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[arty70]

Thanks guys, the rear carrier is correct fits fine now turned my attention to the front end , more bits cobbled together, dropped front wheel off to find water running out of bottom of fork legs and no plugs in the bottom of the fork legs, I can only think that water has entered through the two screwed plugs at the head . then stripped the wheel to find scored drum and major crack in the cast hub where it locates in the fork.

I considered buying one of our hosts twin leading shoe front wheels , I discussed it with them and they advised I need the Indian fork legs that have a leading spindle to them instead of the straight ones I have, has anyone any experience of fitting , will the fork legs fit without modification and is the twin leading shoe an improvement.Still to look at the rear brake but I am slowly working through the bike.Painting the sidecar this week to take my mind off other problems.

Thanks for all the advice to date.

Arty

[Adrian]

Hi Arty,



glad the seat rail is the right one.



For the front end I simply wouldn't bother messing with the existing forks or wheel, just "put them carefully to one side" (interpret this as you will...) and fit a new set of drum-brake Indian Bullet forks which simply screw into the headlamp casquette in place of the originals, as well the complete Indian TLS front wheel with whatever 19" tyre will suit for sidecar use. The TLS when set up correctly IS an improvement. Do a search on this site, there has been plenty written on this forum about how do do it right (and wrong). You'll need a 19" front mudguard and stays too, the standard 350 gives better protection, the 500 looks sportier, our you can just raid our hosts' accessory catalogue. Most forks use wider tin shrouds so you will need to replace these or fit the rubber fork gaiters off an Electra-X model.



Of course you don't HAVE to use a drum brake front-end at all, some of the later model disc brake forks will also be a straight swap, just make sure it's a version with the screw thread on top of the stanchions and the leading axle fork sliders (Electra-X, Electra EFI, most B5 and the early C5 models will also fit the Redditch casquette), something to consider with the extra weight of the sidecar. Considering the state of the rest of the original front end, it's also worth checking the condition of the casquette itself and the bottom yoke carefully, whatever sort of forks you end up using. In case it needs replacing the standard (less bulky) Indian version will fit, as will one of our hosts' fancy alloy top yokes.

[Adrian]

Sorry, most INDIAN forks (since 1988) use wider tin shrouds... A.