Unison Leaner Sidecar Rig

skiri251 · Sep 4, 2010

My GL1100 unison leaner sidecar rig is complete (for now).
Currently it's in street fighter trim for transporting my son to/from school.
Hard bags and a trunk will be attached when we go camping.

joedrum · Sep 4, 2010

im so impressed .....what a fantastic set up .....you will have to talk more about how it is in riding ....i mean how close is it to riding with nothing on .....i dont have the words for how impressed i am ....is this a kit of some kind or is it yours either way i like it ....let me know more :beg: :good:

k: :mrgreen:

skiri251 · Sep 4, 2010

Thanks for the comments!

I used Velorex body (tub) but the rest are home built. 1-1/2" square tubing welded together. It uses 8" trailer tire/wheel/hub/spindle and CB750 rear shock.

Well I only put 80 miles so far but it rides like a solo motorcycle. I cannot really compare this particular setup because I havn't ridden GL1100 solo that much. I am sure a solo GL1100 is a bit nimbler than the rig. On the other hand, the sidecar tub weighs only 40 lbs or so and my 6-year old son weighs about the same so maybe it's like carrying adult passenger. I could have lowered the tub a foot or so but I wanted my son to have better outside view.

The challenge is in the parking. GL itself is quite heavy for me (5' 7", 140 lbs) and now added weight of the sidecar. It got crude "lock-out" mechanism which, when engaged, prevents the rig from leaning, effectively making it regular rigidly mounted sidecar but with any sidecar rig w/o reverse gear, I need to plan carefully before I park.

I was hoping some one came up with electric reverse a la GL1500SE for older GLs but I haven't found any in this forum. I may be able to put something to a sidecar wheel (GL starter motor from eBay) but I am not sure how effective it is going to be.

Below is my previous rig (XS750 + Velorex semi-leaner i.e. only the bike leans). I put 8000 miles on it but started feeling its limit (power-wise) so I switched to GL. Hopefully I can put a lot of freeway miles on this one.)

joedrum · Sep 4, 2010

ithink that reverse on the sidecar wheel is the way to go there ....seems like that would be an easy rig and also unplugs when not useing the rig ....boy you sure got me thinking ....i like the high tub approach to and souldnt hurt anything with the lean deal ....this is like the neatess thing to hit me in awhile ....im good at looking at things and seeing +and- ....the whole engineering is perfect with the center wheel susspenion rig and no no over riging at all .....the only thing isee is maybe bottom frame maybe could have been angle for more ground clearence awy from the wheel but this might have been nessasary its hard tosee all the leaning gizmos from the pics .....this is no discount in anyway .....when i get my building done i might get out the welder and bandsaw and have at it ......

what an incredable rig skiri... :thanks: for sharing we need to talk some more.....

slabghost · Sep 4, 2010

Wow Not many kids get taxi'd to school like that. If you still have the plans and measurements from your old rig could you send them? I'm thinking a sidecar that has detachable pod could double as a flat bed for hauling stuff.

skiri251 · Sep 4, 2010

This is what I drew on AutoCAD as I was designing. (Swingarm position has been changed since then.)
The rig should have at least the same if not better ground clearance as the motorcycle.

Do you think reverse on sidecar wheel work? I picture sidecar tries to go around the bike making the rig circling around itself..
I guess I can compansate for that with bike steering.

slabghost · Sep 4, 2010

With the rig you are using now. You should be able to use a starter motor to drive that sidecar wheel for reverse. I think is position being so far back is perfect for that and the bike should steer well.

slabghost · Sep 4, 2010

skiri251":17y6vdpo said:
Thanks for the comments!

I used Velorex body (tub) but the rest are home built. 1-1/2" square tubing welded together. It uses 8" trailer tire/wheel/hub/spindle and CB750 rear shock.

Well I only put 80 miles so far but it rides like a solo motorcycle. I cannot really compare this particular setup because I havn't ridden GL1100 solo that much. I am sure a solo GL1100 is a bit nimbler than the rig. On the other hand, the sidecar tub weighs only 40 lbs or so and my 6-year old son weighs about the same so maybe it's like carrying adult passenger. I could have lowered the tub a foot or so but I wanted my son to have better outside view.

The challenge is in the parking. GL itself is quite heavy for me (5' 7", 140 lbs) and now added weight of the sidecar. It got crude "lock-out" mechanism which, when engaged, prevents the rig from leaning, effectively making it regular rigidly mounted sidecar but with any sidecar rig w/o reverse gear, I need to plan carefully before I park.

I was hoping some one came up with electric reverse a la GL1500SE for older GLs but I haven't found any in this forum. I may be able to put something to a sidecar wheel (GL starter motor from eBay) but I am not sure how effective it is going to be.

Below is my previous rig (XS750 + Velorex semi-leaner i.e. only the bike leans). I put 8000 miles on it but started feeling its limit (power-wise) so I switched to GL. Hopefully I can put a lot of freeway miles on this one.)

I'd like to have the plans for this sidecar.

skiri251 · Sep 4, 2010

slabghost":95ja34vu said:
Wow Not many kids get taxi'd to school like that. If you still have the plans and measurements from your old rig could you send them? I'm thinking a sidecar that has detachable pod could double as a flat bed for hauling stuff.

I used my old rig for my son's school 5 days a week. I got lots of questions/praises (and some critical eyes LOL) from other parents.

I do have AutoCAD R14 drawing of the old rig. I tried "email" button in this forum but didn't see an option for attachment. How can I email you with attachment?

EDIT: I guess it's small enough to attach here.

slabghost · Sep 4, 2010

Check your private messages. I really like both designs but I think your first has more uses for me.

skiri251 · Sep 4, 2010

slabghost":1mqezixv said:
Check your private messages. I really like both designs but I think your first has more uses for me.

I attached it to my post above.

joedrum · Sep 4, 2010

gee i lost a long post but ....with the two wheels on the bike verses the one on the sidcar its not going to run around anything.......the motor on the side car proably needs to be bigger than a starter motor cause of the angle of weight and pull ....kind of on the wrong end of the leverage thing ....boy that was a lot fewer words and more to the point

skiri251 · Sep 4, 2010

slabghost":1ohfuuwz said:
With the rig you are using now. You should be able to use a starter motor to drive that sidecar wheel for reverse. I think is position being so far back is perfect for that and the bike should steer well.

Okay thanks. With this word of encouragement, I will try it. :grin:

skiri251 · Sep 4, 2010

joedrum":11hkfckx said:
gee i lost a long post but ....with the two wheels on the bike verses the one on the sidcar its not going to run around anything.......the motor on the side car proably needs to be bigger than a starter motor cause of the angle of weight and pull ....kind of on the wrong end of the leverage thing ....boy that was a lot fewer words and more to the point

Yeah, it's ideal if I can use motorcycle rear wheel. I don't know if I can get more powerful motor than GL starter (I saw $30 one on eBay) cheaply. Hopefully the gearing will help (though it's going to be slow like a snail..)

slabghost · Sep 4, 2010

Starter motor should have plenty of power. especially if its running friction wheel/wheels against the tire or a belt drive with the larger pulley at the wheel. They have to push against a lot to start a bike.

joedrum · Sep 5, 2010

im not saying that the starter wont do it .....im just saying theres increased drag from the sidecar possition thats all .....but it dose seem like the sidecar drive would be a nice set up ......sidecar with its own reverse....cool deal.... :mrgreen: theres all kinds of motors out there i would think cheaper than a goldwing starter for sure .....the right set up would hardy be seen... :mrgreen:

slabghost · Sep 5, 2010

Maybe a starter from a GEO metro?

skiri251 · Sep 5, 2010

Well I already bought GL1500 starter motor from eBay.
Bigger motors use more current so I need to worry about battery drain and charging system.
Let's see how this goes.

Any suggestion on the mechanism? Some sort of clutch would be nice but more work. I was thinking friction wheel which would be pushed against tire tread by latch-able foot pedal or something.

slabghost · Sep 5, 2010

Positioned correctly if the starter has a bendix you can replace the drive sprocket with a hard rubber wheel that would contact the tire when energized. If you look into dual battery set ups used in off road vehicles the same sort of wiring could be used. This would isolate the battery when it is used and charge it when the system can bear the load.

toytender01 · Sep 5, 2010

:hi: Wow!!! that is all i can say;;;;; I am glea to know you are out there because if i had seen that rig on the freewey I probably rea off the road trying to get a look at it... :clapping: :clapping: :good: I will watch out when in So. Cal. Bob

Unison Leaner Sidecar Rig

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