TOPIC:

I do have to keep the washer ready for use in fifteen minutes. In this case, all I have to do is set the jig on the floor and the washer top is cleared. If you look closely at the pic of the welders, you can see two "layers" of workbenches on top of them, too. Those two layers have long running projects on them, too. Each one covers both washer and dryer!
BTW, I do my own laundry!

a true fabricator, very nice work.. I have 3 voyagers myself, except I go the other way with them, strip them down to cafe bikes...

I'm taking cues from your pics, 6cylinder. I have another Voyager that is in need of paint, so I am thinking of finding another sidecar to hook to it and make it more of a street fighter, painted all flat black, with little red accents here and there. The Bingham MkII is a small, fairly lightweight hack that has styling very much like the Voyager's fairing. There's one for sale out in Calif., but that's a bit too far for me go to pick it up. I have started working on an all aluminum sidecar for it. The bike would be stripped down, but would retain the fairing. It would be lowered, like my first Voyager from the '80's. And, like Bill's Voyager, the radiator would be relocated towards the rear between the hack and the bike.

6cylinder wrote: I have 3 voyagers myself, except I go the other way with them, strip them down to cafe bikes...

BTW, 6cylinder, I, for one, would really appreciate if you would post all of your pics to the "Member's Gallery" section so it wouldn't be so hard to locate them once in a while. It's inspiring to see what others do to their Voyagers.

bruce, your work was impressive before the work area pics. now doubly so.pat

Today I mounted the new LED lights across the back of the sidecar, plus one on the right front corner in place of the reflector. Then I decided to take a little test run. Not knowing if my alternators were working, I loaded two T-105 golf cart batteries in the sidecar for ballast, but to also give me power to get home if my normal battery failed. I decided to ride until the battery failed, then turn around. I got all the way to Topeka with no problems, then came home. That was a 120 mile trip. Ran at least 70 most of the time, but a lot of 85-90mph running, too, just to push things to see how strong the bike is. Also, a lot of sidecars cause front end shimmy at higher speeds and lower speeds, so I was testing for that possibility. Not a slight shake at all. It did tend to pull to the left just a bit on the highway. Too much lean to the left, so I will remove a bit of that. Our street has a very radical crown to it, so testing the rig for pull was futile! I have too much lean-out dialed in right now. Highways are much less crowned. Toe-in seems perfect since there isn't any feathering of the tire's tread at all. I kinda expected it to be good since it is exactly what my old Spyder sidecar had in the end, and it never had any tire wear.

I already love this rig as much as my old '83 1300 and Spyder hack. Next trip will be a 170 mile (each way) trip to Coffeyville, KS to visit friends. Then, if all goes well on that one, a 500 mile trip to Indianapolis to visit family.

Then it all comes apart for powdercoating and chroming and wiring, plus a custom 7 gallon gas tank alongside the car's body, and an air-shock conversion. And, if all goes well, I may install a say bar system between the sidecar suspension and the bike's swingarm for better cornering stability. Another guy on the Vetter Terraplane forum did this to his and says that it helps the whole rig ride better through the turns.

LOTS of stuff to be done, still!