[hopsandspokes]

Hi all,

I thought I'd get a post going about my build and my introduction to the Triumph world...

I probably did this all a bit backwards but my wife has long wanted a sidecar and after our son was born that desire grew even stronger as that was the only reasonable way we could ride a motorcycle as a family. My first bike is a BMW R60/6 which you'll see under a pile of tarps and dust because KID and it's a bit on the small side to haul a sidecar. About a month ago we found a used sidecar locally that had previously been mounted to a Triumph Bonneville meaning it would bolt right back up to a bonnie again, so... the search started.

Last week I found a 2012 black Bonneville base with just under 11K miles for a stellar price, Low and behold it has a selvage title but I was able to talk the guy lower and it was mine. There was quite a bit of work I needed to do to get it sorted but I've related it buying a fixer upper house; you buy something that need a lot of work for cheap but then you can build it exactly how you want it.

So now the money I didn't spend on the bike I spent on an ebay buying spree:
Thruxton Fork Sliders
Spoked Thruxton Wheels
An F2 conversion (with new seals and firmer springs)
KRX Shocks
a new headlight
a stock seat (for now)

 

[hopsandspokes]

I had an 03 T100 with a Velorex sidecar for several years I really enjoyed it.

How'd the T100 do pulling the velorex? Here at elevation my R60 struggled riding two up but I think the EFI Bonnie should be up for the job.

 

[hopsandspokes]

As I recall the alloy wheel Bonnies have wider spaced forks so you may need spacers for the spoked rim, not sure. The caliper mounts are I think in a different place to account for a larger diameter frt disc.

Oh yeah hopefully my five days exploring this forum has given me enough information to actually build what I want. I think I have it sorted with thruxton sliders, I think that should take care of the wheel spacing and caliper spacing differences. But who knows I’m no expert either

 

[hopsandspokes]

Probably have some bits hanging in ways they shouldn’t be lol and the BMW holds up parts really good, here’s the Bonnie in its current state of (dis)repair

 

[hopsandspokes]

Someone else’s misfortune plus my familiarity with (somewhat smaller) suspension in my day job gets me a cheap & (maybe) better performing (at minimum more adjustable thruxton 🤞 oh and the rear ( krx1100 shocks ) for good measure

 

[hopsandspokes]

check out Hacks/Adventure Rider, lots of sidecar info there as well as pros that offer good advice as well!! looks like your quite capable, keep us posted.

Thanks for the recommendation, I just cross posted there, I should have thought about that I bet that forum will be super helpful once I get to hack setup.

 

[hopsandspokes]

Well… this is as much as I know so far, not sure how helpful these pictures are. I haven’t tried to attach it to the bike yet. I believe the upper arms attach directly to the frame with clamps (not

pictured) while the lower mounts attach to these fabricated mounts that bolt to the frame, not exactly sure where they bolt yet but I’ll figure it out, any hints?

 

[hopsandspokes]

Oh and then this not supper fun find…

I spotted sweet custom header previously but didn’t see the Rattalee stud in the header Eyelet

luckily I found somenew headers for $30 bucks nearby, now I just need some easy outs. any tips for extracting the snapped stud?

 

[hopsandspokes]

Thanks for the pics. Your top mounts look similar to what is on my Ural, so there are likely other pieces that clamp on to your bike frame. The bottoms look very adjustable so fitting to your bike should be no problem but I think there are some other parts needed to attach them to the bike. My guess is that thing on the sidecar rack goes with the bottom front mount. Did you get a bag of hardware with your sidecar?

Yeah that bag you see on the ground next to the sidecar has the upper frame clamps 👍
I’m still trying to figure out how the lower frame pieces mount, I don’t know if they’re for a different bike but it looks like the rear piece mounts where the frame bolts together and the front piece looks to mount to the bottom of the frame where it curves up at the front. But everything seems to be wider than the frame so I’m not sure 🤷‍♂️

 

[hopsandspokes]

Here are the frame mounts but it doesn’t look like lower mounts I have will work, I believe these were for a thruxton 1200r so I think the frame was different enough to make these not quite work together. On and there looks to be some crash damage

 

[hopsandspokes]

Looks like that one piece got dragged on the ground. I can see which ones are the top mounts, but I can't make head nor tail of the rest. Is that black tubular piece the rear bottom mount?

Yeah, I think the tubular one is the rear lower mount, with the two bolt side bolting where the downtubes attach but not made by DMC. The flat piece is the front mount and I believe mounts to the downtubes at the where they curve up.

But yes crashed and dragged indeed, so money I wasn't planning on spending but DMC Sidecars has the lower mounts in stock so I guess I'll make it happen. $600 to get this thing rolling is worth it.

 

[hopsandspokes]

Freedom sidecars in middleburg Pa is an honest place + Claude Stanley the owner is a great guy always willing to help + frequents the adventureriders forum i mentioned.

Thanks I was trying to remember Freedom but I pulled the trigger on the DMC kit but it will be 4 weeks out, oh well gives me time to get the bike sorted.

To frame swap or not?
So here's an interesting one for everyone here, so this bike has a selvedge title, and I have a line on a clean, instate titled 2010 Thruxton frame, do you think it makes sense & is worth it to go through the work swapping everything over to a clean frame for the clean title?

I haven't moved the title yet so if I do get the other frame, what do I do with the old frame/title etc?

 

[hopsandspokes]

Getting in deep on this CBR600 F2 damper assembly, more details to come