ohiomoto wrote on 11/06/19 at 08:36:42:


Agree. It’s all relative. I’ve built and turned many bikes. Some I made money on, some not.

In general the bikes I plan to turn need be of higher resale value, low mileage or Classic. I have a Norton 850 that is in process of restoration. This is a bike you can spend some money on because of value. I’m building it like I’m keeping it.

This becomes a complicated discussion because value is sometimes a perception. The Suzuki I bought for a replacement of a bike I lost in the shop fire. I got a really good deal on it. My gut tells me it’s probably worth $1800-2500 stand alone...which doesn’t leave much room for upgrades.

Bottom line for me is this is a hobby so I enjoy doing bikes. I turn bikes mostly to buy others or to finance other projects.

Nice.  I like the eclectic style.  Love the Norton in the same space as the HD and the GP racer.  Cool.

Sorry about the fire.  Those were all lost???   :'( :'( :'( :'(  

My story is I don't really want projects.  I use to race motocross up until 2007, even owned and operated a track until 2010.  I got out of it and did the travel baseball deal with my boys for several years.  

One day my wife says she needs to get a Vespa to ride to work.  We quickly determined that it was way too dangerous for here commute downtown, but it dawned on me that I could escape my car and ride mostly through a National Park on my way to work.  Quickly scratched the scooter and started dreaming of my old man's T500 that he passed on to me (or maybe I stole it?) and my 71 Triumph TR6.   But I just wanted to ride to work, not a labor of love, and then I stumbled upon this site and RYCA...

So here I am with one bike put together, two more sitting in the garage, a half-finished Sprinter Van conversion and a whole bunch of bicycles to ride and ski season is just around the corner.   Thank god I got out of racing and travel baseball.  

Anyway, a bunch of us really dig this kind of stuff.  I can't wait to see how this project works out for you.  Thanks for sharing.

Dennisgb,  looking at the Savages with sidecars I did notice that the sidecar wheel was  nearly as far rearward as the back tire of the bike , I  don't believe I've seen that on other setups, it may have to do with the Savage's fork angle.   You said before that a trike might benefit from more neck angle , but that's not the case for the Savage , there was a company in Fla. that converted a Savage and found the bike didn't want to turn , the front tire just plowed and the bike went straight through intersections even at reduced speeds.

What's with putting the side car on the exhaust side?   In right-side-driving countries, is it all about putting the car away from traffic?

Mavigogun wrote on 11/07/19 at 08:39:29:


I think that’s correct. Riding the bike inside might make it difficult to judge the sidecar position relative to oncoming moving traffic.

batman wrote on 11/07/19 at 10:36:21:


I don’t feel uncomfortable doing this myself. I’ve done a lot of custom fabrication and the sidecar set up seems pretty easy.

I also own a Honda Aero Motor Trike that I love. You honestly can’t take 90 degree turns very fast...it is really easy to feel what speed is right. The front end on my Trike is very stable, but the bike is much heavier than the S40. I could see where the S40 wouldn’t make a good Trike. For the side hack it’s very similar to the RE with the exception of the rake. We’ll see how it works out.

One complaint that I recall from the others that had sidecars is a swingarm failure.

The swingarm is oval in cross section and while it is strong in the vertical, not as much for side loads.

So it may benefit from reinforcement.