rivet. I've got zippo room, no heat, and with winter arriving, cure times for glass would be brutal. Don't get me wrong, a nice glass fairing would be far superior to what I can bend, but like Dirty Harry once said, "A man's got to know his limitations." And heck, I'm in it for the fun of doing something challenging and perhaps creative... within my amateur skill set... and my expectations are low. I'll take pictures of the effort.

And guys, I do appreciate all the tips.

If you are going into production or are an anal retentive perfectionist there is really no need to make a female mould.  Its a one off so working from a male mould is fine.  Yes it takes a bit of time to make a male mould.  Not as long as you might think though.

You got zippo room.  Welcome to my world.




Winters coming on.  Long cure times.  That's what your wife's hair dryer is for.

Last winter I made a new body.  The "mould" was built on the sidecar and consisted of corrugated paper, masking tape and a coating of jointing compound aka drywall mud.  The mud sands easy and smooth.  Rather than spend a fortune trying to seal it I used some low tack spray adhesive and aluminum foil.  The foil being the release agent (and the wife never missed the roll).  Resin doesn't stick to it.




And covered in foil.  Some resin and matt and viola!  you have a body.



The air scoops were even more simple.  No foil just release wax.



I don't mean to hijack your thread.  Its just glass is so easy compared to pounding aluminum.

[Bruin]

Nortonist, your garage has that nice "lived in" look I so admire. And I envy the elbow room.    My little two car garage has never seen a car. I house 10 motorcycles. I have to roll 2 or three out to get the elbow room you see in the previous pictures. I have to play parking valet before playing knuckle buster. Granted, to get the fine results you have, glass did the trick. Thanks for posting those pictures, it was nice to get an idea how that stuff is done. I suppose once you have the blank, it's a breeze. Tinfoil is a good tip, When I glassed the front fender I used masking tape. Besides the bubbles, highs and lows, it was a bear to get off the blank.(Old steel fender) Plenty of WD-40 and a water soak finally freed it. And then I put some heir of the Bondo family fortune through college. And it still looks like a crater faced teenager but it'll pass at a distance and do the job.

Given my poor skills, mediocre expectations, and high need to do what people say I shouldn't do, I think I'm in the right medium, aluminum.

To further educate me, because I never say never, what do you estimate your glass body cost in material, tools, and glass?

[Bruin]

A scrounger's work is never done. I managed to swap some stainless steel sheets for two 5'6" x 43" sheets of thin gauge aluminum. Burrito roll the bike, pinch the ends, and Bob's your uncle.

On the floor is my collection of cables from... you don't want to know. I think I can link a couple together and work the rear brake with the front brake lever.

[wobblywalrus]

The plates on my fairing are the size they are for a reason.  One plate could be made in 40 minutes before I went to work in the morning and one or two plates could be made after I finished dinner and my chores and before I logged onto Landracing-dot-com before bed.  It took awhile to make the parts.  Like Nortonist says, glass can be faster.

Look up "Steib sidecars" on the i-net.  They have some shapes that are easy to make out of metal.

One thing to consider is the ventilation where you work.  In my case, I have a poorly ventilated work area in the winter when I need to keep the doors and windows closed.  Health issues.  Also, there is a gas water heater and space heater in there.  Explosion potential.  Fumes go right up through the cracks in the floor and into the house.  People complaining problem.  Glass might not be an indoor project in the winter if your work area is like mine.

  

  

  

[Nortonist 592]

That shot was taken right after I sold off two Hondas to help finance Bonneville so there was a lot of room.  It has since shrunk considerably.  The cost of the body?  Not certain.  A gallon of resin, a couple of bags of glass, one bag of woven glass,  a box of 1" throwaway brushes from Harbor Freight, an $8 roller from the local fiberglass shop (worth every penny) and a few pair of rubber gloves, a couple of tubs of mud and the corrugated paper was free.  $50 or so.  Not a bank breaker.

As I said all I can do to aluminum is put dents in it.  I have a fascination and admiration of those who can shape metal.  When you do start please post progress photos.  I'd love to see how its done.

[Nortonist 592]

One thing to consider is the ventilation where you work.  In my case, I have a poorly ventilated work area in the winter when I need to keep the doors and windows closed.  Health issues.  Also, there is a gas water heater and space heater in there.  Explosion potential.  Fumes go right up through the cracks in the floor and into the house.  People complaining problem.  Glass might not be an indoor project in the winter if your work area is like mine.

You reminded of a time when I lived in Ireland.  I had a small unheated workshop.  The only heat was from an outer primary chaincase cover turned upside down and filled with a quart or so left over methanol.  Worked fine except your eyes watered a bit.  I can understand the problem of getting glass to gel when its freezing.  I used a small blowtorch to try and get it hot enough.  Occasionally there would be a woof! as the glass lit.  Then it was open the door and throw it out into the snow.  Clean out the mould and try it again.  I don't miss those days.

[Bruin]

The extreme rear-set peg strut was salvaged from a push bar, and ended in an open tube. To prevent the mount bolt from flopping around in the lumen I filled it with a section of 1" aluminum bar stock and sealed it with some low temp aluminum weld. Drilled it for a 3/8" bolt. Since the strength will come from the steel tube, the plug is just a glorified spacer. It was all done with the lo-tech talent, tools, and parts on hand. I think I can hang a boot on it.

[Nortonist 592]

Out of curiosity.  Those footrests are waaaaay back.  Are you going to fit some kneeler trays to help with support?  Pegs that far back can have you playing the lead role in the ballet "The Nutcracker".

[Bruin]

Yeah, I'm going for the Rolly Free planking look. Rather develop my quads, hammies, and abs, I'll rest my legs on a shelf.

[Bruin]

One reason I'm trying to get an early start on my bike this year is that each season I have to prepare two bikes. My XR 500 and my wife's 250 Triumph. Her spark plug hole had been repaired by a helicoil insert. After this BUB event I noticed a couple of the thread coils were dinged so I took it in to the head shop for a repair. The guy inspected the valves and found boo-boos on the titanium intake valve. The guide is in good shape. I got a new one and he ground it in. The exhaust valve is in good shape. He put a Time-cert in the plug hole.

Inspecting the valve, there is some flaking of its coating. does not appear bent, and there is no impact damage on the face. The season before we did tune it too lean and toasted the piston/rings. Don't know if this is the cause but I'm glad it got spotted and repaired before her next high speed run.

[Bruin]

Nortonist, Here is a picture of my garage, and as it is, there is one bike out and in a pro shop. I need to roll two or three out to work on one. I'm not complaining, it's an embarrassment of riches... ie junkers.

[tauruck]

Bruin, If you suddenly got lucky and got a huge workshop it would end up looking the same. It's the nature of the beast, brother!!! It's what we do. Bikers are a little worse for some reason. I keep having clean outs and within no time at all it's back to being overcrowded. You just need to hang a lot more stuff from the ceiling though. It's a little unbalanced. I feel your pain. Mikey.

[Bruin]

Mikey, True that. Nature hates a vacuum. When I used to backpack there was a saying. "Want to lighten you load? Get a smaller pack." Cause you fill whatever you have. Cars in a garage, what a notion.