Guzzi Rig construction underway.......... at last.

[bill_powell]

Originally Posted by JustinP

Man, that's looking good. Can't wait to see the finished results.

I'll second this.

Thanks for posting this thread; As it happens, I like Hedingham cars and Guzzis.


I've a '79 1000SP with a Hannigan car; wanted a Hedingham SS, but it was just a bit too expensive for me. Here's mine, for your amusement:





Please do keep posting as things progress~

[toastmuncher]

Bill, that looks great.

heres a question ref brakes. I am split between running a seperate master cylinder for the sidecar brake or to piggy back it from the rear bike brake and de-link the front brake. What would your input be? Assuming many have de-linked the front, how does the master cylinder cope with two calipers? For those who dont know, the brakes on the california are front left and rear calipers are powered by the rear pedal with the front right being powered by the front lever.

I did get the car wheel, it arrived yesterday. I am on stop, the car wheel for the chair is at the painters with the bodywork, I cannot start setting up without knowing what height the chassis will be at.

Oh, incidentally, the car rear has a 135/15 tyre, the outside diameter is appox 10% smaller in diameter, 595mm in place of 645mm. That should equate to a useful drop in gearing, but, the main reason for my doing this is cheap car tyres.

[bill_powell]

You know, I have left the brakes linked, and do not have the sidecar brake installed at all.

I have had no issues with braking; in fact I rather like the 'stomp and stop' of the linked system.

That said, I admit that I do not drive the old Goose very hard; I tend to take things pretty easy, and just enjoy the ride. I think I might also be getting a little slower as my hair gets grayer.

EDIT: I had a thought this morning: rare, but it does happen. You should post your questions regarding the braking system on the Sidecar.com forum; there are a couple of very knowledgeable Guzzi rig owners over there who may be better able to help than I.

Find them here:

http://www.sidecar.com/mbbs22/forums...view.asp?fid=1



Appreciate the compliment on my rig; here's one more photo for you; I have posted it before, so forgive me if you've seen it. It is a couple of years old, but it's my favorite pic of the Guzzi, and she has not changed any...even if I have a little:

[toastmuncher]

Bought a avon sm11 for the front. Waiting for the painter and the PC is down at home so will update once some movement happens. If anyone with a cally with unit forks is on here, could I ask for you to measure the FRONT brake line for me please?

[MIXR]

Always had a soft spot for the Cali, but was never brave enough to own one here in Aus. The build is coming up great. It should look fantastic when completed, but I'm surprised that they don't steer ok without the leading link. I'd have thought the geometry would have been pretty close to ok in stock trim. Following this with interest. Cheers, Mick.

[toastmuncher]

Well, again, slow here as the painter is busy and housey stuff like building my lad a playhouse etc means not much happening. Anywhoo.
In the bucket of fittings, the chair came from an identical bike, was a mystery plate. Well it turns out it was a bracket plate for the lower front mount, the eyebolt is located below the exhaust downpipe and the plate is secured by the front engine bolt. However, on removing MY engine bolt had a 12mm fine thread whereas the plate was tapped out at m12 x 1.75, quite a course thread. I managed to get a piece of 12mm bar which I had to file a taper onto, surprised how hard it was to get a course 12mm thread started, memory fails me from when I did this kind of thing regularly.

This pic shows where I PLANNED to have the lower front BUT the double arm would not reach from its chair chassis mount. This is what lead to the plate identity discovery.

Having the exhaust so close to the plate means a nut on the outside was not possible so cutting the bolt off and filing it with a taper gave a slight recess which could be filled with weld.

The long bolt goes through the front of the crankcases and is notorious for seizing in place.

This is now painted and in situ, shows how far away my assumed location is now obviously not where the LAST setup had it.

Moved the swing arm onto the front holes, as per the recommendation of a chap on here.

The 135-15 is now in the rear and the avon is now in the front. Waiting for the painter is driving me nuts so all wiring is now complete and tested, the dip and high beam is 30amp relay fed, I cannot mate up the bike and chassis yet as the rim is at the painters preventing me from getting the chassis height set. The fancy goodridge hose kit with SS ends etc is not long enough, I have taken the front lines to PIRTEK hoses who are duplicating them PLUS 200mm, hopefully the 8inch increase will suffice, I guessed 6 but best to be safe I guess.
Now I wait.

[cleatusj]

http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/n...m/cally007.jpg

That's a lot like the sub frame mounts I came up with for my Convert.





I was able to use the factory bolt as my plates are only 1/4" and the nuts cleared the exhaust.

[toastmuncher]

Originally Posted by cleatusj

http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/n...m/cally007.jpg

That's a lot like the sub frame mounts I came up with for my Convert.





I was able to use the factory bolt as my plates are only 1/4" and the nuts cleared the exhaust.

Impressed last time I saw this, good job. Just struggling today to bleed/burp the brakes, the 8inch hose length increase was JUST enough. Phew.

[gsd4me]

Originally Posted by toastmuncher

Bought a avon sm11 for the front.

I think you`ll find the Avon a much nicer tyre on the front than the Metzeler. I had an R80 mono w/- sidecar many years ago and found the Block K on the front was too stiff which made the bike very skittish to steer. I then fitted an Avon Mk11 and there was a lot of improvement. The Mitas E07 and Heidenau K60 Scout are also good strong tyres if you can get them in the size you need.

[Steve In Ireland]

I put a double banjo on the rear brake and ran the sidecar caliper directly from the rear brake master cylinder linked to the existing front and rear linked brake set up. The master cylinder has enough travel to cope with all three calipers and the brakes work well like this. I rarely use the front brake lever, the rear brake pulling the outfit up nice and straight. Might be worth a try first.

Originally Posted by toastmuncher

heres a question ref brakes. I am split between running a seperate master cylinder for the sidecar brake or to piggy back it from the rear bike brake and de-link the front brake. What would your input be? Assuming many have de-linked the front, how does the master cylinder cope with two calipers? For those who dont know, the brakes on the california are front left and rear calipers are powered by the rear pedal with the front right being powered by the front lever.

[toastmuncher]

Originally Posted by Steve In Ireland

I put a double banjo on the rear brake and ran the sidecar caliper directly from the rear brake master cylinder linked to the existing front and rear linked brake set up. The master cylinder has enough travel to cope with all three calipers and the brakes work well like this. I rarely use the front brake lever, the rear brake pulling the outfit up nice and straight. Might be worth a try first.

Ive now set the thing up as stock but will run the chair brake seperately. Thanks for input though, I assumed the rear MC would not cope with three.

I have got hold of and installed the rear wheel/tyre, I have got the front brake hoses made up by pirtec in Avonmouth, not cheap but top quality Earles lines. All is wired but as Ive asked the painter to paint the chair wheel to match, I can do nowt now until the paintwork is done.
Anyway.........Today I collected a great buy, a velocet fuel tank, not sure from what it comes but it fits on the carrier a treat and I guess holds approx 6 liters. I plan to splice into the fuel feed for the injection.


Underside.

I was thinking of additional capacity if we ever run onto the continent with it, so, at a fiver it seemed a gift, what do you lot reckon?

[Steve In Ireland]

Originally Posted by toastmuncher

I was thinking of additional capacity if we ever run onto the continent with it, so, at a fiver it seemed a gift, what do you lot reckon?

Could be useful. I find the tank range on mine quite poor (about 120 miles before the fuel light comes on.

[toastmuncher]

Good news, the painter APPEARS to have cracked on with my body, Anyhow, will hopefully be able to update with some progress soon.

[Bobmws]

Originally Posted by toastmuncher

Good news, the painter APPEARS to have cracken on with my body, Not bad given I paid him in June/July LAST YEAR. Anyhow, will hopefully be able to update with some progress soon.

Wow, you're a patient man!

[Hairyjohn]

[QUOTE=toastmuncher;19110173]Bill, that looks great.

heres a question ref brakes. I am split between running a seperate master cylinder for the sidecar brake or to piggy back it from the rear bike brake and de-link the front brake. What would your input be? Assuming many have de-linked the front, how does the master cylinder cope with two calipers? For those who dont know, the brakes on the california are front left and rear calipers are powered by the rear pedal with the front right being powered by the front lever.

I did get the car wheel, it arrived yesterday. I am on stop, the car wheel for the chair is at the painters with the bodywork, I cannot start setting up without knowing what height the chassis will be at.

Oh, incidentally, the car rear has a 135/15 tyre, the outside diameter is appox 10% smaller in diameter, 595mm in place of 645mm. That should equate to a useful drop in gearing, but, the main reason for my doing this is cheap car tyres.

On My Guzzi / RX4 I kept the linked brakes and connected the chair brake to the front brake, Result I could still use the rear brake to assist steering but if I pulled on both the outfit stopped straight and true. The wasp forks though did have floating discs. On older unit forks with fixed callipers this might give problems
HJ