I've been wanting another sidecar since my wife sold hers. A bit more utilitarian than her Terreplane though. So I hunted, and I found a Velorex 562 from another inmate for my KLR. It arrived today Not being the patient type, I unwrapped everything to see what I had My daughter can't wait to take it for a spin The recipient waiting patiently I sanded down the sub-frame and put a new coat of satin black on the parts Tomorrow I'll take the tub off the frame.
How so? I emailed Jay at DMC asking if it would work with the IMS tank, he said yes. I didnt tell him it was a non-vented tank. Hmmm? May take some playing. I'd hate to go back to the stock tank Hopefully he'll chime in here with his expert opinion.
I tried to put an IMS tank just like that on my KLR rig with Dauntless mounts and it would not work. Sold the tank.
I had to take a couple days off to hang out with the kids. I'm just glad they still want to. I continued today, starting with the subframe. I took off my beloved IMS tank and decided i should put stronger bolts on the bikes subframe, so I did the drill through method and replace the junk with 12.9 bolts. Much better for the side car use. I loose assembled the DMC subframe to the bike. All tightened up. Now time to tear the tub off the frame. And examine the frame. Inside the tub. This hack is already paying off! Finally take the fender apart. That's the day for me. Took longer to drill through the frame for the new bolt than I tought it would.
It's been a while since I got to work on it. Dead bearings, blown shock, and of course family stuff. I got new bearings for the swingarm. I figured wider would be better, right? So instead of 12mm that were in it, I went with 17.5mm. Double ball bearings. Sealed of course. I got the frame all back together, and mounted on the bike. 3/4" leanout, 1" toe in. (the board was so I could set my level on it) I knew I didnt want to stay red with the body, so I went tan to match the bike, with a roll on bed liner lower half. That stuff is a pain in the butt! I did have to replace my IMS tank with the stock one, but no biggie. That was warming up for a test ride down the street. Felt good and solid. Tracks straight when I put in nuetral and let off bars, so I'm happy! I still need to replace the shock. I'm going to try one off a 1993 GS500, which just arrived as I was typing this. We'll see how it goes. I'm still waiting on the lights to arrive to mount on the fender, which will be painted to match the tub. More to come....
Inspiration for if I ever stop commuting on mine long enough to 'prepare for winter' here in VT. Since I will have to build my own frame, what track width did you wind up with using a 'real' sidecar frame? Thanks for sharing!
cannot believe just saw this thread today... nice looking bike and hack, keep the pictures coming and we can exchange info since I'm also working on the same setup I'll send some pictures of mi subframe, if you still have the tank, maybe it will work on mine and we can make a deal.
I've still got the fender, lights and seat to finish, so more pics and progress to come. Also with my utility box installed for solo camping trips. Sorry, but I sold the IMS tank to a friend.
It's been a while, with a bit of sorting out. Since we last saw it, I've added a seat from Nothern tool which hinges in the front for access to the trunk. Cut the windshield down to 7" and painted black. I put a board under the body for support, as the ballast was starting to crack the fiberglass in the trunk. I'm sure it's due to being abused off road, but now all is good. The board also gives me a mounting platformfor a utlilty box should I want to put it on. Takes about 15 minutes to swap out. I plugged several holes in the car body, leaving one for drainage. I found the hard way that the car body filled much faster than it would drain when riding in a river. Still to come will be a cover, and probably fabric side panel "doors"
