Stupid idea number 78……(look for the front wheel of the right hand C90)

There was a Horizons Unlimited rally in the UK in Sept 11 and the three C90’s needed to be there to continue their fight in the revolution against the ‘big bikes’. The only problem was that Laddie couldn’t make it…..disaster!!! How will the three bikes get there with only two riders….and then another one of my silly ideas was born:

I’ve always liked the idea of riding a sidecar, and you can make a sidecar or a trailer yourself from scratch. So why not use a bike frame as the chassis for a sidecar? And after some research into UK traffic law and my insurance company, I embarked on a two day mission with £10 of steel, an arc welder, power tools, a large pouch of tobacco and a case of Stella.

 

I did the whole thing by eye with both wheels on both bikes, using planks of wood to make sure that it was staight (with about 30mm of toe-in). I had worked out that the rig needed to be rigid in all 5 planes and once the three mouting strutts had been fabricated and bolted on I just needed to traingulate some more box section to stop it twisting. Once this was done I unbolted the front wheel and everything stayed where I had welded it!!!!

After a quick test ride I discovered why all sidecar outfits have a steering damper fitted, I got into a tank slapper at about 15mph!

My entire life seems to be ruled by impulse and while searching for pictures of sidecars on Google and eBay for steering dampers, I found this beast and while in a restaurant in Bristol I placed a bid on my iPhone and won it for £699. I trailered it home, chucked it in for an MOT and it passed first time!!! 🙂 I sense a silly adventure for this bike at some point in the future 😉 Anyway, You will notice there’s a steering damper on the front so I now didn’t need to buy one 🙂

 

In order for the C90 + C90 sidecar to be road legal it needed all the lights wiring correctly. First I had to disconnect my left indicators and run the wiring to the left indicators of the sidecar C90. Then I had to run the front sidelight, rear light and brake light in parallel with mine. I ran an umbilical cable with the correct push-fit connection from the sidecar to my bike and was pleasantly surprised when everything actually worked haha.

 

I decided to run in to work for a week before the rally to find any teething problems but all was fine. I even picked up one of the apprentices on his walk to work and due to the UK side car…..and he didn’t have to wear a helmet as long as he was sat on the sidecar C90!!! 🙂

Below is a short video showing me riding it, with a passenger, with my feet and then riding it sat on the handle bars.