I plan on purchasing a CTX700 and would like to put a sidecar on it using the Honda 17" front wheel and 230mm Honda rear disk brake with a 17" front wheel as a spare.
Is anyone else interested in pursuing selecting and mounting a sidecar. I'd like to hear your ideas of what would look appropriate.
what is it about the Ural that makes it better at handling the stress for a side car? Can anything be done for the CTX700 to make it better and capable of a sidecar?
The Ural is better suit with a sidecar, if the side car wasn't there it would be weird looking. But personally I would like the Ural by itself. Wouldn't be too much of a hassle to take the sidecar on and off every time.
I would love to see a photo shop picture done of a side car on the CTX700.
A picture is worth a thousand words. I belong to the Rounder's Forum, a group of riders who ride in extreme climate conditions...as well as when the more sane riders are out too. One of them has a Ural and takes it up into the mountains in Colorado when the snow is several inches deep. There's a trip thread also about taking a Ural up to Alaska that is in progress right now.
The Ural can go just about anywhere. When you need more traction, you just flip a lever and you get the sidecar wheel engaged too.
The nice part I would think about getting a Ural, is that while it is a dated design, it is also a design that has had the bugs worked out. Any other kind of sidecar rig would be something where you'd be trying something never done before.
There are some bikes out there that are just magnets for people to want to know more about. Stop at a highway rest stop or a gas station, and someone will want to strike up a conversation with you. The Spyder Can-Am is one. The Ural is another. One looks like it is from the future, while the other looks like it is from WWII.
I never had experienced riding a motorcycle with a side car it must be different since there is the added weight and a third wheel. Hwo different does it feel when your taking turns? is it easier now since your not balancing on two wheels.
Making right turns will take getting used to at speed.
My thought would be change sprockets to achieve the correct final ratio to carry the added weight, But i am not sure as you would probably be exceeded the maximum weight limit of this bike.
That sounds right a lot of weight is added, but when you add in a sprocket wouldn't you have to recalibrate the the speedometer. Sounds like a lot of work just to have a side car. I'd make the passenger just sit in the back.
Why not just get a bike with a side car that comes from the factory? That is a whole lot of thing to do just to throw yourself of and then have to spend extra money to have everything running right. Just doesn't make any sense. Not for the CTX700 at least.
I have seen riders with sidecar transporting their pets in it. Not a bad treat for your dogs and cats if you want to go that route. Not sure about the baby carriage though you would never hear him crying
There are other companies that make sidecars but if you really want a sidecar then I would go with a bigger engine as you will take a performance hit with the sidecar. The Ural can power the axle on the sidecar and it can go cross country. Pretty rugged bike. Expensive.
I had a Ural sidecar for about 5 years but sold it last fall and ordered a Dauntless (DMC) sidecar for my Triumph Scrambler. The Scrambler/DMC rig is MUCH better on the highway than the Ural. Not too bad on Forest Service roads, too.
We rode down to pick it up on my wife's CTX700N. Jay, at Dauntless, practically begged us to put a sidecar on the CTX.
The CTX engine has great torque, I think it would make a great tug for a sidecar rig. We might consider it in a few years. DMC manufactures modified triple trees that make steering a sidecar rig much easier. Doubt he has one yet for the CTX.
Hate to be a kill joy here but Honda specifically forbids the mounting of a side car to the CTX. The frame has no lower bars and the engine basically acts as the lower support and cross member. The front forward frame bars use the engine as a cross member.
Virtually every manufacturer forbids mounting sidecars. My Scrambler still had a little time left on its warranty and I was a bit worried what the dealer would say. They got a real kick out of my bike when they saw it and borrowed it for their booth at a motorcycle show.
Sidecar makers (like DMC) develop sub frames for mounting hacks on all sorts of bikes. They gave our CTX a quick once over and didn't see anything holding them back from mounting a sidecar on it. But, yeah, it'd probably void the warranty if they believe the sidecar caused the problem.
Hi Fred,
I've been hard at it and your sidecar is coming along nicely. I finished up the frame in the middle of the week and have driven it out on the road a few times. I must say that the Honda is a real dream to drive. It didn't take long to get spoiled with the auto shifting. the seat is also very comfortable compared to the one my rig.
So how does your sidecar rig measure up? Let me start by saying that over the last forty plus years I have had my own personal bikes with my sidecars mounted on them. I always proffered my bike with my sidecar over any that I was building. Each sidecar that I built and mounted had their own shall we say personality. They all went straight and didn't pull left or right. Some like the Honda CB500 and 750 along with the Goldwing would always shimmy. It was just the way it was. We installed a shimmy damper on them and they drove great and the customers were always quite pleased. But I never at any time wanted a customers bike with my sidecar. It was always interesting riding the different bikes and they all drove great. But I would like to have your rig and this is a first in all the hundreds that I have built. It's that good!
John and I were headed to the plastics warehouse to pick up the windshields material and I followed him down with your rig. It's so smooth that I almost fell asleep driving it. I like everything about it but the placement of the foot pegs. If I decide to purchase one for myself I will build brackets for my feet to have an extra set of pegs. My back starts to hurt after a few miles with my feet forward, but that's me.
I started the upholstery today and will complete it in the morning. I still have to remove the frame and brackets to do the finish work and paint them. I did paint the body and it's about half buffed and polished. I used up the last of the lacquer paint that I had. You can't go out and just pick it up at the local auto paint store any longer. Everything today is base coat clear coat.
Well I can't see the rig not being completed for this Saturday but I will keep you updated. I'm still going to make two windshields for it.
One last thing before I forget. I did a little study on the lights that many are using today. It seems that they use an amber light in the front and not a white light. If they use a white light it's a beam headlight not a running light. I have a few different amber lights that I picked up along with a red light for the rear. I will place them on the body and send pictures before I drill any holes in the body.
Later, Johnny
This was taken today.
Can you post a pic or two concentrated on the attachment points. I would love to see how they tied it all in together.
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