California Scientific

Well! As time went by since Frosty and I have come back last year, she has seen some transformation happening to her already beautiful and sexy lines. In her case she has gained some weight. She needed to in order for her to carry the extra weight in gear that she and I will need this year to not only go across Canada but also go across Labrador.

Here she is as she was last year in all her glory..

No modifications were made to her engine except a K&N filter. She will be running on 10W40 and a new chain and sprockets were added as well. She got a sprocket job done. She went from 47 teeth to 49. This should be more than enough for her to carry her new appendage.

It is a Sputnik sidecar that I purchased from Dauntless Motors in Enumclaw Washington. It is all metal, weights only 200 lbs and has solid covers that can be lifted just like a trunk or hood and it can be also used as a cargo sidecar once the seat is removed.

The mounting system that they added to Frosty is pretty impressive. It replaces the original sub frame and has all the mounts ready to go. It is a lot sturdier than the stock BMW.

Once configured properly (Toe in and camber) she rides pretty good. The maiden ride with the new sidecar was from Enumclaw to Victoria and this included fighting I-5 at rush hour. It was a good way to learn how to handle Frosty with Snowball attached to her. Snowball is the sidecar name. He has already been christened by friends of mine! Thanks Drachen!

Here she is before she got painted the same metallic blue than the Dakar!

I like orange but even if the sidecar is a necessity I still wanted the whole thing to at least look good!

Ok! It is not a show piece but Dammit! Blue and orange is not exactly a color match made in heaven.

Here is the Cave! Where surgery is performed with high quality tools, warm cup of coffee and the peace and quiet men love to have when working in their metal covered, gear spinning, wheel turning, torque setting, spark producing iron smelling, life creating Oasis! Arrrhhhh! Arrrhhhh HHHRaaa!.

Snowball got painted by Curt at Ferny's auto body in Victoria fernysautobody.com. He did a hell of a good job,

The stock shock was no good! Might be good in Russia but not for me. This shock could maybe support a case of beer and a sleeping bag. Anything beyond that, might as well have a marshmallow as a shock.

So I replaced it with a BMW R1200RT front shock. Not much modification to the mounting had to be done and the result is amazing. A lot stiffer and the suspension is not mushy anymore. Even though the sidecar is only 200 lbs, when I was putting a bit of gear in it, the suspension sagged too much and I did not like the cornering when I doing left turns or braking.

The R1200 RT shock fitted right in and the clearance between the fender and wheel is still more than enough.

I also replaced the stock tire with a hard compound Maxxis DOT off road tire. This serves 2 purposes. The first is that it will last a lot longer this way and the second is that the blocks are perfect for me to install those tempered carbon tungsten studs that Andy Goldfine from Aerostich gave me to try. These should give me some serious grip.

HD studs

I will write a full report on then as the trip goes on.

All the bolts and mountings were also coated with Amsoil PMII metal protector. This will definitely protect them from salt and therefore corrosion. Most of Frosty was also covered with a generous layer of this.

I have learned from last year that the more you protect the less damage happens

Frosty does not look like a bike that has done 8000 kms of salt, sand and rocks. This year will be above 10,000 kms and I want to make sure that she will be ok.

Here he is in the cave slowly coming to life. I had to reinstall all the trims, mounts, locks and hardware. The color is really nice and deep. It also has 3 coats of clear to protect the paint.

My friend Brian Cownden giving Snowball his approval and making sure the Iceman has not screwed up somehow.

What is left to do?

Install secondary battery in the front.

Install auxiliary lights (Piaa)

Install all the stickers I got made. These stickers represent all the people that have helped with the project.

Mount the body on the frame, reattach to Frosty, attach the new brake lever to the sidecar's brake system, readjust Toe in and camber and then go for a good ride. I will post more pictures as I get near.

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