Leading link forks are a bonus, and it is not really practical to change back to a solo once the outfit has been setup with the 'toe in' etc, for more info try the Federation of sidecar clubs.
PS They are great fun, and if you want a 'fast' ride around the lanes and need a passenger, give me a call !!


The Federation of Sidecar Clubs

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'He who laughs last, was too slow to get the joke'
Never confuse the map with the journey.

Thanks for the heads up on that. They have a meet in Ripley at the end of August. Unfortunately I'm still in the States then.

Will let you know how my thoughts on the topic progress.
cheers
Chris

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TBS.com

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Blessed are the cracked, for they let in the light. - Spike Milligan
"When you come to a fork in the road ,take it ! When you come to a spoon in the road ,take that also ."

What a pair of beauties...


That's a Thunderbird, rather than a TBS, but I don't think the chassis are too different. Good to see it has standard forks. On the FoSC site they talk about all sorts of mods that could be done. I'm more of a rider than a fettler and would prefer a simple option. I'm off the the States in a few days so any project is likely to wait until the winter.

I like that design of that chair. I think it would look great on this bike:




cheers
Chris

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TBS.com

You could always get one of these!

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'He who laughs last, was too slow to get the joke'
Never confuse the map with the journey.

The TBS is a good starting point, BUT, you say you know nothing about sidecars, so lets not get too far ahead IMHO.

Taking the chair on and off like a trailer is entirely impractical in the UK due to insurance and the MOT and in any case you'd constantly loose the set up, be riding the solo on squared off tyres, be unable to fine tune the bike for either use in terms of steering dampers, battery mounts, etc. Also note that the chair is going to trash your clutch, wheel bearings, eat tyres and maybe bend the frame. If you are fond of the TBS you need to think hard about doing this.

Don't let the old boys at the FED (Edit to add; no offence intended) loose you in their constant discussion about car tyres, leading links etc. This stuff can make an outfit better handling, but it's only like power steering on a car, if you are fit you can live without it and at this stage you need to spend the cash on a good subframe and less glamorous bits of iron mongery.

The first thing to do is get a drive of an outfit and I mean DRIVE. These are completely different vehicles to a bike, they don't lean, they move left and right on the brakes and throttle and so on. There have been many bike riders who've driven an outfit for the first time and found they simply don't like the constant mental process of judging speed against camber against load.

If you find you do like it, you are honestly better buying a rig that's already set up. That's where Urals (slow are horribly time consuming and overpriced as they are) come in, but keep an eye on E-bay. You'll pick up a decent rig for £2-3000. This compares with maybe £4000 to have one of the sidecar companies fit one for you. You can go DIY, but unless you want a 20HP JAWA "universal" fitting kits are useless so you need to know someone who can weld and make fittings. I'll post a link in a paragraph or 12 where there is more info on set up.

There are many great things about outfits, like the ability to ride on snow, carry loads of kit, dogs, kids etc. I won't be without one in the garage. If however, you are a bike sort of guy who just wants a bigger tent I'd think about a Wing with a trailer too.

Sorry if this is raining on your parade, but thought it was best to be honest. Links and a bit more info starts here:

https://sites.google.com/site/threewheelbonnie/Home

Drop a mail (on the links bit)/PM if you need more info.

Andy

Threewheelbonnie, that's a far better description you have given Chris than I could manage, I just hope you haven't put him off the idea now, and I wondered how long it would be before you replied!.
I really enjoyed my old pre unit Thunderbird outfit many years ago!



Chris, do you not remember this thread that became a 'war zone' about 3 years ago, which resulted in Susan Johnson removing 66 posts?


http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...side-car-31618

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'He who laughs last, was too slow to get the joke'
Never confuse the map with the journey.