I've been thinking about building a side car for my bike

[Quick 350]

I've been thinking about building a side car for my 71 CB 350.
Has any one ever built one on here that could give me some pointers or tips?
Or does anyone know of a manufacture that sells bolt on kits?

[TechTMW]

Don't know much about this at all ... do you think a 350 can handle a sidecar?

[scan]

Don't know much about this at all ... do you think a 350 can handle a sidecar?

This is what I thought right away. I'm not sure how big you need to go, but I know my big butt seemed to slow down a 250 Honda and I'm just a notch over 200 lbs. A sidecar (even empty) and a rider would put a lot of weight on a bike. If you add a passenger or frieght I wonder if it would be a problem riding safely.

[old-n-slow]

A sidecar, even empty, changes the entire handling characteristics of the bike and should be avoided in my opinion. If they were really great, useful accessories, you would see many many more of them then you do. I suspect that the frame on a Honda 350 might be a tad light for one of these.

[Quick 350]

I under stand that side cars through off performance and the ride characteristics of the bike. I've rode both a Road King and a KZ1100 that had side cars on them and thought it was a blast.

I'd never take one down the high way or even over speeds of 30MPH. As for the 71 CB350 I plan on building the frame out of aluminum tubing atached to a spare 350 rear rim I have with the brake attached to the rear braking of the bike.

For the body of the car I'll form it out of fiberglass. The unit will be quite small only large enough for my 80 LB Boxer.

I don't plan on using it for long rides just around town on back roads roads down to the local DQ.

I guess the main question I had was if any one knows of a manufacturer that makes fiberglass side car bodies.

[TechTMW]

You might want to ask these guys ...

http://www.sidecar.com/default.asp

The first thing I thought of was "Ural" since they still come standard w/ sidecars. (And theirs are more retro looking) here's one
http://www.imz-ural.com/cargo/ and another
http://www.imz-ural.com/sidecar/specs.htm

Unfortunately, those look to be made of steel and weigh 227 lbs...

Good luck in your search! Check out the "PVI" here ... it's attached to a vespa, so that'd be small enough ! http://sidestrider.com/squire.htm

You may also want to look into the Asian sidecar market ... it may be difficult to find, but they must have sidecars over there for their 200cc and below city hacks ...

[bikeguy joe]

I've built ultralight aircraft from aluminum tubing and was considering building a sidecar for a small bike (Honda 360T).

I'd study up on sidecars in general and wheel placement/geometry specificly.

Read up on aircraft structures made from aluminum tubing- nothing hurts more than "finishing" a project, only to find it won't hold up long or is plagued with bending/tweaking problems.

A few things here concerning the frame/covering/body-

Use larger diameter tubing as opposed to small, thicker walled tubing.
Use tubing of .058 wall thickness, and if you need to sleeve or double/triple the tubing (such as where the axle goes or mounting points)
Use proper and adequate gussets.
Use SS or aircraft grade rivets.
Have four attatch points, three isn't enough.
Use aluminum sheeting for the "body" it's way lighter than fiberglass and tke a lot less time. If you want really slick shapes, lay up the glass over foam and when it's set, remove the foam.

[Gummiente]

I'd never take one down the high way or even over speeds of 30MPH.

Then perhaps you don't fully understand the concept of sidecars. Yes, a bike rides different with a hack bolted on (which is why the MSF down in the States and the CSC up here in Canada offers sidecar only classes in some locations), but once you learn how to ride it properly you won't have any problems. I had a Velorex hack on my '86 Sportster many years ago and rode it all over from Saskatchewan to BC with no troubles. Sidecars are not for everyone, but don't knock it until you try it. My Dnepr is the sister of the Ural that TechBMW has mentioned here, it is NOT a freeway blaster by any means but it IS one heckuva fun, "slow down and smell the flowers" kind of Sunday cruiser. I don't want to ride it all the time, which is why I have my Harley - I get the best of both worlds.

As for bolting one on your 350, as long as it is made of light material as you've suggested it should be okay as long as you don't load it up. Really, though, it's probably best to find another bike with a larger displacement as an old 350 is going to be working overtime to lug it around. You'll need to change the final drive gearing (ie: go one or two teeth down on the front sprocket) for more torque to handle the extra weight - but this has the drawback of lowering your top speed. BTW, there was a bike many years ago that was built in in what was Czechoslovakia (sp?) that came with a sidecar. The name was "MZ" and it was a 2-stroke 350cc!!! Slower than molasses in January but apparenlty a real hoot to ride.

There are no bolt-on kits that I'm aware of other than the ones that come with a specific sidecar. The Velorex mounting system is probably the best out there for universal applications, best thing to do is try to find a bike with one and take lots of photos before copying it.

[honda599]

I've been thinking about building a side car for my 71 CB 350.
Has any one ever built one on here that could give me some pointers or tips?
Or does anyone know of a manufacture that sells bolt on kits?

I've ridden a Goldwing with a sidecar and it's probably the worst riding experience ever. I only rode for 40 minutes and I was so tired trying to fight the unit(it even had a electronic system to adjust sidecar tilt built in).

Don't do it, it will take away all the pleasure from riding.

[Gummiente]

I've ridden a Goldwing with a sidecar and it's probably the worst riding experience ever. I only rode for 40 minutes and I was so tired trying to fight the unit(it even had a electronic system to adjust sidecar tilt built in).

Something must have been misaligned or improperly set. I have my Dnepr hack adjusted so that at a steady cruising speed I can take both hands off the bars and she will track straight. I could do the same thing with my Sportster with its Velorex unit attached. It's all in the setup. Maybe the extra weight of the Wing causes problems like what you experienced?