Came this last week. cable operated for a pit bike. Looks a bit small but will give it a go. Have ordered a front brake disc to fit to the Suzi 19" wheel thats going on the chair. Latter I hope to fit a proper caliper as well Had just gotten home from work so needed a snack and some thinking juice. If the caliper works as a park brake it will get the outfit through the re-registration process ( so the rego papers show a sidecar is fitted. )
Got the Suzi shock out so lets see if I can make the fournales shock fit :huh Its about 18 mm longer eye to eye. With more travel to boot (about 50-60mm). But it will go on I think. It will raise the back about twice the length difference I guess and maybe it will be possible to bottom the wheel into the mudguard. But at 500psi I doubt it . Apparently the seals are rated to 4000psi. There is only a 10mm bolt each end of the shock so my guess is it would be the weakest point:huh. It is going into an application (rising rate supension) it is not designed for but if it works it will be a treat to ride on. Bidding on a set of Fournales airshocks now (twin shocks) so I may have to build some earls forks yet. I have a set of 2nd hand triple trees on the way from the US that I was going to get modified for increased rake in Canada but without some sort of engineering certificate I may as well do my own here. Shame they do lovely work. But a spare set of triples will make the best welding jig for the earles. But 1st will see if the bidding is a winner. Cheers Bruce
So the good news is that I now have 2-3 months to work on the outfit to " finnish " it of. The bad is that I am on compo with a busted wrist (left) from a fall at work. So clutch hand is out, its Monday here and I have an op to pin the bones on Wednesday. Thursday to get over anesthetic. Maybe Friday on in the shed as a one handed fabricator. Realistically to be able to ride the outfit one hand I will need to set up a foot clutch for the right foot to keep the left for gear shifting, the clutch is cable operated so should be easy ish. But the biggy will be to change the trail on the front end to make the steering light. Any ideas for a quick resolution? 4 years ago I was sitting in this chair with the same wrist broken but not as badly. The right leg was broken and plated as well though so that was 3 1/2 months out of action. So a bit of ground hog day. I hope to make the time useful this time. I do have some room though as a certain inmate releaved me of 4 sidecars last week. Very good timing really. I think if I was to import something again such as sidecars I would go to the factory myself and get a few mods done to modernise things a bit. Still it was neat to have done it successfully. I;E bought and sold imports. Cheers Bruce
Sorry to hear about your wrist. Been there done that . I didn't know mine was broke until I pulled the glove off after a crash and saw there was a bone sticking out....heck rig up a foot clutch and go for it.
Thanks Claude one glance at my wrist told me all plans for a while had been changed, I will be bored witless soon as the discomfort eases. Like you I do stuff for a living and not just read or write about it. Mine and the wifes cars are manual transmission and here you need the left hand to change gears so the hack will be the most likely after the pushbike. So be seeing what a man can do single handedly. Still will need to change the steering pronto as it will get all to hard to go far, as Western Australia is far as in Mexico to Canada far Cheers Bruce
You will find plenty to do even with the crook wrist By the way good to hear that you have sold the chairs you had. I will have to keep my eyes and ears open to see if they come available for sale somewhere. Wouldn't mind some spares for my chair.
Bruce, sorry to hear about your wrist, hope it heals okay. They can be buggers to heal correctly. Dave
Are you right or left handed Bruce. You might have to get the wife to give you a hand I hope the op goes ok for you . Cheers Ian
Hi Ian the surgeon seemed pretty pleased with his work though it took him 2hrs to do. They even did the carpel tunnel :huh in case of nerve swelling. But pinned all the bits in place without having to replace bone or glue in the gaps. The deal is to keep swelling down so things can heal quick without complications. So when I work on the bike I have to keep the hand high I am right handed and broke the left. Certainly am reminded of what fantastic people nurses are can't say enough for them really, God bless em all. The wife she is very handy and on holiday for another week . Cheers Bruce
Put the chair back on again on the weekend, the wrist is working ok for now (Still an op to come to remove some titanium) The shoulder is still busted (AC joint completely torn apart). But I seem to handle the rig ok for now. Will see about long trips and how far I ride in a day. The set up is better than last time though trail mods still need to happen. Bully who is your mate down at the pits? PM me if you could please. The Fournales airshock seems a winner on the rear. It is longer than the standard shock so jacked the rear up a bit requireing mods to the mounts. I notice if you modify one thing there seems to be 6 other mods required to make it work again plus setting the whole thing up again. At least I seem better at that as well. Also picked up a pair of Fournales to fit to a CJ 750 leading link front end. And a couple of BMW I think X650 airshocks (HUGE) that may go on the chair or a new to be built chair. Not sure when those will happen though. I want to get the registration brought up to date with the chair being fitted 1st. Things to do next. Rear tyre, (the current Pirelli is real soft so won't last) Heidenou's?? Chain and sproket set from Chaingang. 15/60 or 17/65. The take of is probably a bit hard on the clutch as 1st is a bit high geared. Change the bike indiators to minimal LED's ( I have already) and delete the ones on the chair side of the bike. Fit the dinky brooklands screen. The list goes on. Cheers Bruce
Fit a car tyre Bruce, 205/50-17. Slips straight onto the Stroms rim. I've been running one for over a year and the wear is almost non existant.
Thanks Pops and Dave for the well wishing. Always wanted a wishing well. Do the Wee's run the same rim as the big stroms? I fancy the idea of a smaller section tyre though it will have to wait till I get time to go over the pits to get the govmint stamp of approval. Should not ask them to swallow to much variation from standard. There is a 185/17 on eBay for US $210 plus $80 freight. A bit pricey. Its a bit of a beast to drive (not ride) now, left handers are harder than right by quite a bit...... and thats if I can make myself commit to throttle and no brake. Seems to track straight though. Must put the chair brake on this weekend I think. May set it up with a left foot brake pedal. Be able to brake steer then. :eek1 Cheers Bruce.
