The outfit has landed!

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Crap Tartan
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The outfit has landed!

Post by Crap Tartan »

Brought my Raptor and sidecar back from Watsonian-Squire yesterday!

400+ miles back to Scotland and was certainly interesting. I have ridden outfits in the past but not for many years so after a bit of a tutorial and a few laps of the industial estate there I was keen to get on the road.
OUTFITS are totally differant and you have to forget everything you know from riding a solo and learn quickly! Total concentration required every second.
Really slow to start with (country roads) and once I got onto the main roads I actually left the queue of tractors well behind me so now at least they know how we have all felt stuck behind them!!!
Eventually got onto the motorway and it much prefers a bit of speed and things are a lot easier actually. I even managed to exceed 80mph (private road honest!) and soon eat up the miles.
All was going swimmingly until I reached Carlisle ish and the weather got really wet and darkness fell. My lights are shit for that kind of riding so an upgrade needed there. Anyway, much aquaplaning, flooding on roads, hairy moments on roundabouts and a thorough soaking saw me home by 10. The bike never missed a beat and it all made me realise that I need to work on my technique an awful lot especially slower speed stuff!
Watsonian had said that because of the torque and strong power delivery of the Raptor it would be a bit of a handful until I get used to it and they were more than right.
This morning I ache all over and have new muscles developing from fingers to shoulders!
Look forward to holding you all up in the coming months and yes, it gets loads of attention wherever I stopped and even on the motorway as I was going along!

Cheers!
nil illigitimae carborundum
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snapdragon
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Re: The outfit has landed!

Post by snapdragon »

Yay good to hear you're home all OK, I did worry, knowing how much piloting those things can take it out of you :ride: Have you got leading link forks on her or a steering damper ? (I didn't look) My 250 outfit shook to bedamned upto about 18mph so was hell at slow speed I was planning on a damper for it.
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dizzyblonde
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Re: The outfit has landed!

Post by dizzyblonde »

Woop woop Mad Max returns :pilot:
Yellow 2001 SV650s,2002 VRaptor
Your Rapter looks like a sci fi robot dragon! and it breaths fire too! It singed my eye brows and boiled my eyes at the lights! smudge
norrie
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Re: The outfit has landed!

Post by norrie »

Wow that looks different. Is it possible to fit car tyres to the bike for more traction?
Norrie.

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Crap Tartan
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Re: The outfit has landed!

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I can get one for the rear which should fit if it clears the swingarm but there is nothing of a suitable size for the front.
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norrie
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Re: The outfit has landed!

Post by norrie »

Yeah it's the rear I was thinking of.
Norrie.

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Re: The outfit has landed!

Post by andybaggies »

Oh wow! that looks great! :D I'm not sure I'd be tempted myself but I don't know what it is about outfits that are so well, I dunno appealing. It makes me want to adjust me cap & barbour and light up a pipe. It sure looks to be a professional quality job.

A couple of questions, what is the weight of the complete outfit? It looks to be a big un with plenty of luggage space but with room for two or one?

How do the mountings work? is the sidecar free to move independently of the bike. From the first pic it looks like it can move up and down and fore & aft, would that be correct?

I'm pretty sure it's gonna bring loads of smiles though. Top job :thumbsup:
shedmonkey
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Re: The outfit has landed!

Post by shedmonkey »

Omg I thought you were kidding
Bit of a Muppet
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Crap Tartan
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Re: The outfit has landed!

Post by Crap Tartan »

shedmonkey wrote:55 years agoOmg I thought you were kidding
Nope, its slowly turning into a volvo estate......................lol
nil illigitimae carborundum
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Crap Tartan
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Re: The outfit has landed!

Post by Crap Tartan »

andybaggies wrote:55 years agoOh wow! that looks great! :D I'm not sure I'd be tempted myself but I don't know what it is about outfits that are so well, I dunno appealing. It makes me want to adjust me cap & barbour and light up a pipe. It sure looks to be a professional quality job.

A couple of questions, what is the weight of the complete outfit? It looks to be a big un with plenty of luggage space but with room for two or one?

How do the mountings work? is the sidecar free to move independently of the bike. From the first pic it looks like it can move up and down and fore & aft, would that be correct?

I'm pretty sure it's gonna bring loads of smiles though. Top job :thumbsup:
The sidecar weighs around 90kgs and the bike is around standard weight.
Watsonian Squire had to design and build a subframe to fit to the Rap so the sidecar could be mounted using four point fittings. The sidecar is fixed to the bike but has its own suspension.
There are sidecars that lean with the bike and ones that stay upright but allow the bike to still lean. Mine is neither of those..........
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Crap Tartan
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Re: The outfit has landed!

Post by Crap Tartan »

snapdragon wrote:55 years agoYay good to hear you're home all OK, I did worry, knowing how much piloting those things can take it out of you :ride: Have you got leading link forks on her or a steering damper ? (I didn't look) My 250 outfit shook to bedamned upto about 18mph so was hell at slow speed I was planning on a damper for it.
No leading links yet but it may be something I look at later but want to try to get the best overall handling I can with standard setup. I also have some slow speed wobble but thats what happens with pretty much all conventional fork outfits. It is worsened by the strong power delivery of the raptor too. Fine once you get up to speed and things smooth out................

I have ordered a car type rear tyre for her but will wait til its trashed the bike one completely which probably wont be long now!
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dizzyblonde
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Re: The outfit has landed!

Post by dizzyblonde »

shedmonkey wrote:55 years agoOmg I thought you were kidding
SHED!!!!!! where have you been hiding?

... Don't tell me....in the shed..... :doh: :lol:
Yellow 2001 SV650s,2002 VRaptor
Your Rapter looks like a sci fi robot dragon! and it breaths fire too! It singed my eye brows and boiled my eyes at the lights! smudge
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Miz
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Re: The outfit has landed!

Post by Miz »

Crap Tartan wrote:55 years ago
snapdragon wrote:55 years agoYay good to hear you're home all OK, I did worry, knowing how much piloting those things can take it out of you :ride: Have you got leading link forks on her or a steering damper ? (I didn't look) My 250 outfit shook to bedamned upto about 18mph so was hell at slow speed I was planning on a damper for it.
No leading links yet but it may be something I look at later but want to try to get the best overall handling I can with standard setup. I also have some slow speed wobble but thats what happens with pretty much all conventional fork outfits. It is worsened by the strong power delivery of the raptor too. Fine once you get up to speed and things smooth out................

I have ordered a car type rear tyre for her but will wait til its trashed the bike one completely which probably wont be long now!
When I had the FJ1200 outfit, it was with a heavy sidecar, once I'd fitted the car rear tyre it could either just push the front wheel in a straight line, or spin the bike round the sidecar, was fun trying to turn right at tee junctions
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