This was Tuesday of this week, second day of spring. and I was getting a new sidecar delivered from DMC I'm going to have to lose a lot of snow before I'm going to be able to get them together :huh But at least I be able to get in shape for the new riding season by doing a lot of shoveling. A couple of hours later I unpack enough to really see my new purchase In December I started a thread, asking if there were any Alaskan Hacks. Because I was really curious about getting a sidecar, and I've never really seen that many up here. I started reading volumes of R&R's and different threads trying to make my mind up. I already had a 1200GS and thought just buy the sidecar Ha Ha :eek1 I was following a thread with ClearwaterBMW, sent him a PM with my phone# and I was amazed that he called me back within a couple of hours I then called another friend of mine that lives up here in Alaska and has a GS and a hacked KLR and goes by the screen name Hobo, to see what his thoughts were about hacking a GS Jay with DMC answered on the thread I started and said that they were sending a 72D up here in a week I talked with Jason the guy with the 72D, And I was pretty much sold Next problem was selling my better half. And that went a lot easier then I thought I bought a snowmachine once that would ride two people, the day I took possession of it I found that I had to buy a second one for my wife because she didn't like riding 2up. But she does like the idea of a sidecar So here I am with 3' of snow and waiting Bob
Well dig that GS out and start the hack. I'm sure invited some of us valley ADVers over for a shoveling party with a lunch reward it would go quicker.....If you get it done and dialed in maybe a D2D test ride in June?
The scariest part of mounting the subframe on my GS was drilling out the front mounting location on the motor. I told my wife, if I hit oil, we won't be rich.
Reinforces my move from PA to FL! Don't miss having to shovel "partly cloudy" from the walk..... Nice looking car, good luck with the build.
Ummm, I agree with Bobmws...glad I moved from Alaska after 22 winters there....now in southern New Mexico where it is riding season year round.... I digress tho...just PTSD from all those winters....:eek1 You are building a sweet rig! Looking forward to pix as you set it up.... I had to laugh at what AlaskaJeff offered and I do miss the willingness to help each other out that was standard up there! And I miss how long my bikes lasted as a result of those 3-4 month riding seasons... You guys stay warm and have fun on the outfit.... Brian
You are really going to live this rig. Here's my 72D rig: After riding down from Washington to Southern California along the coast and then with another couple of thousand miles around here, I found that the steering mod was a huge, huge improvement in the ease of handling. So much so, that I think it should be part of the package when you buy the sidecar.
Abenteuerfahrer I've read both of your posts completely "Delivery Announcement: Ingrid is here, and Alaska ride with a sidecar" And I must say at first it scared the living daylights out of me. Even until just a week ago when I heard the car was coming I called Jason the other fellow with the new car up here and asked him how it went and did he have to drill the hole? :eek1 He said yes but it wasn't that bad But I'm still a little nervous But that is what makes it an adventure
Good to see you got the sidecar Bob! Drilling that hole was a real scary part of the install, mostly due to it being in the most expensive part of the bike if you screw up! Really hard to un-drill it! When you do get your bike out of that snow bank and get started give me a call and I'll give you my pit falls to getting mine hooked up, there are a number of things I would do differently based on my experiences. I've still got to get the lights wired up and do a proper test ride, just have to wait for the ice and snow to go away.... Jason
I looked at it for a looooonnngg time before I pulled the trigger. It was like drilling through butter. 3 or 4 seconds and it was done. I was so happy when no oil came out.
The hole that gets drilled out is a casting where the outer part is already 12mm, the casting is hour glass shaped so you are only removing a bit of a rough casting in the center of the hole. You would really have to try hard to not get it right. Jay G DMC sidecars www.dmcsidecars.com 866-638-1793
Jay - based on all the trepidation about drilling out that spot on the engine I would recommend amending the install sheet with the info you provided in this thread. Bob - I found this post covering the install on an 800 GS to be extremely helpful (even though I only saw it AFTER I got my sidecar installed). http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=686884
