Yes, Virginia, the 700 can have a sidecar !

[electric eccentric]

Here are some pics of the sequence.





The basic frame, as supplied by Great Sports Inc./Saferwholesale, was acceptable. However, even its main attachment was strengthened and held under the
bike by two bolts instead of their suggested one bolt. *It does only have rubber torsion suspension. However, under its gray black cushion is a fitting silicone seat pad that I got through Amazon. Wife is happy with the ride.





But the Tub was delivered in horrible condition. Much injury, poor molding process, etc. My fiberglass guy says just order it without any paint and expect to
redo all of it your way. The final product is nothing like Great Sports sells. Think of their tub as just a floor plan. And, still, even with all the rework, you can
have a sidecar that matches paint and all...for less than 3K. Most good sidecars are as much as 8K, and in no way match the 700.






The result !

 

[draco_1967]

Sweet! I want a sidecar rig someday. Are you planning on changing the front suspension to leading link or anything?
How does it handle?

 

[L.B.S.]

Wow, what an awesome job! Very cool

A modern day Ural Patrol?

 

[Beemerphile]

Sweet! Beautiful aesthetics. All it needs is a leading link fork...

Leading Link Forks

 

[electric eccentric]

Not changing 700

I find that the 700 tracks well with the supplied Honda equipment. HOWEVER, this is where I give my warning, the same warning that I have given since the 1970s, when I learned to drive with a sidecar. That warning is: Everything that you have learned to become a good cycle rider, maybe even to become a great cycle rider, will possibly kill you when you transition to a sidecar. It defies all the physics that you are used to dealing with. Some people find it unbearable to drive one. Somehow I survived my first sidecar in the 1970s, and learned that the world must be turned upside down, in order to master the sidecar. I am fine now with what the unit demands, including much HUMAN power steering. My upper body is getting stronger because of the demand.

However, I will look into http://nc700-forum.com/forum/redirect-to/?redirect=http://www.sidestrider.com/leadingfork.html
though I do not see the 700 in their list.

 

[Beemerphile]

I am not sure that SideStrider has one either, just linked that as the concept (which you are obviously familiar with). I'm too frail in my old age to do part time duty as a power steering pump. I went to college because I was too scrawny to actually work.

 

[greenex]

you just stole my heart

 

[itlives]

VERY nice addition to the NC!

 

[anglachel]

Is there storage space behind the seat? looks like there would be some empty space back there.

Are those brake lights on the side of the car?

Seems like the kit left you with a lot of options on how to do the build out... which is nice. Searching for saferwholesalers online brings up a lot of negative press, but it seems like it turned out ok for you.

 

[electric eccentric]

The negative press is correct. The frame kit was all stolen from my first attempt, due to their inadequate packaging and easily identifiable goodies. Someone from UPS is driving around with that first attempt. And the shell was, as I mentioned in the photos, from a defective mold and then further damaged. All that is why the frame is listed as acceptable (after I really got one), and why the shell or tub was completely redone. STILL, adding in my own fiberglass/painter and my tech friend, it was cost effective.

Those are double bullet tail lights. The brightest LEDs that I have ever seen. Even in tail mode, they are brighter than the Honda supplied tail lights. When brake (bottom) or right turn (top) is initiated, they become THAT much brighter !

We carved a hole behind the vertical seat cushion, to access that rear space. Now, yes, it is a little luggage area. Small, but cyclists are looking for any cubic inches, right ?
In bright daylight !

Sorry about camera angle. Gives the wrong idea = rig is straight and true, when viewed correctly...

 

[StratTuner]

OK... do you sell a kit? How much?

 

[anglachel]

OK... do you sell a kit? How much?

These folks sell the kit:
Classical RocketTeer Side Car Motorcycle Sidecar Kit - Honda Models

But before you buy from that link, do a quick search for that company... you'll find a lot of people who feel they got ripped off... and a few lawsuits.
Very much a buyer beware kind of site (if the website itself didn't already give you a dirty feeling at the idea of entering a credit card number)

 

[electric eccentric]

I have tried to make this point clear throughout this post

These folks sell the kit:
Classical RocketTeer Side Car Motorcycle Sidecar Kit - Honda Models

But before you buy from that link, do a quick search for that company... you'll find a lot of people who feel they got ripped off... and a few lawsuits.
Very much a buyer beware kind of site (if the website itself didn't already give you a dirty feeling at the idea of entering a credit card number)

I agree with Anglachel. I hope that I was clear about their incomplete first attempt, with complete loss of the frame, tire and wheel to someone at UPS. As well, remember, that the tub had to be completely redone.

The over-all point is, that, even if the kit is only used as a basic starting point, and even if much fiberglass/paint and assembly work is necessary, it still can come out as you see in the pics, at a total price of less than 3K.

Anything above that and you would be advised to get a new assembly crew. AND, if you are capable of your own fiberglass/paint and detailed assembly and alignment ? Why, then, you would be very close to $2300. I really was not even interested in the final price, as much as matching the bike in looks, and with minimum load. Besides giving the wrong look and an 8K price, most sidecars are way too heavy for the little NC700X. As my finished product goes, with my wife, and packs, the whole unit can still safely do interstate speeds.

And, at 70MPH, I still get 52 MPG !!! That is much better than a Harley gets, all by its lonesome.

*Remember, if you do try to get the basic kit, keep it basic. Even ask that they not paint it at all (which merely hides the needy areas, and is poorly done anyway). I can see someone DEALING with them, and getting the basic kit price way down below 2K. Then you have even more money to finish it properly !

To me ? It was well worth the gamble!

 

[electric eccentric]

Just a thought... I looked around the site, and see that many with a DCT are getting only mpg in the low 50s. Sport mode ? But, in any case, a long way from the 70s, which is what I got, with a clutch, before the sidecar. Now getting the low 50s with the sidecar continues to make the NC700X very efficient in this combo. And such mileage makes the 700/sidecar even more enjoyable !

BTW, I am constantly operating the NC700X at 5000 ft.

 

[electric eccentric]

Over 55 MPG with SIDECAR !

I now have my first long distance mix mileage - from 45 to 75 MPH. Most of 400 miles at 65 MPH.

With driver, passenger and bags, I am now getting 55.2 MPG @ 5000 ft. altitude (NM).

Those of you who get around 77 with the bike might expect similar, as I was getting mid to upper 70s prior to the sidecar.

 

[electric eccentric]

On the road in central New Mexico.

 

[L.B.S.]

On the road in central New Mexico.

View attachment 26379

Being a complete sidecar Schultz (I know nussink!) is it an optical illusion that there is a mile of ground clearance under the thing? And coupled with that thought, I'd be afraid of that steel tube vertical/horizontal brace (?) thingy getting thwacked or stopping me dead in my tracks as I merrily rode over something, lol

 

[electric eccentric]

Completely different duties !

Your duty as a driver is not only completely different in reference to the laws of physics, much of your duty is also to the goal of your new rig. Any days of trails and rough roads are over. You must not even think of them fondly... For such thoughts and skills will get you wrecked.

A motorcycle and sidecar is for good roads. The better, the more super the road, the better. While it is nice to ride state roads, continuous pavement and lack of pot holes is a must. Otherwise, you will certainly drive more comfortably, as will your passenger, on the super type highways.

The very first time that you drive a cycle with sidecar, you will realize that your whole world changed. You can no longer deviate quickly, no longer ride the pinpoint of your tires between dips and holes. You must consider the sidecar and occupant at all times. I find myself taking the roughest part of the road for the cycle, saving the best areas for the sidecar. And on and on...

I gave up all the rough back roads, most gravel for any more than yards, and ANY uneven surfaces, at that moment when I added the sidecar. I rely on good surfaces as much as any, or more than any, family car. I just do. Do not consider any type of sidecar, if you intend to want to use your 700 for all those ultimate freedom moments that you have become used to having.

This has all been the LONG way of saying, 'of course nothing as high as the support should ever be going between the sidecar and the cycle'. I am only driving this rig on the smooth level surfaces. Anything else is called a horrible wreck.

And, if this sounds like senior time ? Maybe. But there is a different kind of expertise and concern that comes with adding a sidecar. Putting it down the road accurately and safely can be quite enough challenge and quite rewarding.

In the meantime, I will allow everyone to be concerned about the aerodynamics below...where an Indian cycle and a cop somehow made it through that era !
It says at the bottom of the pic, "Mobile Booking Cage".

 

[anglachel]

So how easy/hard is it to pull the side car off?

I definitely think it'd be awesome to have the wife or dog hanging out in there on longer trips, but I don't think I'd want to keep it that way most of the time.

 

[electric eccentric]

14 bolts

So how easy/hard is it to pull the side car off?

...I don't think I'd want to keep it that way most of the time.

14 bolts, 12 for the arms that you see, two for the main frame underneath attachment. But alignment is critical, takes hours, and would have to be redone each time that you put it back. Perhaps this is why most sidecars rigs are considered a dedicated ride. Think, family car... Not big enough to consider family van ! Still, I would think that a guy or girl main rider would have an entire second bike for single time...a bike they could roughhouse and get all the other needs taken care of with.

Till the sidecar fails, I am probably not going to seperate the units. That is what happened 40 years ago, when I had a similar sidecar. But, it was not as well mounted, and was exposed to Great Lakes weather effects, with extreme temperature variations. When all that took its toll, I did give up and went back to the bike alone.

The pictured rig in this post has parking deep in a protected garage, and will be primarily used in the desert Southwest. As well, I will try preventive care, using what I learned about my first fiberglass sidecar. I have already tried to incorporate past learning into the rebuild of the tub and its mounting to the frame.

In total ? I am hoping for a longer planned life of this rig combo, and will probably not affect its attachments unless I have a failure.

But, the short answer to the question is...14 bolts.