Some photos of my K100RT. As said, it's a work in progress. I have recently fitted a 15" rear rim with adaptor so I can run a car tyre. 3 or 4,000km out of a rear tyre is ridiculous. I haven't done anything with the front end yet, though I was given a 15" front rim with twin discs of unknown origin...but need to find someone who can build me a leading link.

Ok...so there's actually a lot of photos....It's Saturday night and I am not drinking at the moment.

Sorry....looks like no photos yet! Will try again at a later date. My apologies for the wasted post.

no worries sean ...the post will still be here for when you can

sounds interesting all the same

meanwhile ,,if you havent read this yet http://k100rt.aforumfree.com/t998-posting-pictures-and-movies

Thanks Charlie, looking at that link, I suspect I haven't been cutting and pastng when I should have......Will have another go.

So, some of the photos show a couple of minor mishaps...lol. That big ass bearing in the final drive came out rather easily...possibly owing to the fact that only half the bearings were left in it. The new rear rim certainly gives more contact patch on the road, and makes the bike feel more "hunkered down" on the road. One side effect though, is that it makes the front end feel slightly twitchy.

You were collecting fire wood when you went head first into a melon hole? right.

It's important to get in close to select the best wood and also make sure you're not disturbing any native habitats.

Man, there's a few not-so-pretty-pictures! That wasn't a soft landing, that upside down in the sticks bits, I presume? Story? Did the final drive let go causing you to end up on an unintended offroad excursion leading to a flip in your perspective?



The issue of image posting has been a long-trying one on this forum for some - me. I've worked out a way that's quick and easy as reading the 'instructions' proved fruitless to my way of thinking. I'm not good with instructions.



I reckon computer-literate people spend far too much time in little rooms with no windows and bad air circulating and this causes some of them (most of them) to forget how the real world functions, thus, we have the multifunction controller and buttons that who-knows-what-the-F-they-do. I'm an analogue off/on/volume sort of person, maybe a little bass and treble thrown in to the mix. I don't mind rising from my chair to press a button on the tele because on the slimline remote they're all too small and unintelligble (love that word!) for anyone over thirty years of age or with middle aged eyes, and again, who-knows-what-the-F-they-do!



Here's how I post pictures, and I don't know if it's following the rules as intended, but, it works a charm:



Click on the double image icon at the top row of your post, about mid-way through those handy little icons whose function is mainly beyond me. Browse for your intended image, select the 'size' you'd like and press 'host it'. After a while, dependent upon your 'interweb speed', three lines of garbeldeegook will appear. highlight the middle one (don't ask me why) and copy it with a click as in the tried and true 'cut and paste' method. Now click the green icon next to the double image icon. This removes from your view the three lines of garbeldeegook. Click your mouse where in your post you'd like the image to appear and drop it there in the 'paste' method. Scroll down, press preview and if you like 'um result press send.

Lather, rinse, repeat for multiple images.

Truth be told I've been using 'puters since 1984. I reckon they'll be truly useful when all I have to do is ask it to perform a function for me, and it gets done, no fuss.

Guest in the House, that's pretty much how I managed to get these pics posted, though I didn't think to size them.

The final drive and the prang were two separate incidents. The final drive bearing collapsed at Singleton, roughly 400km from home. Had to get a mate to collect me in his landcruiser and get me home..at 3am, dodging roos and Kenworths.

The prang was a nasty little experience. As said somewhere previously, the chair was built in the 1980s..and hadn't been used for a long time. I didn't figure on metal fatigue in the frame....and the main spar simply broke one Sunday ride in the bush....Anna on the back and the dog in the sidecar...thankfully we were on a back road and doing only about 70kph. Another click and we'd have been back on the highway doing 100 plus. The main spar snapped suddenly, letting the chair fall in and start grinding on the road....I could see we were going bush. and as we left the road I squeezed two fingers of front brake to wash off some speed...but that was a mistake and flipped us. We landed between the two saplings, the dog shaken but not stirred, Anna bruised and bellicose and myself caught under the bike and screaming like a girl..." get it off me!"
Anyway...to cut a long story short, after I could sneeze again without bursting into tears, a mate of mine and I refrabicated the whole frame using thicker tubing etc and made some mods to strengthen it...and its been fine ever since.

Nothing a little extra bit of metal, heat and welding rods can't cure! Glad you were able to resurrect the beast, and yourself. Is she still bellicose, or going out for a pleasant strengthened sidecar burble with you now and again?

thrills, spills and a great life .....thanks for posting the pics sean

your "k" has seen it all, and then some ...

cheers

Now to the important question...how is the dog?

Bella the red heeler is fine! She was strapped in and I had just put a new windscreen on the chair, which kept it off the ground enough for her not to be injured. Took her awhile to get back in though....

Anna is at present at home in her native Saxony, but will return later in the year for more sidecar madness. She never rides in the sidecar, preferring to ride behind me and start hanging off the seat 100 metres before the corner comes up...lol.

What part of Brisvegas are you in, Charlie?

me and mla are on the southside (oops forgot) gith as well ...me a little more southwest towards ipswitch ...all the rest of the the "crew" are northish ....besides rick whos your closest contact in here so far, up the wonderfull new england .... have a mate (old near aquantance ex sydney ) out at inverell but not a "k" rider .

I suppose its ok to ride other marques...lol. I have a mate in Ipswich who rides a 900SS, one of the new belt ones...not the bevel, though he does own an MHR squarecase. He keeps inviting me up for drinks but I haven't managed to get there for awhile. Will make more of an effort.

lol of corse it is ...some and many have other bikes as well ...(but we wont hold tht against them ....giggle ) its just this is the place where we like to make contact with other like minded souls .

for me ...this site carries a certain soul ...irreverance ..humor, knowledege and mateship that doesnt exist in other places i visit.

besides that , the're a nice bunch in here, no ?

the local aussie mob are awesome ...did you see caferacers "oil on the floor" thread ? wow ...stunning support

i too have been on the receiving end of such generosity ....to which i thank, one and all and so does "gerty"

to those local blokes i have to say sorry ...as we havent been out for a ride for more than a couple of weeks ..but for me saving up for the get together with the southern mob, out at boonah .

Hi Saxon7,
Good to see your outfit. I thought the upside down pic was just to show us your subframe
My dog was always my most enthusiastic passenger, alas she's no longer with us.




Paul.

Hey Paul, is that a sidecar or a loungeroom you've got hanging off the side of your Brick? Yeah, its tough when you lose your dog. They really get their way into your life and leave an enormous gap when they leave us. Bella has only just turned 2....she was given to me by a well meaning friend after my other dog, Sheba died at 16.

Charlie, I have square eyes from reading all the stuff on here! Yes, I did follow the oil on the garage floor thread...bloody impressive! There's a lot I can learn from you people, I reckon! I am utterly hopeless with electrickery, for example, and any pointers in that area are great.

Well, the sun is out here today and I have done the chores. I did the oil changes on the weekend...engine, gearbox and final drive. I have a feeling I will need to go for a quick lap just to make sure the oil is circulating where it should and not just sitting at the bottom of the cases. Can't have it play up on my trip down south on Thursday!

"I am utterly hopeless with electrickery, for example, and any pointers in that area are great."

Well, I learnt an early lesson; don't muck around with the 220/240 volt stuff!

I had a multimeter and I tested it out on an old radio. Plug the radio in, turned it on and proceeded to prod the electronics with the multimeter. Before this, I did place a rather thick mat on the floor "just in case". Just in case what I don't know, but I did.

Probing, probing, probing...then FLASH BANG! Fairly crapped my pants. God's own flash blinded me for a minute or two, blew the circuits in the house (30 odd years ago) and the missus running around screaming "what the hell was that!".

Now I'm strictly a 12 volt man.

You let the smoke out, didn't you...!

But at least with 220/240v, you don't need an expensive multimeter. Just use your fingers....

Hi Saxon7,
You only have to look at the sky in your avatar and compare it to the sky in mine........that's why I have a lid on my chair/lounge.

Actually, it was very useful last w/e, after a very wet camping rally with the BMW club, I just bundled the wet tent into a bin bag, dumped it in the chair and closed the lid.
Dried all the kit today, ready for next w/e's camp with the Vincent club.
Cheers,
Paul.

You just happen to have a Vincent sitting in the shed?

Yep! Had it for 45 years; currently doing between 3.5K & 5K miles a year on it. Used to have a Watsonian Monaco on the side but it's been solo for the last 14 years.

1976 2012

Paul.

Now THAT's a sight to wake up to out the door of your tent! Love it Paul

88KE

Both pics are amazing.

Very nice to have kept the Vincent in such a good shape.

I nearly reported that as adult content. Beautiful!

Anyway, back to sidecar info.
You mentioned getting someone to make you some leading link forks, Saxon7, well today I made some measurements which you may (or may not!) find useful.

The distance from the right hand Allen screw head on the water pump cover, to the wheel spindle centre line is 57.5cm with my Wasp forks.
The same measurement on my solo is 50cm. So my outfit front wheel is 7.5cm further forward than a standard K.

My steering is very light, which suits me and I like the short RS bars,the trail being about 13mm. Some find the Wasp setup too light, so I would suggest forks that move the wheel forward somwhere between 5 & 7 cm wouldn't be far off.

The next time I'm with a collection of K outfits, I'll measure some others to get a concensus of opinion.
Cheers,
Paul.

Thanks Paul-of-the-Sidecar for those stats. Did you have the chair on the bike before the leading link? Can you make a comparison with the feel of it? To be honest I am not bothered by the front end and find the steering light enough as it is, though with the tow-in set the way I have it right now, I do end up with a bit of a sore right shoulder after about 400km or so. I can live with that. Did about 1400 or so km on the weekend and my arms etc are fine this morning. Do you find the leading link gives you better cornering speed? Thanks again and would be interested to see some more measurements in your travels.

Hi Saxon7,
When I had the Vin as an outfit, the trail could be altered by an eccentric link at the lower fork spindle, which was a clever solution. Of course, in those days, manufacturers expected their machines to have sidecars fitted.

Following the Vin I had an early Gold Wing which evolved during my ownership. Firstly, I changed the forks and, as GW's have a massive amount of trail, it made a great difference to the steering, much lighter and easier through the twisty bits. I subsequently changed the back wheel to 15" and later the front wheel to 15".

When the Wing was completely sorted, I set about building my K outfit and as it had 15" wheels and links from the start, I can't give a comparison with a standard set up. I use a toe-in figure of 1 3/4" and it steers straight when not holding the bars. There is so little effort needed to steer the bike that I've never suffered from shoulder pains, it's the nether regions that show discomfort after long rides.

That was a fair distance for you over the weekend, I barely managed 200 miles on the Vin, but it was a rally fairly close to home.

It's about time I posted some pictures of my outfit.......maybe I should clean it first.
Best wishes,
Paul.

Yes, would like to see some pics!
That's interesting....I originally worked on a theory of 30mm tow-in....which is a for bit less than 1 3/4 ". I suspect I have eventually arrived at about the same with trial and error.
Sean.

Please make us dream, post some pictures.

You may even pass the sidecar virus to few members. Attaching a chair on the k100 is kind of my secret dream (well not anymore secret). It was the main reason why I bought the K100 as I was perfectly happy with the K75 but thought that more HPs and torque will be easier on a chair.

Impatiently waiting for technical pictures.

Pleaaaseee.

hey bert maybe we need another section for those that lean towards doing it with 3
i used to have an 75/5 with golding chassis and dusting body with earls forks(changed from original after my mate snapped a slider on his 90/6)
me and the wife did lots of touring with it
i have just been offered a djp chassis very interested in how to attach chair to k

This is what I like about this forum, people participate and come with very good propositions. I am doing it right now, Come back in 30 seconds and you will see another sub-forum called "Everything about adding a chair(sidecar) on a K Bike.....".

Thanks for the idea.

I tried yesterday to post some pics of the initial build of the subframe etc, but for some reason my laptop doesn't want to read the disc I kept them on. When I get it sorted I'll start a new topic or something like that.

Scratch that last one....I'll add them to the topic you start!

Saxon7 wrote:Scratch that last one....I'll add them to the topic you start!

Good start! thanks Saxon7

Good one CF.

Paul.