Any sidecar owners here? | GTAMotorcycle.com

Any sidecar owners here?

I had a 2008 Ural. Purchased at Old Vintage Cranks in Hillsburgh, Ontario.
19" tires all around, 2 wheel drive on some models (I had this, rarely needed the 2WD).

Sold it after two seasons and 27,000kms.

Loads of pics and videos on the interweb. :D
 
Had an '05 Ural with sidecar, sold it this past Feb with 58,000 on the clock. Also had a Velorex chair on my Sportster many years ago.
 
1999 Suzuki Bandit 1200, with an '88 Hannigan Comet chair. Built up a number of years ago - just a *little bit* modified. Currently has 70,000+ kms, and still on original clutch.

In storage for a little while in the back of the garage, to be unearthed when times are good again to ride.

P1000821-med.jpg
 
In storage for a little while in the back of the garage, to be unearthed when times are good again to ride.

May those times arrive sooner than you expect.
 
I have a Ural of mixed years (just due to restoration work).
Rebuilt the engine, tranny, body work, and wiring. Then repainted it to the same paint code as Canadian forces had on these bikes in WWII (and yes, there were some Canadian Forces who used these bikes, I've got the photos!).

Two wheel drive and it works great! Here's some photos of it:

IMG_2040.jpg
 
I have a Ural of mixed years (just due to restoration work).
Rebuilt the engine, tranny, body work, and wiring. Then repainted it to the same paint code as Canadian forces had on these bikes in WWII (and yes, there were some Canadian Forces who used these bikes, I've got the photos!).

Two wheel drive and it works great! Here's some photos of it:

View attachment 29304

Great looking bike! Must be super-comfy to ride.
 
1999 Suzuki Bandit 1200, with an '88 Hannigan Comet chair. Built up a number of years ago - just a *little bit* modified. Currently has 70,000+ kms, and still on original clutch.

In storage for a little while in the back of the garage, to be unearthed when times are good again to ride.

P1000821-med.jpg
That is sweet set-up but how do you steer that thing with such a wide tire on the front
 
That is sweet set-up but how do you steer that thing with such a wide tire on the front

All the rules change when you have three wheels..probably steers very well and with greater than average front tire wear resistance, but with superior grip and tractability.

I've seen this outfit drag in the 1/8 mile at Parry Sound Sportbike Rally a few years ago...forget the time, but think it did around 145+ kph in the standing start 1/8th mile. Fairly impressive for a heavy, oil/air cooled mill.
Even more impressive that he's had that much fun on the original stock clutch..
 
I've ridden them a lot for my old job. Major fun cracking the sidecar into the air and riding on two wheels balanced. Also fun on an icy parking lot spinning them like a top.
But anything that stops a motorcycle from leaning is the enemy. :)
 
That is sweet set-up but how do you steer that thing with such a wide tire on the front

That's a car tire. Probably one for the rear as well. Owner is Darksiding it. Great for snow and rain and Witt the bubble on the SC, I'm guessing it's seen more action than most bikes.

Great looking and thanks for sharing it.
 
Due to health issues, it's been a while since i posted on forum or swung a leg over the sidecar rig. It's been parked in the back of my garage since Oct 2010. Probably won't see the light of day for another year yet - just in time for a rebuild, pretty much.

All the rules change when you have three wheels..probably steers very well and with greater than average front tire wear resistance, but with superior grip and tractability.

I've seen this outfit drag in the 1/8 mile at Parry Sound Sportbike Rally a few years ago...forget the time, but think it did around 145+ kph in the standing start 1/8th mile. Fairly impressive for a heavy, oil/air cooled mill. Even more impressive that he's had that much fun on the original stock clutch..

It handles extremely well.. due to a number of changes to the overall bike for full-time sidecar use. The phrase that comes to mind is "a 3 wheeled slot-car that stops on a dime and gives you nine cents change in return."

The front end was removed and replaced with a leading link front end of my own design and fabrication. This reduces trail to under 1" total, which translates to very sensitive, even twitchy steering. The tires that are on it right now are 185/55R15's - after 50,000 km's, the front still has 80% tread, the rear has ~60% - they will need to be replaced before it goes back on the road though - they were installed in 2004, and have hardened over time.

This is the video of that 2006 Sportbike Rally run. It was pretty much competitive with only a KLR650 in terms of ET/terminal speed at about 149 km/h.. but just a giggle to try out. A sidecar rig tends to get a bit squirrelly at full throttle and an asymmetric wheel base/chassis arrangement. Considering that the rig weighs in at 1100+ lbs (i built it on the principle of when in doubt, build it stout .. i had a lot of doubts) the terminal speed is pretty good. It did 217 km/h on the 1/8th mile at the Parry Sound airport strip, before conversion to a sidecar rig.

[video=youtube_share;NsLMjo5NNY0]http://youtu.be/NsLMjo5NNY0[/video]

That's a car tire. Probably one for the rear as well. Owner is Darksiding it. Great for snow and rain and Witt the bubble on the SC, I'm guessing it's seen more action than most bikes.

Great looking and thanks for sharing it.

It uses auto tires on all three points of the triangle, but it isn't dark-sided. These are using correct, automotive rims - not motorcycle rims (different, subtle sizing differences viz a viz a car tire of the same diameter). IMHO, dark-siding is a potentially risky thing to do, because of the risks of the bead of the tire becoming unseated from the rim at an inopportune time.

For the 6 years that it was in action, i went everywhere that i could with it, within my budget at the time. Hopefully, before too much longer, it'll be back on the road again.

Thanks for the compliments - it gives me some inspiration to get back "out there".
 
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