1974 r75/6 stock bike looking to add sidecar. Simple lightweight for a dog mostly. No brakes for sidecar. Just a very basic light rig. Almost what you would see on a klr. Looking for any ideas / suggestions. What frame / mounting hardware would be best /simple. More I think about this I am looking for a platform to put a medium dog crate. Lurking here and love the builds I see on the hacks.
Don't go too light or you will not be able to keep the wheel on the ground. I've had several Airheads with Ural sidecars and I'm pleased with that combination. I had a sputkin cargo hack on my R80 and it was almost too light. If you thought right turn the chair would fly.
+1- Ivan has great pics of his airhead rigs somewhere..... This is my favorite subject, so excuse the long reply: First, http://www.russianiron.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=13923 Check out Vostok Motors- they have a shipment of Dnepr chairs and frames just arrived in CA. There's another guy on EBay called Cold War Trophies that has Dnepr and Ural chair kits sometimes too. I saw a steel Jupiter chair on the IBMWR site not so long ago. http://marketplace.ibmwr.org/ The United Sidecar Association has a For Sale section- http://www.sidecar.com/ Your local Craigslist is a source. The Soviet chairs seem to be going for $1200-2000, so shop around. http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=492526&page=56 https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-5XrkpSVtX5M/T0hqL7_i0NI/AAAAAAAAA74/lDei-0Q2f0M/s640/P2240954.JPG In the Hacks Fleamarket section there was a sub-frame for sale- you'll need one of those. $400 was a good deal for that, BTW. They come up on the IBMWRA site too sometimes. Inmate BMWEuro (Chris) knows a source in Europe- I got my subframe from him. Perry's Sidecars in Texas has a setup for airheads, so does DMC. I have a Dnepr chair on my R80/7- it's been the most fun I've had since I started riding..... Plenty of room for a dog, too. If you just want to get started, you can use a fork brace and wide bars and the steering is OK. You can switch to a leading link setup later- it's pricey, though. I have a tube style lower fork brace, ToasterTan upper clamp, and wide GS handlebars and I don't think the steering is hard at all, and that was only $200 total and easy to put back to original. A VW or junkyard damper is another $25.00. I have an old GSX1100 damper on mine and it's just enough to take the edge off. I can take my hands off the bars all the way down to about 10 MPH without any shake. I did spend some dough to upgrade my brakes to duel disks, but I'm not sure it was entirely necessary. No brake on the car. I noticed that the Avon sidecar tire I put on the front improved the handling, and I put a cheapo enduro tire on the back with no problems, after the Metzlers that were on there wore out (they go quick!). Point is, not counting the bike you could probably build an airhead rig for $2000, and I highly recommend it!
Your bike will require a sub frame as the BMW frame tubing is very thin. What many people do is to either buy our Kenna frame with mounts and build thier own box and fender set up or we have had a few people go with our enduro sidecar, remove the seat and mount a dog kennel. The Kenna frame was designed to be able to ship it in several boxes Fed Ex to keep the cost down. The Kenna frame all of the mounting hardware and sub frames for your bike runs $2495, The Enduro with the mounts runs $3170. Our M72D would be my first choice for this $4995. If you want to go used and can find one a Sputnik would work well. A Velorex or spirit Eagle will also work just make sure you run a proper sub frame, we can supply the sub frame for most sidecars for your bike, Most are $675 Jay G DMC sidecars www.dmcsidecars.com 866-638-1793
My 90/6 with MZ/Superelastik sidecar with subframe: which I altered slightly. Sidecar is light but with a stronger spring and some lead ( as in heavy metal lead ) under the seat it handles very nicely. I altered a standard SuperElastik sway/torsionbar to fit the BMW setup Bolts are for fitting purposes only, torsionbar is welded now. The torsionbar makes a world of difference !! I've got some short movies of the hack without and with the torsionbar, I'll post them as soon as I've found them :huh Happy to take and send you pics of details if and when you need them !
[QUOTE/] with subframe: [/QUOTE] that looks like my Piekert & Baus subframe. Where did you get it- or did you make it? Very cool rig, BTW!
Everyone, Thanks for the respones and info. MotoJ - your information is great I have to be on a budget build and if I can get into it for $2k I will be good. NitroMax - your pictures of the subframe are great gives me exactly what I need Is there a Sidecar specific Flea -Market or is it the general Flea Market?? "In the Hacks Fleamarket section there was a sub-frame for sale- you'll need one of those. $400 was a good deal for that, BTW. They come up on the IBMWRA site too sometimes. Inmate BMWEuro (Chris) knows a source in Europe- I got my subframe from him. Perry's Sidecars in Texas has a setup for airheads, so does DMC." Looking for this used subframe. Also to Jay DMC I see you guys have subframes new - Thanks for your post and I see you support / input on a lot of these threads. Thanks to All - I am just getting started - Dnepr car looks like a great setup. More research!!!
Whoa!! That looks even better. Jay at DMC do you have pictures on the subframe - looked at the DMC website no pictures of subframes.
Email me and I will send photo's of the sub frame. Our sub frame gives you all 4 mounting points now just the lowers. Jay G DMC sidecars www.dmcsidecars.com 866-638-1793 jay@dmcsidecars.com
Biebs - Welcome to the Asylum. I would agree with Ivan Rider on not going too light. A little bit of weight isn't gonna hurt at all. Good luck with the build and keep us posted. Cheers.
Contact Chris @ http://boxermetal.com/ or pm him "bmweuro" We used this subframe on my hack 1976 BMW with Ural sidecar
Sorry MotoJ, missed your post. I bought it from a guy that didn't use it anymore. No brandname on it. Thanks for the compliment !
Yes, great subframe ! I'm working on making the mounts for the crossover to the left side of the frame too. It will fit with the battery in place. I also have a strip of metal ready to weld to the lower clamp near the footrest to connect to the clamp just beneath the saddle for extra strength.
Hi Biebs, That subframe sold quick. I was just using that as an illustration. But they do come up if you keep your eyes peeled. Look for the Sticky up top of the Hacks Forum page, and keep perusing the other sites I mentioned. http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=492526 If you wanted to fab your own, you can buy just the ball mounts from Blue Moon Cycle or from Oldtimers Garage in Poland. Blue Moon sells Steib ones and OldTimer cuts them right off a salvage Dnepr frame. Then you would have to weld up your own subframe. I like the ball and jaw Dnepr type mounts because it's really easy to get the car dismounted without fooling with clevises. They're not as adjustable though. You'll need the struts too, if they don't come with the car. You can find those on EBay no problem. This subframe that NitroMax posted is the ideal type if you want to keep the ball and jaw mounts on a Dnepr or earlier Ural car: http://motoren.marktplaats.nl/onder...5-6-7-zijspan-montage-frame-peikert-copy.html Feel free top PM me if you want. I have loads of pics from my own build. The ones in my thread are only the tip of the iceberg. http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=713860
Tug: Sidecar: Mock setup: OK old style mount systen with eyes and blocks. Need to spend some time cleaning sidecar up and exploring mounting hardware. This rig is light plan to use subrame something used (cheap), need tire/ cleanup. Got started cheap found this on Craigslist. Old American Eagle unit. Looking for mount suggestions for bike 1974 BMW R75/6 - ???
Keeping in mind that BMW announced that with the release of their /5 models (superseding the excellently hack-worthy R27, R50, R60, & R69S series) buyers would have to "forgo the fitting of a sidecar". Its not just the change from Earls Fork (with adjustable Trail) to Telescopic Fork . . . . its all about dropping the sturdy straight-line frame and going for a Lightweight replacement. What this means is that the NEW thinwall main cradle (with its bolt-on rear subframe) was not up to the demands imposed by adding the hack frame, tub, & wheel. To overcome these deficiencies owners have to resort to attaching load-carrying subframes, crossbracing, or any variation of these "solutions". But, under all of this is still that thinwall tubing in the middle of it all. Do you know that the usual way to "hack" a BMW in the seventies was to FIRST mount the /5 motor in what we call a /2 frame, inspite of clearance issues around the front pointscover casting? Yet another way to retain that /5, /6, or /7 German motor, but have a more-robust frame! [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The Ultimate Sidecar Conversion![/FONT] Another pic. (1024x768) All in the color that the buyer decides!
That's interesting. My 1989 R80 Hack is attached directly to the main frame. Just under the steering head, just under the seat, the front engine mount and the front foot rest. From what I can work out it's been like that since 2007 at least and has done several thousand miles on trips around Europe to the winter rallies. All with an adult male passenger in the hack plus luggage. My frame has R80RT plated on the headstock and is (I understand) a 1989 Mono. Does that mean the later Mono frames are made of thicker tubing? The mounts are the universal type and the rear one doesn't even have the plate between the bolt and frame. There's no sign of ware though. I was thinking of beefing the hack frame up a little to make it stronger as it is a Velorex, so currently very light. I'm also thinking of raising the ground clearence for light off road use and maybe even a two wheel drive mod some time in the future too. Should I be worrying now that the hack is likely to seperate from the bike at any moment? Val.
