about a side car
 

hello folks
I need ask one thing:it´s possible to mount a side car in a Suzuki gs 500? do you know a person to make that operation?
thanks

Sidecars
 

Hiya Rui

As a long term Sidecarist! ( MY first big bike was a Triumph T140 with a Briggs Double Adult chair on it, that I cut into a single adult with a pick up bed) I can answer that...Yes, you can.
You can fit a sidecar to most any bike, even a C90 ( seem em in China)
now a company in the UK, would be Watsonian Squire Sidecars they seem to know most things sidecar! and will also tell you who distributes their products worldwide......... they also have pics on their website of a Vespa with a sidecar and a Piaggio 250 scooter with sidecar. so a GS500 should be no probs

hope this helps

PS They also do trailers too & fixed me up with a Towbar & hitch for my XV1600 about 5 years ago, good and strong!

Martyn

A few links for you -
Worldwide Sidecar Links & Hack Pics

Sidecars on smaller bikes
 

I would look for a velorex sidecar to mount up to your suzi 500. I once had a sidecar on a 350 honda, T500 suzi (2 stroke), jawa 350, suzi GS550, honda dream/benly 305 as well as larger bikes that I had factory and homemade sidecars on. I have mounted a velorex on a honda 175 for a customer and that rig actualy worked pretty well around town. Look into a homebuilt sidecar if your road laws allow it. Sidecars aren't a solo bike but they are fun and all sorts of people will want rides.

left or right hand 'chair' ?
 

I see your location is Portugal, so on what side of the bike do you intend fitting the sidecar?
Sidecars are available in the UK as previously stated and I presume easier to find in Europe, I also look forward to seeing any pictures anyone has.

I remember in Thailand seeing many sidecars attached to small capacity bikes and was amazed at the many uses they were put to, a great number were mobile food stalls and other assorted retail outlets.

I just wonder how people class Trikes and 3 wheel cars...
could they be included with bikes???

Probably defined by the use of handlebars as opposed to a steering wheel, Quads are accepted as part of the bike scene. Although Morgans have raced in classic sidecar meetings, anyone remember Owen Greenwood ?

Ruioliveira,is it legal to fix a sidecar to your bike in Portugal? As far as i know (from talking to a Spanish guy this year) it isn't in Spain or Portugal...maybe there is a way round it you know of??? Might be worth checking first....
As for getting a right-hand sidecar,well they're obviously around in the rest of Europe but seem to be subject to quite strict TUV type tests that we here in UK don't need to compy with.Maybe a cheap-ish way is to look out for a dead Ural/Cossack/Dneipr outfit and rob the bits you want?

sidecars
 

:thumbup1:sidcars are one of those things that you get or you don't
not finished mine yet but can't wait

I can feel some more pics on the way!

I agree with Daves' view; if it has handlebars it's good enough for me - thereafter (Morgans or Reliant 3 wheelers for instance) it's on a case by case basis.
There's another 3 wheeler at post 110 in here:-
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...7-8#post163632

I have very much enjoyed watching old Morgan cars compete in hill climbs BTW.

Not Oly for BMW and not expensive!
GBProjects - Heeler WZ
greetings Harold

My first ride on a bike was on the back of my uncles BSA gold flash with side car, my dad didn't like the idea of me going on it, but too bad, a biker was born.:D
I remember Owen Greenwood at Oulton Park thrashing the other outfits until he got banned.
Some people can't ride solo for various physical reasons so a side car outfit is a good way for them to enjoy biking as is a quad.
:nono:
Cheers
Ian:thumbup1:

If they invented sidecars today, sidecar rigs would never have been allowed on our roads by today's standards. The steering is too crappy compared with at two-wheeler, manouverability likewise. And that's probably why I love them! It's a totally different feeling riding those beasts. I have a Guzzi with a Watsonian sidecar. Can't stop counting all the good times we've had, me, my family and my sidecar-rigged Guzzi together. Sidecars rule!

I'm with you on this one
motorbike and side car fit's in to the bike world

I have a friend that lost both his legs ,but did not want a trike so went for a bike with side car,spent the winter converting it ,and it's great.

He used to carry all our gear in the chair and if we left him behind when we came across a jam,then we had to buy him his beer all weekend :thumbup1:

about a side car
 

thanks Martyn for your response,very good information on Watsonian.
Obrigado Rui

about a side car
 

Thanks to all the people who response to may answer.
Obrigado Rui
(must sorry my English)

Hi Rui

It will be possible to fit a sidecar, but you may need to adapt all fittings yourself. You will need welding equipment, and an angle grinder. (sorry I dont speak Portugese).

You may have to strengthen the frame of the bike because the sidecar puts stress on it which it is not designed for. This means increasing the thickness of the frame mounting points, by welding on a tube sleeve. Nordika make a neat, compact, fan cooled, up to 140 amps, electric welding machine for about 60 euros. If you cannot use such welding equipment then you will have to pay a lot of money to have a welder do it. Even then,be careful, many mechanics are NOT welders and will make a total mess of it. If you dont do this sleeving you risk snapping the frame because of metal fatigue on the mount\frame contact point. The action on the frame is in a direction which it is NOT designed for.

Good luck!

Obrigado!!!!

You really need to adapt the steering/forks also, which is expensive and you may not find the parts to fit your bike. And change the gearing by use of sprockets and a heavier chain. And change the tyres....it goes on and on.

Hey! Gois was really nice this year with lots of nice Portugese HUBBERS there!

Old Outfits
 

My uncles outfit was built like a tank and never had any handling issues that I noticed while riding pillion or in the double chair (one behind the other). Old bikes seamed to lend themselves more to this conversion than more modern bikes. The Urals are most likely in the same mould.
Cheers
Ian:thumbup1:

different story when up front...
 

Hi Ian,as you say riding pillion you didnt notice any handling differences, the reason being, the skill of the rider!
The thing with a Chair on a bike, especially a heavy one like a double adult, is the bike wants to 'go round it' when you accelerate, so a little counter steering is called for, and on bends ( this is for a LH chair) accelerate hard for left handers, brake hard(ish) into right handers, then give it some gas coming out! on a left hander it is REALLY easy to lift the chair of the ground and make your girlfriend pee herself! DAMHIK. lol....then again, with practise you can with a blip of the gas and a tug on the bars, lift the chair on a straight road and ride it 2 wheels for as long as you like.... the sidecarists version of 'popping a wheelie'.

They are megga fun, not to be dismissed and believe it or not in the UK you can ride ANY size motorbike with a sidecar fitted ( as long as you display "L" plates) at 17 years old and without passing your test. 25 years ago 'tilting' sidecars called 'The Sidewinder' were used by lads with 250cc and up bikes when the Govt introduced the dreaded 125cc law.

Another bonus to fitting a chair is the reduction of your insurance premium! after all, sidecarists are all flat-capped, pipe smoking, handlebar moustached wearing, tweed jacket & waistcoat wearing 70 yr olds arent we? NOT! it is cheaper though. considerably. with the other added bonus of being able to carry SHEDLOADS of stuff and still ride a bike.

Martyn :mchappy:

Interesting Sidecar here ... If you check it out, you can mount it on a BMW GS bike too. Eliminates a lot of the standard complaints about steering.

ARMEC - SIDEWINDER SIDECAR - True Free Leaning Sidecar Setup

They don't have a pick of the GS version on the site that I saw. Maybe they believe ground clearance isn't an issue.

Good description
 

Martyn,
you described my uncle to a T, flat cap, pipe smoking, bloody great gauntlets etc. The bike was a BSA 500 Gold Flash ( I think ) with a big double chair, can't remember which make of chair but seemed to go well enough.
I havn't ridden an outfit on the road but used to ride motocross and once had a go piloting a combo along with passenger hanging off on bends, oooo too dodgey with all the other crazy riders on the track.:eek3:
Complete different style of riding as with quad bikes ( I had a Suzuki 250 quad racer ) all different but great fun.:funmeteryes:
Here's one for you ( Brainiacs ).
If a quad is not a bike, which class does it enter on the Dakar ?
Cheers
Ian:thumbup1:

It would have been a 650 Gold Flash .

Quads have their own class in the Dakar
http://www.dakar.com/2008/DAK/presen...if_moto_us.pdf
no brain required , just type into google .

I am looking to fit a sidecar on one of my old bikes just for a laugh .
The dog will apreciate the wind in her fur .
I will be tig welding the mounts though with my 1968 Lincoln SA200 engine driven welder .[ I appreciate the classics - don't cha know !]
If I get it wrong ,I can always say I meant it to be a leaning sidecar .

Thread has been cleaned up, please keep it that way!
 

After receiving a complaint about this thread and reading it from start to finish, was originally tempted to delete the whole thread. However, there is useful content here, so have instead removed 66 posts, sent several infraction notices and banned one user for 3 months.
:(

Please remember the terms of use for the HUBB, and try to keep from getting too emotional (whoever said men aren't as emotional as women has never been in a motorcycle equipment discussion!).

Happy holidays to all,
Susan and Grant

Sorry
 

Susan,
You are so right and sometimes it is difficult to walk away.

Cheers
Ian:thumbup1:

religion, politics, football and ?
 

Susan, does that mean that we have to add Motorcycling Equiptment to the usual Taboo subjects of Politics, Religion & Football???:eek3:

Martyn

There have been a lot of round-the-world trips with sidecars, including back in the day when the roads were MUCH worse and the equipment more primitive (or should I say, the equipment was more "end-user friendly" concerning repairs).

The first two wheel adventure around the world was in the 1880's when Thomas Stevens rode a bicycle around the world. It was in the early 1880's that sidecars were first invented (for bicycles). I can't find if his bike was equipped with a sidecar, which had been invented a couple years earlier.

On motorcycles, a couple of Hungarians took 7 years to do it, visiting 68 countries on 5 continents between 1926 and 1933. They used a Harley Davidson sidecar.

An American named Gabriel did it on an Indian Scout. He mounted a propeller on his sidecar which ran a generator to refresh his battery. circa 1928 or so.

A couple of Austrians did it in the 50's. Since then, it's not really a big deal, been done a bunch of times.

You can ride anything anywhere given patience, experience and a bit of luck.

Has anyone read Richard and Mopsa English's book Full circle about a RTW on an outfit?

Can't say I have but these guys rode a chinese Chang Jiang outfit (Ural/Dnepr copy, which again are BMW R32 copies etc) RTW. Or rather: Their "dragon" went into a state of scrap metal after a while, being exchanged for a BMW outfit. But they did some 75000 km's covering fourty countries and four continents. And I think several have done something similar with Ural outfits.

Sanders
 

Didn't that bloke Sanders do an RTW on a combo with his wife and son. The one who has done several record attempts and takes groups of riders long distance.
No grass in Saudi.

Cheers
Ian

I've been enjoying this for ages. Well worth a good look.

The Timeless Ride Hubert Kriegel BMW Motorcycle Raid World Travel Sidecar Adventure Gespann

The other day I checked Amazon for the Richard and Mopsa English's book but the prices ranged from £11 -£30 odd ! :nono:

In the early 80's I went to Salzburg for the Elephant rally and there were a lot of outfits there, and a good few Urals with BMW engines fitted. The link you supplied looks like being a good read....cheers

Urals.
 

Dave the 'in' thing now is to fit a Diesel car engine, I believe a Daihatsu? into a Ural combo.

I want one! but I want one WITHOUT the sidecar, or at least to have the option of 3 or 2 wheels, sort of a summer bike and a winter bike.

Looks like im gonna have to get the MIG welder and Grinder out again!

Martyn:innocent:

Do you ever visit DieselBike.net The Original Diesel Motorcycle website. ? I believe a hubber also posts on there 'oldbmw'. I am a member of their forums under the user name of palace15. Is that a 3 cylinder diesel? I have a 412cc fuji robin enfield diesel solo.

a robin enfield!
 

Yes the 998cc ( i think )Charade engine 3 cylinder and they also do a TURBO version mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

I so much want a diesel bike and you have a Robin engined Enfield. do you know they are rarer than a rare thing in a shop that sells rare things, with a huge sign on it sayin 'rare'???

Man I would go without s*x for the rest of my life for one of those!

Don't suppose you want to swap it for a really beaten up old XT600 a pair of Binoculars and an MP3 player?

:offtopic: There some pictures of it on Kingston & District MCC ~ Home Page (Welcome) (http://www.kdmcc.com/) in gallery, it was the machine that the press in the mid 90's used for road tests, and back on topic it also had a sidecar attached to it in later life, but is now a solo.
:funmeteryes: I enjoy riding it as it reminds me of an old M21 I used to have, but I only take it out when time is not of the essence!!

If I ride my K1200RS back to the UK one day when I leave the UAE, I'll have more bikes there than I really need. Any suggestions for the best sidecar for this particular bike? I'm just pondering the possibilities... :mchappy:
Stephan

Sidecar experts
 

Sidecars for Motorcycles Check out this site for some nice outfits. They are on the wrong side for some of you but their work is first rate. I have run a sidecar on the "wrong" side here in the states and it really helps when the road is very icy. Then since the bike is close to the shoulder you can just put the back wheel on the gravel and ride on up the hills.

New forum
 

ADVRider now have a forum dedicated to sidecars .
Hacks - ADVrider

Hmm
 

That reminds me, there were to be some pics on here of the various rigs!

Anyway, that other website confirms a level of interest in these, and there is probably scope on this website for a forum dedicated to 3 wheelers??!!
(There have been quite a few posts about the Ural for example).

A nice single seat 'sports' chair would be good, I think it's a Dutch company 'EML' make very nice 'chairs'

Sidecars for 305 Dreams
 

Does anyone make a sidecar for a Honda305 Dream??