Natasha's sidecar driveshaft is ready for anything!

You might have read my posting where Natasha's original driveshaft going from the motorcycle's final drive to the sidecar wheel had busted. LINK.

You might have also read how John, aka Sanoke, mild mannered riding mentor and great welder had done a temporary patch job on it so that I could ride until I could either get a new driveshaft or have it professionally welded with stronger steel. John's "temporary" welding not only lasted through two snow storms, a week long cold snap which saw temperatures in the -teens and over 600 miles of riding but probably would have gone further!

But, the fear had been there and I'd not taken Natasha off-road at all just in case. When the clutch cable broke recently and I had to wait for a new clutch lever to be mailed ot me; I figured I'd have the great folks at Boivin Machining do the welding professionally.

Here's the shaft on the lathe at Boivin Machining, attempt 1, where they weren't satisfied as to the straightness of the shaft. Looked OK to me, not to them!

The finished product, looks quite sturdy doesn't it?

Some closeups of Anthony's work, he's the Journeyman welder that works for Norm, the owner of Boivin Machining. Norm's a retired Navy Senior Chief Machinist.

Took them two days because they've a lot of other work to do and because they wanted to do the job as near perfect as they could. The original shaft portion of the driveshaft was cut off and replaced with thicker D.O.M. carbon steel. D.O.M, quite a coincidence huh, stands for Drawn Over Mandrel Steel. From Wikipedia: Drawn-over-mandrel tubing is made from cold-drawn electrical-resistance-welded tube that is drawn through a die and over a mandrel to create such characteristics as dependable weld integrity, dimensional accuracy, and an excellent surface finish.

I picked it up today, total cost was half the cost of a new driveshaft from the dealer which I believe would be inferior in metallurgical strength and quality. I gave it a coat of black rustoleum paint to protect it from rust and will install it tomorrow when the paint is dry. The clutch lever assembly should be here tomorrow as well so Natasha will be 100% once more.

I highly recommend to any readers in the Denver Metro Area, the machining work and expertise provided by Boivin Machining. The quoted price was adhered to and their work is professional.