erskine

Thanks Setting up a chair seems to be a dark art and it took me literally days worth of trolling round the net to glean little snippets of info. The older generation of sidecar users seem to have taken the secrets to their graves. All the mounts are adjustable on my outfit, but the two main and most important ones - the front diagonal to the steering head, and the centre lower mount to the rear engine plate - are only adjustable in one plane which gives serious limitations before they move out of attachment range. When I first rode (drove?) mine it was HORRIBLE. Now I can't stop grinning - so it's worth persevering. BTW, mine is not a competition outfit ...... it's for use on lanes and tracks

I would say hold fire till you get your chair, If you know what it was fitted to, maybe you could consider that? Defo go for engine size, but it's the mounting that takes ages and a lot of fabrication. A twin shock frame may be easier to fit to. It took me a couple of months to make all the mounts and struts and widen the track, and nearly another month to take it from hard to handle to sweet. Very important to make sure the mounting system allows you plenty of scope for adjustment, one little adjustment in one plane alters everything. I started with three or four degrees of lean out and ended with about one degree of lean in, and went from 1-1/2" toe in, to 1/4", to 3/4" and was glad I'd built in just, and only just enough adjustment. But it was worth it. :) And it's only a 125!

Thanks for that info, it's useful to have a comparison, all be it on a much smaller rig. What did your track/width end up at? I've finished the rear mount now and have taken the chair off to hook all the electrics/fuel/brakes back up. Will let you know how I get on. Mine will be used 50% lanes 50% farm tracks/green lane. I have initially set the lean out quite noticeably with the adjustment to bring it back in. There is a marked movement towards vertical when a passenger gets on to the chair, but it will be reduced when I go for the refit.

Sounds like a nice safe activity. Mine is nearly all hooked up, just one last strut to make for the rear mounting point. What have you got your lean out and toe in set at now?

So in the absence of any advice I'm going for a metre / 39" Cheers.

Thanks for your thoughts Mark. I'm still going to give it a go though. I know that on the Indian sub-continent these pushrod engines transport whole families plus goods plus random livestock on a daily basis combined with running on fuel of the lowest possible grade. A 150cc conversion is an option I'm considering in the future and I do know of a homeless XL185 donk, but right now I'm hoping someone will help me out with the track.

Hi, newbie here ........ I've been building and evolving a Honda 125 for a year now, not for competition but for getting quietly and carefully around various farms and landscapes. As a solo it's more than proved itself, but a small chair came along and I'm here to look for advice. The bike is a CB125S frame with an XL fromt end, a CG motor and a SL tank. And quite a lot of fabrication. love the push rod powerplant which has oodles of torque and is very economical. I've been wanting to fit a chair for along time and I spotted one on evilbay which was scaled down, and I believe originally designed for a Cub or a Franny B. The mounting's need to be 'revisited' and I'm needing some extra info to progress. Could anyone advise me what kind of track measurement I should be aiming for with this small bike. I know on a full size bike the ACU regs say something like 850 - 1100 mm. Is there a formula? The wheel base is about 47". I shall be new to riding an outfit and am not a speed freak. I do have experience of riding agricultural quads in very challenging terrains but that's as near as it gets! The ruler in the first pic is a metre rule!

Hey y'all. Newbie here and complete pleb. I've been building and evolving a Honda 125 for a year now, not for competition but for getting quietly and carefully around various farms and landscapes. As a solo it's more than proved itself, but a small chair came along and I'm here to look for advice. Atb Erskine