This past Saturday I made it down to the R90S 40th anniversary celebration in Bucks County, PA. My wife and I planned to ride down together with Olga, but family issues prevented getting there for the full event, and I did not get the subframe built to mount the Ural tub. So, I bolted the cargo box back on and rode down solo. I was parked among an amazing collection of R90S', including serial # 0001 right next to me. Here are a couple of shots. There are more at the thread I posted over in the Airheads section. It was about 58 miles one way, and the longest trip I have taken on the rig so far. I and the bike made it there and back with no issues. I really am enjoying the sidecar experience, and have gotten quite comfortable with the uniqueness. I had been having having some carburetor issues, which I resolved with time, effort and parts ($$). It was now idling nicely, but still not running right, so checked and discovered that the points, although nearly brand new, were burned/pitted, and the rubbing block substantially worn. I got the gap/dwell as close as I could to spec, and timed it as best I could, but there will be a conversion to electronic ignition in the very near future. You might also notice that I cut down that tall windshield on the Avonaire. I like it SOOOOO much better now. BTW - the rig and the fairing in particular garnered a lot of attention. I heard not a single negative comment on the conversion of the hallowed 'S' to hack duty. Of course, I was the only sidecar rig there. Now I will concentrate on building the sub-frame, and get that chair mounted so my wife and I can start riding together.
That is a miracle ! I always thought the 90S owners amongst the most pretentious of the tifosi but on the other hand one season they did beat up on the Ducati's ! http://www.motorcyclespecs.co.za/model/bmw/bmw_r90s_ama_racer.htm
LOL - yep! Overall they were a pretty friendly lot. Although the S is definitely headed to "Money Bike" status. One of the B&S race bikes was there, as was Reg Pridmore. Hans Muth was a guest speaker, and quite entertaining. He's 81 now.
Very nice rig..I love the Avon Fairing and Heinrick tank.. After looking at your pics and reading your thread just wondering if your tub frame might be an EML frame..They were a shorter frame than an Ural.. Glad to hear you went to Claude for advice.. He no's a lot and he doe like to talk...From the date that you went to see him my rig was still there and probally just got finished.....Good Luck
Thanks Mel - The cargo tub and sidecar frame were both built by Claude for Frank D, the prior owner. It was a custom build for Frank to use on a trip to AK, that he wound up taking on his MG. LOL - Frank is a cool guy. I do not want to modify the frame or either tub, so the sub-frame is the way to go. It will allow me to swap from passenger to cargo tub in under an hour. I have a mig welder, plasma cutter and material, I just need the time to work on it.
All I can say is Claude does a hell of job.. Good luck it will be neat to see..By the way your R100T looks a lot like mine except mines an 82....
Finally got some time to do some work on the subframe today. After the rain stopped it was cool, dry and breezy, perfect day to be outside. Before I get into the subframe progress, here is a shot with the Avon fly screen cut down. I really did not like the hour glass tall screen. Despite the cutouts, the mirrors still hit the screen, and it just dumped all the air right in my face. I really like it now. It took all of about 15 minutes to modify. I took a piece of welding wire and formed the profile I wanted on the screen. I then taped over the welding wire with blue Scotch painters tape. I traced the welding wire with a sharpie to get a line to follow. I then slit the tape along the welding wire with my thumbnail and pulled out the wire. I masked off the rest of the screen near the cut line to prevent scratching it while cutting. I used my Bosch jig saw with a metal cutting blade, and hand cut the polycarbonate. It cut like buttah. Sanded the edges smooth, and then capped it with some rubber trim I had laying around. Cost nothing but some tape!
Although the subframe design is pretty simple, I took my time getting it together, measure 2, 3, 4 times. I used 1" x .125" wall square tubing for the main rails and cross ties. I used some 1.75" x 0.95" round tube for the front mount. I will use some 3/16" plate for the primary anchor points connecting it to the sidecar frame, and for the Ural spring plates. Once I had the major components cut, I tacked them together and did a test fit. I used 3/16" bridge plates to tie the ends of the round tube to the sides of the square tube. I am glad I just tacked and test fit, because I had to raise them up a bit after the first trial. Here are a couple of pictures. Overall shot with the cargo box removed: Claude's creation: Initial dry layout: Tacked together: Setting on the sidecar frame: I'll get some more done tomorrow, and hopefully have the Ural tub bolted down for a test run before painting. I did get my $$ out of this cutting wheel . . . :
Today was long, but successful! I took my bride on her first sidecar ride, and she loved it! Proof below, but first, a couple more fabrication shots. Mounting tabs and test fitting: I held the parts together with these: I got the subframe bolted to the sidecar frame with some new hardware, then mounted the Ural tub to the subframe with some help from my son. This evening after dinner, I took my wife for her first ride. She had a blast. We only went about 10 miles, but I took her up to about 50mph, and she never flinched. There are some tweaks I need to make to the mount, and I have to add the battery mount, and a jerry can/storage shelf and a few other bits and bobs, but we are a go for completion. If she really did not feel comfortable with the ride, I was not going to invest much time into the passenger tub. More updates after I get the subframe done. I am mostly posting this stuff for posterity, and perhaps someone else who may have any interest. Not real exciting stuff except to me and the missus . . .
Nice subframe for the Ural mounts , if your retaining the rubber bag springs that should provide a very nice ride.DB
Thanks DB. Yes, I am keeping the rubber spring mounts, and she said the ride was a lot less bumpy than she expected. I have to move the bag mounts about an inch closer to the tug, as the edge of the Ural tub just hits the upper clamp bolts for the sidecar suspension. No biggie.
I have been plugging away at the sub-frame for the Ural chair, and it is finally finished. I was going to try and have it powder coated locally, but decided to just rattle can it for now. It is easily removed to have that done in the future, if necessary. There were no modifications done to the Ural tub at all. Original mounting hardware and methods are retained. No modifications were done to the CSM frame, either. The original cargo box can bolt right back on once the chair and sub-frame are removed. Main frame rails are 1" O.D. x .125" wall square tube. Front and rear round tube are 1.75" x 0.95" mild steel that are actually recycled from a 1995 Jeep YJ. Battery mount tube is 0.75" x .065" square tube and some angle stock. Flat plate is 3/16" CRP&O. Here are a couple of overall shots: This is a closer shot of the rear of the frame. I incorporated a "bumper" just to try and mitigate any accidental bumps when rolling backward that would dent the back of the Ural tub. I also plan to build a supplemental (& removable) rear rack to carry travel gear, cooler, etc. The battery mount worked out pretty good. I sized it for the same 30Ah AGM style battery that my '79 uses. The hold down is recycled from a 1990 Subaru that we junked a couple years ago. The cargo box had a car battery mounted inside it, but I did not want to haul that much battery around all the time, and I did not want to mount a battery in the small storage compartment in the Ural tub. The original battery location is now occupied by the rear mono-shock. A closer look at the side rail, and the Ural tub springs. So other than some round and square tubing plugs, all that is left for this season is the riding! We will have the tub painted black this winter by a friend that owns a local body shop.
I also installed an Alpha Classic electronic ignition kit from Rick Jones at Motorrad Elektrik, as well as a pair of new 5k ohm plug wires. The almost new points that were in there were already burned at the contacts, and the rubbing block was worn. This R90S is never going to be stock again, so I have no qualms about a simple conversion like this. It was dead simple to install, other than not having a ready spot to mount the ignition module. It is sold with a pair of brackets specifically designed to hang it from the tank mount studs, but that area is modified with brackets for the upper rear mono-shock mount. The Heinrich tank also complicates things. For now I have it tucked up inside the Avon fairing forward of the tank. It fired immediately, and ran better than it ever has after installing the kit. I highly recommend it. No pics, since there was nothing special or unusual about the process. Check out Rick's web site for more info.
That's the coolest rig I've ever seen. And in my sidecar obsession I've seen hundreds over the past month! I'm not sure why it speaks to me so. It kinda reminds me of a fat dog that to just want to wrestle with!
LOL - Thanks Ivan (I think?). I had/have the same visceral attraction to the rig. Maybe it's the combination of the 15" wheels, the Avon fairing, and the low stance. I really love this rig. Thanks Dave. I only do metal work as a hobby. I am an engineer by trade (electrical power system controls).
As I mentioned back in post #41, I discovered a problem with the left carb slowly flooding. I had renewed all the o-rings and gaskets in the Dell's already, but had not pulled the float needles. I found a failure I have never seen before, and one that apparently not many others have seen either. The rubber tip was pulling away from the brass. Old and new: I think the new one is Viton tipped? Before the repair there was little to no response to movement of the mixture screw. Now 1/4 turn has a huge effect. Much better.