Yamaha FZ1 dual sport sidecar build

[Motorfiets]

Originally Posted by Ogre_fl

Have you thought about running that at Sandbast?

http://sandblastrally.com/2011/

I wonder if they would let you run with the bikes

no sidecars in N.A.S.A motorsports or rally-moto...

[Neptune03]

Originally Posted by wishin4woods

I have been reading thread after thread about hacks. I must admit that it is a mild sickness at the moment. Of all of them this has to be one of the meanest ,most interesting one yet!! Kudos to you Neptune. The next time I head up to your end of FL you may get a PM offering a free drink (s) in trade for a close up view.

Thanks for sharing.

No cure for the sickness, just go with it. Thanks for the kind words, I sure am having fun. To you or anyone else passing through Tallahassee, I would enjoy showing off the Yamaha or Hayabusa and going for a ride almost anytime. Just let me know when you will be in the area.

[sailah]

Neptune, that is one bad rig my friend. Amazing fab work. Curious, I know nothing about hacks, but why the leading link for the front suspension?

Glad someone else has spotted the potential for the FZ1, I turned one into an offroad blaster. I absolutely love the motor on my bike, do you have the jet kit from Ivan's? I have it along with the pod filter set and have zero complaints.

[Neptune03]

Originally Posted by sailah

Neptune, that is one bad rig my friend. Amazing fab work. Curious, I know nothing about hacks, but why the leading link for the front suspension?

Glad someone else has spotted the potential for the FZ1, I turned one into an offroad blaster. I absolutely love the motor on my bike, do you have the jet kit from Ivan's? I have it along with the pod filter set and have zero complaints.

Really weird that you wrote because I just finished reading your FZ1 build thread from start to finish. Excellent work and great fun reading about everything you did. I can only imagine what a blast it is. I know mine is not slow but without the weight of a sidecar, yours must really be AWESOME!

There are three main reasons why I built the leading link front end for the sidecar. When attaching a sidecar, steering becomes very heavy requiring a reduction in trail to reduce steering effort. There are other ways to reduce trail, like modified triple clamps, but a leading link is often preferred because it addresses other issues also. Even if trail was reduced by triple clamp modification, standard telescopic forks are not designed for the lateral forces that a sidecar outfit generates (especially riding aggressively off road). Telescopic forks flex, bind and twist. Due to the design of the leading link, they offer a lot more rigidity and potentially better performance. The last reason I built the leading links was the width of the front tire. To keep costs down I wanted to keep the stock triple clamps. If the stock forks were used, I would have had to somehow find wider triple clamps or modify the stock ones to accept the width of the tire.

You asked about the carbs. Yes, I put an Ivan’s jet kit in and run a K&N filter with stock air box. The bike seems to run great but I still need to check the carbs synchronization.

Once again, I really enjoyed your build thread. Maybe our FZ1s will meet roosting down a dirt road some day. Have fun and ride the heck out of that thing

[sailah]

Originally Posted by Neptune03

Really weird that you wrote because I just finished reading your FZ1 build thread from start to finish. Excellent work and great fun reading about everything you did. I can only imagine what a blast it is. I know mine is not slow but without the weight of a sidecar, yours must really be AWESOME!

There are three main reasons why I built the leading link front end for the sidecar. When attaching a sidecar, steering becomes very heavy requiring a reduction in trail to reduce steering effort. There are other ways to reduce trail, like modified triple clamps, but a leading link is often preferred because it addresses other issues also. Even if trail was reduced by triple clamp modification, standard telescopic forks are not designed for the lateral forces that a sidecar outfit generates (especially riding aggressively off road). Telescopic forks flex, bind and twist. Due to the design of the leading link, they offer a lot more rigidity and potentially better performance. The last reason I built the leading links was the width of the front tire. To keep costs down I wanted to keep the stock triple clamps. If the stock forks were used, I would have had to somehow find wider triple clamps or modify the stock ones to accept the width of the tire.

You asked about the carbs. Yes, I put an Ivan’s jet kit in and run a K&N filter with stock air box. The bike seems to run great but I still need to check the carbs synchronization.

Once again, I really enjoyed your build thread. Maybe our FZ1s will meet roosting down a dirt road some day. Have fun and ride the heck out of that thing

Ha, I still need to synch mine too!! I just rode about 250 miles yesterday in WV around some awesome twisties, thing is an animal!! On one particular straight I hit 117 on the GPS in 4th gear....

The motor is the most addictive and liveable engine I have had in a long time.

Again, great work and thanks for the explanation.

[Ginger Beard]

Originally Posted by Neptune03

No cure for the sickness, just go with it. Thanks for the kind words, I sure am having fun. To you or anyone else passing through Tallahassee, I would enjoy showing off the Yamaha or Hayabusa and going for a ride almost anytime. Just let me know when you will be in the area.

I suppose that there is no cure other than just sucking it up and building one eh? Thanks for the invite. I would love to see them both first hand and take a ride around Tallahassee. Thanks again for sharing man.


Dave

[cwadej]

Slight hijack. Neptune03, this is Christopher. My wife and I bout the FZ1 with Terreplane from you and Sidecar Girl last year.

this FZ1 dual sport is what I need. Wish I had the skills you have. Both to build it and ride it! Sorry to hear about you and the missus.

I'm putting a hack on my KLR right now, hopefully I'll get to your level some day.

[xrguy]

thank you for this incredible build! seriously inspired me to make my fz1 dualsport dream bike. i wish i had your incredible fabrication skills! amazing!

[C-Stain]

Wow.

Absoutelyinfuckingcredible!

Me WANTY!

[pops]

Thank you for posting up this incredible build!
You have one wicked sidecar there .

Cheers Ian

[pennswoodsed]

Originally Posted by tripodtiger

Looks to me like you'll havbe no great trouble building a narrower wheel if it comes to that.

Steering dampener will mask the problem. Time will tell if it's something that needs resolving.

At the moment, I'm getting lighter springs for the front of mine, with the dampeners re-valved, to soften it and match the sidecar suspension better. Presently it is pretty stiff and twitchy, even with a 130mm bike tyre.

Dude ! watched the video and holy schnikes ! Your riding ,your build !
Hats off !
Regards,Ed

ps You are the Bull Goose Looney of the Hack World!
Respect !

[Fubars]

VFR Swingarm--Brilliant.

I own an FZ1 as well. That Micron can sounds great in the videos. Have you roosted anybody yet??

[Skyclad]

Just stumbled across this thread, and I am in awe of your fab skills. Beautiful work to say the least!

[TUCKERS]

I'm no suspension guru but in your description of the action I don't think you mentioned 'rebound' and it is in that function that sounds like what needs attending to. I'd get some front shocks with rebound adjustment. You can view some videos on suspension where it shows dirt bikes either with too soft a rebound or too hard a rebound and what it does to the wheel travel. I can't remember the links but i am sure you can find it. Progressive or Works Performance are easy to talk to, you can talk direct with a technician at Works Performance and get custom cooked shocks for a reasonable $.
That video of you riding that corner is just great! I'd love to be the monkey some day. If you ever want to do the Baja races and need some ballast don't call me though......I attract COWS!

[Bavarian Honda]

Impressive!

Great will and talent!