Resurrecting mentally deranged fun: early stages.

[MementoMori]

So this project of mine has been going on for a fair few months but progress has been slow recently due to sending parts off to people who like to take their time.

Thought I would start the write up now, as things are beginning to move forward...

I am currently involved in restoring a classic sidecar racing outfit which had been retired from racing and disassembled.

I was lucky enough to meet the guy who'd begun the project and was looking for extra hands/to pass his mechanical know how on to younger people.

Before I knew it, I was frequently popping (just typed pooping ) around to the back garden workshop of this guy's mate who was also giving a hand with his exceptional fabrication skills, mainly panel beating and welding.

Under the hot summer sun, I spent the majority of my time scraping down the sidecar half of the sidecar frame by hand with a little scrapey thing, which was quite hard work as the thick lead based paint chips often got into my eyes, (had a mask and gloves but no goggles) and the industrial level primer just wasn't gonna come off. But I did the best I could.

So, there were a few cracks in the frame which needed welding equipment beyond what my guy's mate had in his workshop which is where we sent it, and where it's been up until today or tomorrow I believe.

In the meantime, yesterday I picked up the bike half of the sidecar frame and armed with a sheep skinning knife, wire brush and heat gun, I set about scraping the shite off this frame too.

Thought I would take a few photos while I could, and whilst the progress isn't shocking, it's the start of this write up and there is much more to come.

So this is the bike half of the frame when we picked it up:
https://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a312/ilikeforks/Frame001.jpg

Meh... tried to capture the nature of the paint. Just looks a bit gay:
https://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a312/ilikeforks/Frame006.jpg

After an hour or so. You can see the adjustable grab rail for the passenger (me! ) at the rear, near side of the frame.
https://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a312/ilikeforks/Frame007.jpg

After an hour or so after the hour or so:
https://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a312/ilikeforks/Frame010.jpg

So, yeah that's basically it. Tomorrow I'll carry on scraping down the frame, I think it'll probably take me around two days to get it all off. Then we shall send both frames to be x-rayed for weak spots and small cracks.

After that, the real work begins!
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The tiger who came for a pint

[derbi x-treme]

looks really cool so far cant wait to see what it'll look like when its all together just wondering how come you dont get the frame shot blasted or is it low budget project. also wire brush attatchment on an angle grinder works great for getting off paint

[Whosthedaddy]

A lady doing a project, in Show and Tell, whatever next

I see that the whole side car thing has bitten you

Bit early to comment on things just yet, but good luck
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Current : MSX 125 Past : CBR 900RR Monkeybike : c50 LAC : ZXR750 H2 : FZR600 : ZX7R P3 : YW100 : TRX850: Trophy 900 T309 : GSXR 600 L0: Monkeybike : XJ6S Whosthedaddy

[ram_doom]

Thats awesome Steph, how old is it, and what motor's gonna be powering it? And can you do the restoration naked and with pics
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TL1000s, KDX200

[MementoMori]

[Sephiroth]

[McGee]

All I heard was naked pics.

Give to Lee.

Nice project keep up with the pics.

And if ram gets an r1 we can only expect another crash
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◙◙► K6 GSXR 600 ◄◙◙◙◙► K5 GSXR 1000 ◄◙◙◙◙► K5 GSXR 600 ◄◙◙◙◙► 96 RF600r ◄◙◙
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Its pronounced Jixxer!

[Dischord]

dude cant you sanblast that frame?? sorry if this was mentioned look forward to seeing how it goes!
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2012 KTM EXC 250

Check out my vids - https://www.youtube.com/user/KTMSparky/videos

[ram_doom]

[Sephiroth]

[Sephiroth]

[MementoMori]

OK, today the guy came round with the sidecar frame as there are still a few areas with paint still on it.

In the picture, the sidecar frame dwarfs the bike frame but in reality they'll be around the same length when the bike has wheels:
https://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a312/ilikeforks/Frame011.jpg

My camera seems to be making things larger than life today. This is infact the small gap between the wheel arch and the lip of the frame where my thigh goes when hanging out for left hand bends:
https://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a312/ilikeforks/Frame012.jpg

Made to measure sidecars FTW!

Most racing sidecars only have an open rear end for the passenger to lean out of, although some, including this one have an open space at the front which is ideal for long, sweeping left handers:
https://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a312/ilikeforks/Frame013.jpg

It's gonna be interesting going from leaning well over the back of the bike on the right hander, to clambering frantically to the front of the sidecar to get hanging out of that space in time for the consecutive sweeping left hander at the Timaru circuit but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

For Ram and others who may be interested. The engine will be from a 1961 Triumph Tiger T110, which is a 650.

Oh and some really exciting (to me anyway) news!!

The guy who took me around the track a few times in his racing sidecar, which you can read all about here has told the sidecar project guy that he wants me to be an extra sidecar passenger as his normal passenger can't always make it due to his career in the police!

So for a few races of the season, I will step in and do that! So the guy who I'm working on the sidecar with is looking for some boots for me (bike boots are too stiff and not grippy enough) and then we'll be looking at sorting out my licence!
Yay!
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The tiger who came for a pint

[McGee]

Awesome about the racing
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◙◙► K6 GSXR 600 ◄◙◙◙◙► K5 GSXR 1000 ◄◙◙◙◙► K5 GSXR 600 ◄◙◙◙◙► 96 RF600r ◄◙◙
◄◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙►◄◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙►◄◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙►
Its pronounced Jixxer!

[Whosthedaddy]

You got any pics or ideas on what that frame and side car unit will look like when finished?

From the little that I have seen it looks quite a flat riding position like a Superman pose, could this be made road legal .
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Current : MSX 125 Past : CBR 900RR Monkeybike : c50 LAC : ZXR750 H2 : FZR600 : ZX7R P3 : YW100 : TRX850: Trophy 900 T309 : GSXR 600 L0: Monkeybike : XJ6S Whosthedaddy

[MementoMori]

There aren't too many pictures of classic sidecar racing that I can find, not quickly anyway.

I found these that give a rough idea of what I assume it'll look like but I couldn't find any at decent angles so they're a bit obscure.

https://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a312/ilikeforks/sidecar1.jpg

https://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a312/ilikeforks/sidecar2.jpg

I wish these things could be made road legal, flipping heck, that would be great!
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The tiger who came for a pint

[McGee]

That would be intense to take you and a mate on a ride out like that
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◙◙► K6 GSXR 600 ◄◙◙◙◙► K5 GSXR 1000 ◄◙◙◙◙► K5 GSXR 600 ◄◙◙◙◙► 96 RF600r ◄◙◙
◄◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙►◄◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙►◄◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙►
Its pronounced Jixxer!

[stinkwheel]

They can and have been made road legal.

Guy in my town (Silloth, was a famous sidecar racing venue when that bike was new) used to have a BSA A65 kneeler outfit that was road registered. People used to ride them to races with all their spares piled up on the platform (seriously!).

Wish I'd seen (looked at) this thread before, could have saved you hours of work. Nitromorse on the paint will take it right back to bare metal. Just brush it on thick, wait for 10 minutes then brush the now loose and flaky paint off with a stiff floor brush then give it a wash down.

Of course, what you really want is a Hillman Imp engine for it.
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[G]

A lot of sidecars do seem to be road registered in the UK - presumably because there's not many test days you can try out a little engine tweak etc.

[Gpz 900R]

Only just read this,good luck with the project, in the past when stripping frames i have just covered them in lashings of nitromors and then jet washed them,usually gets most of it off without stressing the frame.