Adjusting the sidecar toe-in and motorcycle lean-out is IMPORTANT! Otherwise is is a lot of work to fatiguing to keep it going straight. I throw a 20 kg of gravel in a bag for ballast without a passenger. Interesting horn(s) setup!
You are correct about not running wires inside the frame tubing. Steel tubing invariably rusts inside because you can't paint it internally. I purchased a Bushtec motorcycle trailer cheap that had been unused for many years. I found out why they quit using it when I tested the wiring. The wires had been run inside the the hitch and frame tubing, which has rusted and worn off the plastic coating on the wires so hooking up the trailer would have blown fuses on the motorcycle. After replacing all the factory wiring and running it the way it should have been the trailer lights worked perfectly on my motorcycle.
use a blade screwdriver against that inside lip on the wheel cap to install it, that way you don't ding it up. you also use the screw driver to remove that cap. when the time comes.
the bearing probably died due to no grease on it, the axle nut was done up so tight that it actually crushed the bearing..... and the horizontal and vertical alignment of the wheel probably finished it off........ the way the chair mounts are to the bike especially the lower ones ...i really cant see how they will say at the adjustment as they are ...ie going over bumps etc they will move up or down the way they are at the moment kinda like when you 1st got on with the nuts loose ...... relying on just the tightness of those bolts aint gonna stop them from moving up or down under load...... the geometry just isn't good the bottom mounts should be fixed to the lowest part of the bike so that when the top mounts are in place you have a triangle.......... once again i'm not trying to teach you how to suck eggs........... i can just see an accident in your future with this set up........ take care mate..... opps nearly forgot one side of the lower mounts should be fixed ridged either the inner or outer side of the mounts so they cant self adjust up or down when under load..... the good ones normally have a ball type mount on one end and fixed on the other end hope this helps
A honda cbr 600 front wheel and axle fits the swingarm perfect. Theres a video here on youtube of a guy who did it. Better wheel and bearings. All sidecars have a misdesigned swingarm and axle.
But the diference in the wide radial 13" wheel and tire you have compared to the skiny knobby that comes stock is night and day. The stability and overall improvement just from a wider radial is amazing. Its worth yoiur conversion for that alone.
you have totally killed me with your sledge hammer approach. I Have many miles on motorcycles with hacks since 1966. Currently driving a 44 yr. old BMW and sidecar with almost 90,000 miles on her. You carry precious cargo. This lakadazacle approach worries me.
The sledge is probably only needed because the clevis and I-bolt are made in China or some other 3rd world S*******e. I have a 40 year old Motorvation and the factory supplied U-clamps, clevis, and I-bolts all go together as the should, why because 40years ago they were made in America.
If the floor of the body ever filled up with water the water leaks down past the body to frame bolts into the frame rails. Yout drain holes will solve that but if it ever did fill up any with water then the rails have water in it.
On that winshield you could have taken the screen off and put the frame in a vice then put a bar over the uprights and bent each one back a little at a time and it lays back perfect
It was too much of a change. At best, it would have left a very unsightly kink in the rods. At worst, the crap welds would have sheered right off. The way it is now, nobody would ever know it didn't just come that way.
Just in case you take offense to any of my free advice I'm going to make one last recommendation to you. We can both set behind these screens and talk smack all say and night and in the end we still haven't proven anything so ...IM CALLING YOU OUT MOTO CYCLE!! I CHALLENGE YOU! I CHALLENGE YOU TO A RACE MOTO CYCLE!!
@@1ManWrenching No no MotoCycle you bend it above the welds. Hell yes its gonna break if you bend the weld with no heat. I dont own a welder everything I build I don't use welders.
It isnt the sideload that killed the bearing. Its the grade of bearing. Yoi can put a set of skf double roller sealed bearings and the put them in that wheel and it works fine
Michael Coffman you actually trust that wheel? It’s just as much a piece of shit as the bearings were. I have little doubt the spokes would snap if I actually bore down on it in a hard turn while fully loaded.
Ya ive been using it since April. Whats uo man? Did you not see all the warnings i blasted all over the web? I made a huge stink about the seller selling people this shit. Risking kids lifes. You are the first person in history to post a how to on Refwolfs. When i bought mine there was NOTHING on the web. NOTHING. I started raising hell and met a few other guys like you. All with the exact same problems. Ya man its the bearings. Ive been running a set of skfs for awhile. Not 100 miles bit they are living. I thought about a boat trailer spindle and hub kit. I was talking to Champion sidecar designer and they used to use them.
I had a old Harley shovelhead wheel and axle on it for a minute but the axle was only 3/4" and i was nervous but it looked cool as hell with a whitewall and that chrome hubcab on the old 16 spoke
Its funny watching you go through the EXACT same stuff i did..lol No offense but you held your cuse words back better than me. I had to build an entire subframe for the bottom of my bike. It works awsome. They are only 900 bucks at DMC!!
@@angelasangel6275 Ya know, I did see some forum posts, probably from you. The posts I saw, people were asking for specifics and details and there were none posted. I found that forum post after buying this. The post did warn about the bearings and really, that post probably did save my life, as I kept a CLOSE eye on that bearing, saw it start to fail, and when it got to the point of being ready to seize up/fly off the rig, I pulled over and called that tow truck. So if that was your post, thanks. I'd have probably still bought THIS sidecar, as it's in my budget, and as you can see, I'm mechanically inclined, I can work around its shortcomings. I continue to monitor the rig's frame and such. I have several hundred miles on it since switching to the trailer axle/tire, including some extremely aggressive riding while trying to keep up with a group ride, all before I put them in for a casual ride on a back country road. They're fine, they'll continue to be fine. No worries. I've got one more video coming up solving some more shortcomings, like the shock absorber, that craptastic fender, and a few other minor things.
All sidecars suspension and axle loads up one side of the axle. Thats wrong and only works by putting a huge axle in the swingarm. Still it a piss poor design. Look at a rear independant suslension and hub on a small front wheel drive car. Thats how it should and can be done.
Adjusting the sidecar toe-in and motorcycle lean-out is IMPORTANT! Otherwise is is a lot of work to fatiguing to keep it going straight. I throw a 20 kg of gravel in a bag for ballast without a passenger. Interesting horn(s) setup!
You are correct about not running wires inside the frame tubing. Steel tubing invariably rusts inside because you can't paint it internally. I purchased a Bushtec motorcycle trailer cheap that had been unused for many years. I found out why they quit using it when I tested the wiring. The wires had been run inside the the hitch and frame tubing, which has rusted and worn off the plastic coating on the wires so hooking up the trailer would have blown fuses on the motorcycle. After replacing all the factory wiring and running it the way it should have been the trailer lights worked perfectly on my motorcycle.
Try using black silicone sealer around the outside of the headlight & inside.
use a blade screwdriver against that inside lip on the wheel cap to install it, that way you don't ding it up. you also use the screw driver to remove that cap. when the time comes.
Great video! Can you provide a link to the wheel hub kit that you purchased from Amazon? Thanks in advance!
the bearing probably died due to no grease on it, the axle nut was done up so tight that it actually crushed the bearing..... and the horizontal and vertical alignment of the wheel probably finished it off........ the way the chair mounts are to the bike especially the lower ones ...i really cant see how they will say at the adjustment as they are ...ie going over bumps etc they will move up or down the way they are at the moment kinda like when you 1st got on with the nuts loose ...... relying on just the tightness of those bolts aint gonna stop them from moving up or down under load...... the geometry just isn't good the bottom mounts should be fixed to the lowest part of the bike so that when the top mounts are in place you have a triangle.......... once again i'm not trying to teach you how to suck eggs........... i can just see an accident in your future with this set up........ take care mate..... opps nearly forgot one side of the lower mounts should be fixed ridged either the inner or outer side of the mounts so they cant self adjust up or down when under load..... the good ones normally have a ball type mount on one end and fixed on the other end hope this helps
And today I learned how to pack a bearing
There is NO spacer between the bearings!!!!
A honda cbr 600 front wheel and axle fits the swingarm perfect. Theres a video here on youtube of a guy who did it. Better wheel and bearings. All sidecars have a misdesigned swingarm and axle.
The CHINA bearings are good for about 10 miles!
But the diference in the wide radial 13" wheel and tire you have compared to the skiny knobby that comes stock is night and day. The stability and overall improvement just from a wider radial is amazing. Its worth yoiur conversion for that alone.
The axle/hub assembly I used: amzn.to/2OlMo2P
Is this a rocketeer side car I was gonna get one I don't think so anymore
you have totally killed me with your sledge hammer approach. I Have many miles on motorcycles with hacks since 1966. Currently driving a 44 yr. old BMW and sidecar with almost 90,000 miles on her. You carry precious cargo. This lakadazacle approach worries me.
The sledge is probably only needed because the clevis and I-bolt are made in China or some other 3rd world S*******e. I have a 40 year old Motorvation and the factory supplied U-clamps, clevis, and I-bolts all go together as the should, why because 40years ago they were made in America.
@@edwardjones8170 It's made in Ukraine. I suspected from the start that parts were sourced from Amazon or Temu
Didn't see you do a toe-in & lean out adjustment.
That bearing was.peobably damaged during installation.
Hey the frame rails fill up with water too. Check it out
If the floor of the body ever filled up with water the water leaks down past the body to frame bolts into the frame rails. Yout drain holes will solve that but if it ever did fill up any with water then the rails have water in it.
On that winshield you could have taken the screen off and put the frame in a vice then put a bar over the uprights and bent each one back a little at a time and it lays back perfect
It was too much of a change. At best, it would have left a very unsightly kink in the rods. At worst, the crap welds would have sheered right off. The way it is now, nobody would ever know it didn't just come that way.
@@1ManWrenching Let ol Dad show ya. Ya killin ya self man. They gotcha working like a dog!! Praise God Amen!
Just in case you take offense to any of my free advice I'm going to make one last recommendation to you. We can both set behind these screens and talk smack all say and night and in the end we still haven't proven anything so ...IM CALLING YOU OUT MOTO CYCLE!! I CHALLENGE YOU! I CHALLENGE YOU TO A RACE MOTO CYCLE!!
Praise God!!
@@1ManWrenching No no MotoCycle you bend it above the welds. Hell yes its gonna break if you bend the weld with no heat. I dont own a welder everything I build I don't use welders.
A lot of work
What a hunk of crap. I wanted a sidecar until I saw this.
It isnt the sideload that killed the bearing. Its the grade of bearing. Yoi can put a set of skf double roller sealed bearings and the put them in that wheel and it works fine
Michael Coffman you actually trust that wheel? It’s just as much a piece of shit as the bearings were. I have little doubt the spokes would snap if I actually bore down on it in a hard turn while fully loaded.
Ya ive been using it since April. Whats uo man? Did you not see all the warnings i blasted all over the web? I made a huge stink about the seller selling people this shit. Risking kids lifes. You are the first person in history to post a how to on Refwolfs. When i bought mine there was NOTHING on the web. NOTHING. I started raising hell and met a few other guys like you. All with the exact same problems. Ya man its the bearings. Ive been running a set of skfs for awhile. Not 100 miles bit they are living. I thought about a boat trailer spindle and hub kit. I was talking to Champion sidecar designer and they used to use them.
I had a old Harley shovelhead wheel and axle on it for a minute but the axle was only 3/4" and i was nervous but it looked cool as hell with a whitewall and that chrome hubcab on the old 16 spoke
Its funny watching you go through the EXACT same stuff i did..lol No offense but you held your cuse words back better than me. I had to build an entire subframe for the bottom of my bike. It works awsome. They are only 900 bucks at DMC!!
@@angelasangel6275 Ya know, I did see some forum posts, probably from you. The posts I saw, people were asking for specifics and details and there were none posted. I found that forum post after buying this. The post did warn about the bearings and really, that post probably did save my life, as I kept a CLOSE eye on that bearing, saw it start to fail, and when it got to the point of being ready to seize up/fly off the rig, I pulled over and called that tow truck. So if that was your post, thanks. I'd have probably still bought THIS sidecar, as it's in my budget, and as you can see, I'm mechanically inclined, I can work around its shortcomings. I continue to monitor the rig's frame and such. I have several hundred miles on it since switching to the trailer axle/tire, including some extremely aggressive riding while trying to keep up with a group ride, all before I put them in for a casual ride on a back country road. They're fine, they'll continue to be fine. No worries.
I've got one more video coming up solving some more shortcomings, like the shock absorber, that craptastic fender, and a few other minor things.
MADE IN INDIA. THEY ACTUALLY ARE COOL LITTLE SIDECARS FOR A KID OR DOG IF YOU REWORK ABOUT 90% OF IT.
Part one I thought he said from Ukraine?
@jackrichards1863 Correct, this unit was from Ukraine. Slava Ukraine 🇺🇦
All sidecars suspension and axle loads up one side of the axle. Thats wrong and only works by putting a huge axle in the swingarm. Still it a piss poor design. Look at a rear independant suslension and hub on a small front wheel drive car. Thats how it should and can be done.
Jayzuusss just stop dude. I’ve seen some butchers work on bikes but for gods sake ?????? That’s just rough
Thanks for watching!
Dangerous side car to ride, not clever design too.
K in