[Little Bill Daggett]

Daughter in law and grand kid approved! Many ride requests honored...
View attachment 75189

Oooh man...I love it...All my kids have been on the back of my bikes..well done mate I salute you...

 

[DoubleThumper]

Four out on the AT - fantastic.

 

[DCTFAN]

"How to be the Coolest Gramps" buy an Africa Twin and put a sidecar!
Thanks for the tip!

 

[Beowulf]

Well, Black Betty made it home to Cactus Land!

I ended up taking a little more direct, paved route, than I originally planned while spending a few extra days in @Gnarwhal-1811 's garage sorting out a variety of frustrating build issues that should not have been. I won't list them out here, but if someone is seriously thinking about an AT Hack Rig, I would be happy to point them to a thread on Adventure Rider that goes into excruciating detail.

The trip was quite pleasant, down from Buckley, WA, via Yakima WA, Bend OR, Medford OR, Grass Valley, CA, Lake Tahoe, Mammoth Lakes, Bishop CA, Las Vegas, then home.

Still working through issues, but really like the rig, overall.

Some pics:

Departing AirBnB in Buckley. Justin was a great host, let me use the garage, as well!

Along the Little Natches River in WA out to Yakima.

Columbia River OR/WA border

Along the 95 south in OR... Lunch stop.

Not the middle of nowhere in Eastern OR, but you could see it from there... That gravel patch was a great place to practice power slides and learn just what it takes to push the front wheel off of your turn line, without consequences.

Roxy Ann lookout in Medford OR:

For you geezers (like me), women seem drawn to sidecars:

Somewhere on/near Pacific Crest Trail: OR/CA not sure which side of the border.

Lake Applegate: OR

Close to last day in OR:

To Be C't'd.

 

[Beowulf]

Part 2 Ride home from WA...

Mt. Shasta, CA, hiding in the fog:

Somewhere north of Grass Valley CA:

South of Nevada City, CA:

Lake Tahoe:

95 South by a historical marker in CA:

Welcome to California:

Some really old trees (4,000+ years) in the Bristlecone Pine Forest:

C't'd...

 

[Beowulf]

Part 3 Ride home, conclusion:

Out and about with some new friends in Las Vegas; exceptional hospitality!

Home again, Home again, Jiggety Jig:

Overall, a great experience. I decided that I like driving a hack rig... lot's to learn, yet, lots of tweaks, tuning and general redesign of some poor workmanship, but will get it sorted.

Temps ranged from a low of 33F in Mammoth Lakes, CA (at 7,300 ft elevation) to 115F, as I pulled into West Phoenix. Quite a range to dress for!

I believe that the rig will tackle about anything that I am game enough to point it at; I don't think there is a place in AZ that I have gone with the 2 wheel version that I could not take this thing.

The completely unexpected aspect is the huge social impact. Literally, everywhere I go, people come up and ask about it, ask for rides, etc. The sidecar enthusiast community is very small, but exceedingly connected to each other. It feels like everyone that owns a sidecar rig knows everyone else that does, regardless of what continent they are on.

I have been getting help, advice, offers to stay over, and comradery from all corners of the earth as I have embarked upon this journey. I think I like it.

 

[Beowulf]

I think @Beowulf there is immense opportunity to take the lead on such a project.

Just think: An AT that is resistant to napping.

Wut power.

= = =

But thinking beyond the box:

• Never run out of battery juice again. (available spare capacity in the car)
• Think of all the running lights you could add to the car. The creativity level would be limitless ...

View attachment 66399

• You can carry a dawg.
• You can carry a bigger tool bag (heck, a toolbox!)
• Forget the tire tubes, carry whole tired rims!
• Carry more than one 2-4 of beer.
• Almost never run out of gasoline again.
• The massive surface area for stickers and labels!
• Subwoofer: Now that is a Pandora Box discussion.
• . . .

No Junk in Da Trunk!

 

[DoubleThumper]

... looks like you can still stuff a few garbage bags of parts in there.

 

[Autonomity]

This is insanely awesome!

One question this does bring up, does the computer mind that the electronic suspension is gone? Does it not throw errors or anything?

 

[Beowulf]

This is insanely awesome!

One question this does bring up, does the computer mind that the electronic suspension is gone? Does it not throw errors or anything?

Thanks!

Well, if you short a couple of pins on the diagnostics (red connector under the seat), you can go into the secret squirrel "Equipment Installed" screen and turn off the Electronic Suspension option. That seemed to do the trick. I still get a light on the dash showing a shock absorber in pain, but I think it is just telling me that it knows it isn't there.

Most of the codes are gone and the Cruise Control started working when I did that. Or maybe when I fixed the short in the brake light that DMC introduced; who knows.

I also changed the front wheel to the same size as the rear, which is about 4.3% smaller in circumference. That maybe causing a couple of DCT codes that won't clear and stay cleared, but things seem to be working well. When I get time, I will get a front sensor ring cut with a few less holes and see if I can get all codes gone.

I tend to leave it in SIII mode and enjoy the higher shift points. Maybe I will be really bold and add a couple of teeth to the rear sprocket at some point, to help out with the extra weight, but not ready to induce any more changes, at the moment. Stuff works now.

 

[Beowulf]

A few updates on this project:

1. Way more drama on the build than anyone would imagine. Documented here in excruciating detail: Build Drama for Ben Franklin. PM me if you stumble across this thread and think it is something you might do.

2. Still shaking out build problems, but having a total blast with the rig. A few photos from the past couple days up around Kingman,AZ

Road that would have caused me to pause and think, pre-hack. Steeper than it looks, deeper than it looks.

The winch was not deployed in this adventure, but we came close. Forgot that my user settings were wiped out when ECU recall refreshed it. Still had way too much traction control on, which kept cutting power just as I was getting out of the hole I was digging, while turning around on a hill of gravel about a foot deep.

splendid scenery and friends on BMW GSAs.

Dirty dogs back at the kennel...

Lake Mead is pretty low...

A few observations:

1. The MSC Moto steering damper is transformative, in technical riding. It reduces fatigue a lot from wrestling in deep sand and gravel.

2. I can ride with my two wheel adventure buddies without slowing them down or getting left behind. I rode today with four GSA1200 riders of varying skill levels. At least two are close to expert level and have been off roading for many years. I went everywhere they were willing to go, and had a blast doing it.

3. Not having to worry about whether a short rider can put a foot down removes a great deal of stress and increases my enjoyment immensely.

4. I believe that the hack will extend my off road riding career by many years. Overall, I think this project was TOTALLY WORTH IT, even though I picked the wrong company to execute it.

 

[DoubleThumper]

Excellent @Beowulf. Gotta love Arizona back country. Been to Kingman once - during a Route 66 thang.

 

[nhryder]

So happy for you that you've found success, in the end! I gotta say, you've got me thinking about the Sputnik sidecar I've got hanging out in my garage...

 

[Beowulf]

Well friends, the adventures continue. I am liking the whole sidecar thing, even if I have come to despise the builder.

Rode up to Eugene OR from Phoenix about a month ago, and hung out with a master fabricator that built me a new leading link front end to replace the piece of garbage that DMC built when they did the original build. Night and day difference in handling.

Old front-end, rife with horrifically bad workmanship that made it impossible to align, amongst other flaws. There was zero symmetry, a bent swing arm, and misaligned brake calipers, dragging on the rotors.

New front-end, built by a Master Craftsman that cares about quality, performance and looks. Stout AF, 57mm down tubes vs. 45mm, aligned perfectly to slide into triple tree with no bad language required. Chuck, (54 Vintage) over on Adventure Rider, is a gentleman and a scholar.

On the way up and back, I got to experiment a bit with cold weather riding. Temps hit low 20's F, in the mountain passes. Heated gear is your friend! Did heated pants, jacket, and socks, along with Hippo Hands and heated grips. Remained mostly comfortable for about 32 hours of saddle time, round trip. Just got back to Phoenix last Saturday.

Got about 70 miles from home, and had a rear brake rotor bolt back out, and digest into the caliper mounting bracket. Turns out DMC did not bother to torque the bolts, all were finger tight, when they installed the rotors. Kind of sucked, but have it mostly fixed, waiting for a new ABS sensor and a used caliper bracket that got destroyed. Yahoo owner just sold the business. Hopefully new owner will implement some quality control procedures that were sorely lacking in the old DMC.

Bolt contacted caliper mount, heated it up quickly.

Rear ABS sensor melted and failed.

I hate Heli-coils, but they beat replacing a $1,500 Woody's wheel.

Red loctite to hold the coil in place, blue to hold the bolts... go figure. I thought it might also be novel to actually torque the bolts, this go around.

7,250 miles on the old Mitas e07 Dakar tire; maybe another 1,000 left in it, but since I had the wheel off...

Swapped a Mitas EO7+ Dakar on to replace it. Larger tread blocks, no center ridge. Actually wasn't too much of a pain to install... You can approach these with no fear, should you decide one is in your future. Lot's of rubber lube, though!

 

[Beowulf]

Also got to stop by Russel Cycle Products in Shasta Lake, on the way back, to pick up the new saddle that I had ordered.

Have about a dozen hours or so in it, now, and think that I like it. It is a full height, full padding saddle, but since I no longer have to think about putting a foot down, that extra padding is a luxury that I can afford.

And, even though it was in the 40's most of the time I was in Oregon, the grand kids still wanted to go ride! Much hot chocolate needed at stops, though!

If I have learned anything in this adventure, a hack rig is never complete. However, just transferred my super stealth, low profile top case from the red bike over to Black Betty... seems appropriate. She is a thirsty girl, now, so an extra few gallons of gas is a good thing to have on trips.

 

[DoubleThumper]

A long, strange trip.

Happy to see there is some sort of end in sight.

 

[dwayneh]

So I am not completely ancient, yet (61), but contemplating what 70's and 80's might look like.

Has anyone thought about, seen, or done a sidecar on an adventure bike?

Not a real fan of trikes, but got to thinking that a Twin set up for "rough roads", like the Ural setup, but with a reliable bike, might be amusing.

I would think the Twin has enough HP to remain amusing, and that there would need to be some serious mods (front suspension), frame welds, etc. to make it happen.

What I wonder is how much off-road performance could be retained?

I don't fully utilize the Twin's off road capabilities, but I do like to take it down the road (ok ditch) less traveled sometimes, and would like to still be able to do that.

One last detail: 29 inch inseam and not a big fan of falling over. Been working on skills for the past couple of years, but hitting some limits.

OK: Better image for the thumbnail:

Mine, done, but as I find, a hack rig is always a work in progress, and no, I would not use DMC Sidecars again for the build:

View attachment 75800


How a friend's turned out, from DMC Sidecars:

I never used to like Hacks, but now that I have three Doggos that I hate leaving behind.... this would be a great idea. Only issue is what happens when you don't want a sidecar on the bike? That's why I think if I was to do this, I'd probably opt for a Ural and save the ATAS for me and the wife.

 

[Little Bill Daggett]

I think that the whole project is a fantastic achievement and thanks for posting your up and downs on the site. The little nipper's face in the sidecar just about says it all. Great photo's thank you.

Now erm.....about those red fuel cans...

 

[Little Bill Daggett]

I never used to like Hacks, but now that I have three Doggos that I hate leaving behind.... this would be a great idea. Only issue is what happens when you don't want a sidecar on the bike? That's why I think if I was to do this, I'd probably opt for a Ural and save the ATAS for me and the wife.

I think I've made my mind up to at least get a go on one of them Urals or similar in 2023. I had a Com many years ago but I'm also leaning towards a trike in the future now I'm in my 70's. Needs to have reverse gear otherwise I'd have test rode the Niken. They are all great winter rides as they stay upright.

 

[dwayneh]

I think I've made my mind up to at least get a go on one of them Urals or similar in 2023. I had a Com many years ago but I'm also leaning towards a trike in the future now I'm in my 70's. Needs to have reverse gear otherwise I'd have test rode the Niken. They are all great winter rides as they stay upright.

I might be wrong, but I have a feeling the new Ural's have a reverse gear. Of course, since Urals are currently built by the enemy you may have a wee bit of a wait getting one unless it's already here.