Sidecar on the T120

[storm 64]

I was at a hotel in Kansas. At breakfast I met a lady traveling with her dog, a small dog. She rode a big Harley Davidson touring bike. She had a little "dog house" pet carrier tied to the seat behind her. She says the dog loves it. The dog just jumps in and ready to go. She says she travels all over just her and her dog. I thought, that's pretty cool.👍

[Jedz123]

Rear rim and tire landed from the donor a 2007 Triumph Bonneville Speedmaster. I'm going to need to make some custom spacers and the T120 rotor and crush crush drive are not compatible to the rim... So I cleaned the up, painted and mounted the car tire...
Some one was excited when the mail came in, as if she knew it was really for her

Rim Cleaned up and bearings checked (in good shape) added some grease and painted.
Before:

After:

Than I put the dark side tire on a 165 80 R15.



So I ordered some new bits and more Speedmaster rear bits to try to make sure the rear wheel will fit correctly.

My buddy checks out the sidecar on Thursday. Hope I will have the tub set for pickup by the end of the week!

The new front tire should be landing soon.

[Jedz123]

Sidecar secured!
Just purchased a 80's Watsonian Monaco Mark 2 sidecar. It will need a new tire (ordered) and I plan to either check and repack or replace the bearings. It doesn't have a fuel cell and the roof is in need of repair however I secured it for a very cheap price... It is being shipped up and to say it's still under half than buying a no name unit new.

The tub is in mint shape (no scratches or damage to the Fiberglas tub, no rust as it's from the south). The side car has a very large rear (flat) trunk so I could mount a givi case on top for even more storage. The rack for the Bonneville will no longer need to be used as their is ALLOT of space in the nose and the trunk.



So From what I can gather on the Monaco Mark 2 is that it's a sport touring tub, often paired with R80's and other "big" 1000cc "sport touring" bikes of it's vintage. Very large bearings designed for bikes pushing 600lbs range. this one has the 10" (Mini) steel tubeless rim. So with the Bonneville now weighing in at 430lbs It will be a nice tug for it. So the total setup will be in the 640lbs range I'm guessing. I'll be running radials on all 3 corners and I'll be playing and working the geometry once it gets warmer again. For now I'll bring the tub into my shop and start to go over it thoroughly. the tire I ordered for the sidecar is a modern radial that looks vintage Coker CARMAC 145 80 R10.


They also made some bias trailer tires in this size but decided to go with a radial as it would likely yield a much higher service life than the bias...
Trailer get picked up in KY tomorrow and should land in Vermont by the weekend. I used the site U-Ship to source bids. Allot of varying bids but I went with 1 guy that has been on U-ship for several years and has 80 positive reviews just this past year. Cost me $450 to ship from KY to VT and that's about $150 more than it would cost me in fuel to go down and pickup myself... So FYI there. Had a few quotes in the $1200 rand, couple $900 range and some in the $300-$500 range but the guy I chose had the best experience and hauls sidecars often.

I'll be making a video on the build soon. As for the Doggo we spent the afternoon yesterday in the car working on commands for the side car (sit, down, up, look and leave it) She's super smart, positive reinforcement works the best!


Have a great week.

[LAB3]

Major envy scoring that one! As to any geometry issues, do you think you'll need to tweek the rake on the Bonnie?

[Jedz123]

Major envy scoring that one! As to any geometry issues, do you think you'll need to tweek the rake on the Bonnie?

As I've read the best (and ultimate upgrade) is to go with leading link front suspension. However for now I plan to keep the standard rake and forks as many with Bonneville's say the standard fork does a "decent" job. I would have to craft my own, a project down the line. I've been immersing myself in side car rig setups to fully understand how the rig should go down the road. The goal is to have the rig go straight while cruising around 35-50mph. That all can be achieved by properly setting your toe in and lean in/out correctly. I have a feeling it will take allot of trial and error. Once set I plan to practice allot before bringing Z with me on a trip. However my wife and I are excited about loading the bike and side car up and going for little camping adventures as a family.

Good resource here. http://www.dmcsidecars.com/wp-conten...STRUCTIONS.pdf

[Steve]

I was going to suggest looking into a leading-link fork, but LAB3 beat me to it.

Just in case you need a little bit of reading on the subject and some hints to manufacturers who might (not) still offer them:

https://motocrossactionmag.com/leading-link-or-missing-link-the-awesome-fork-that-time-forgot/

.

[Steve]

I'll be running radials on all 3 corners and I'll be playing and working the geometry once it gets warmer again.

Oh, no. TRIPLE Darkside.

.

[Wingsconsin]

At least we will be able to keep up with you now....zoooooommmm ....

[Hayabuser]

I specifically bought my 2013 T-120 new for sidecar use, I only ever rode it once as a normal motorcycle and that was just home from the dealer. The only thing I did to the front end was to install stiffer springs to help support the weight of the car. In the rear, I went with a pair of Thruxton OEM shocks as they were about an inch longer and slightly stiffer. Of course I added the required steering damper as without it the bike is crazy slap-happy just cruising along. Overall though, the bike had no issues hauling the chair around in mostly stock form. The 67hp was plenty and I could still out-drag most regular cars from the traffic light.

The sidecar was an Indian-made Cozy Bullet that I also bought new. The rig is designed for a Royal Enfield but they supplied a 'universal' kit that I was able to make work on the Triumph. The only custom work I needed to do was run the wiring from the bike for the lights on the car. The hardest part was aligning everything but the internet was there to help me. Anyway, I figured that if I could mount a set of floats on an airplane, I could attach a side-car to a motorcycle. I was right.


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As everyone has said, it's a completely different driving experience. Forget everything you know about driving cars, trucks, skidsteers, forklifts, etc... none of them compare to the mirror-universe dynamics of a sidecar hack. With the car weighted, it's not so bad but riding with the chair empty can be terrifying for the novice. Especially right hand turns....

It's also quite the upper body workout. With the "toe in" and lean set, the unit will want to go straight. Period. Any attempt to turn is like working out on a Bowflex... resistance is the foundation.

At the end of the day though, it's so rewarding. Everyone smiles at you on a sidecar. People wave and point, pictures are taken. You'd better be comfortable being the center of attention because you will be. You'll start using it as a commuter, a small truck and a grocery-getter. The more I used mine, the more I used mine. It's addictive.

Typing this out, I'm really starting to miss mine....... dang.

Looking forward to watching this happen, Justin. Congrats!

[Hayabuser]

Oh, and you'll want to learn to do this to scare your daughter and impress the local police. Well, those were my reasons.

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[Jedz123]

Thanks Dave!
As soon as I saw you posted I remembered you use to have a Bonneville sidecar rig! My T120 is in the 80WHP mark and 80/fltbs. So I'm guessing my rig will roll very similarly to yours! Thanks so much for sharing your experience. I have really read allot about setups and In order to weight my rig down I'm contemplating installing a secondary fuel cell and a full size car battery or 2 so that I have electricity for long distance trips and remote camping, that will help with the weight some. IN honest I will likely have my dog in the tub most of the time but with her only being 60lbs I'm sure it's not much of a weight difference . I'll definitely have to think about the weight. I'm in for the challenge of the build... I'm stoked for it to land here in Vermont. Hey Dave, would you mind posting some more pictures and if you have any that pertain to the mounts? Any pics in HD will be helpful and I would be eternally grateful. The Air and water-cooled bikes are not that dissimilar in dimensions, drive, brakes and weight. I have juiced up my stock suspension and am currently on stiffer and taller settings; as I'm running Progressive Sportster suspension in the rear and beefed up front end... I'll see how well sprung the bike is once in tug.

As for the Tub location, it was just picked up from the seller today and the driver told me he was planning to arrive some point tomorrow! Too bad we are looking at allot of snow coming in, I'll wheel it into my shop for a once over and ensure the wheel bearing is in good shape than mount and balance the new tire.

Looking forward to riding it... Plan to practice... ALLOT before bringing my dog with me, I'm excited and a touch terrified about it!

My very best,

-Jedz

[Hayabuser]

I wish that I still had the bike so I could take a bunch of pictures for you but unfortunately I sold it in December 2018.

Not sure that this will help but it's a link to a gallery of a number of different pictures of it: https://www.flickr.com/photos/234977...57643978293073

[Jedz123]

Thanks Dave!
I appreciate the pictures. Just makes me want to ride, moved 6" of snow this morning to make room for the delivery truck. The side car will be landing at some point today!
Pumped!

[Jedz123]

Dave last Question... What was your average MPG?

[Hayabuser]

Dave last Question... What was your average MPG?

Couldn't tell you. I don't worry about stuff like that.