Exotic, World-traveling Sidecar rig

[Rob Valdez 79 R65]

Why bother with choke actuator/cables at all??
Another way is to have a pull wire with loop to actuate the enricher on just one carb, the left usually. Only one carb so rigged is sufficient, and no return spring is needed if the wire is chosen carefully and installed with a little stiction. I haven't tried it myself, but others swear by it. Here's a pic of one installed an an R100 that the owner is currently riding around the world. He said it has never failed to start, and saves complexity on his machine, a purpose built sidecar made for all conditions. This enables him to also run a spare throttle cable running where the choke cable would, which can be seen in the background ready for instant changeover.

Bill.................;-)

Hey Bill, Got any more pictures of that rig???  

[airhead]

Your wish Mr Valdez!! I forgot how interested you were in rigs.
The guy used the back of the shop I work at to give it a service one day a about a month ago. He's in the pic as well. He and his Wife, both German, started in Germany, went to N Africa and other parts of Africa, rode to Thailand and from there shipped it to Fremantle. He'd just got it from the wharf a few days before these pics and was in a few days about to circumnavigate Oz before heading back to Asia.
He built the machine himself, along with the custom leading link front end. It was a pretty substantial effort and rugged rig, and it was great to have seen it and talk with him, as well as help in a few things. His manners were impeccable German, and when he left he thanked us profusely and gave a little head bow as well.........in fact I'm sure his heels clicked together at the same time!! LOL










Bill...................;-)

[Ed Miller]

Wow.  Looks like some setups I saw in some movies made in Australia...

[tagordon]

That thing's a Tank! Did he say what the range/MPG was?
Oh! Almost forgot the reason I am posting here.
As for the choke cables being too tight. Check the coupling under the tank, where the the one cable becomes two.
I had to readjust mine carefully to get things working properly. After rerouting the mess of wires & cables that I inherited from PO of my R100.

[Rob Valdez 79 R65]

I ABSOLUTELY love the way the sidecar is open on the bike side!
It makes valve adjustments (not to mention oil filter changes!!!!) way easier!

I think my next car will have a removable panel to access those parts.  

[Rob Valdez 79 R65]

And an oil cooler heater for the wife's tootsies!  How cool is that!

And what is up with the crossover on the exhaust headers?

Is the rear fender bobbed in front, where it goes down behind the battery?  That must make a real mess in there!

[airhead]

And an oil cooler heater for the wife's tootsies!  How cool is that!

Not very, one would think, especially in desert regions!!

And what is up with the crossover on the exhaust headers?

It had a crossover, but the right side diverted just behind the gearbox and merged into a two into one system and a muffler from another bike.

Is the rear fender bobbed in front, where it goes down behind the battery?  That must make a real mess in there!

Can't remember offhand, but it was pretty busy there though very rugged so a little mud-n-dirt wouldn't have affected much. The whole rig was heavy but solid and he said uber reliable and had had no problems with it to date. Didn't ask about fuel economy!! Hard to get perspective of everything about it with the camera.

Bill....................;-)

[Danie]

Very interesting.

I suppose the driveshaft really works hard on a trip like this.........hopefully he keeps an eye on that swingarm  oil leak......

[Jon_P]

i love the oil cooler/ filter set up. i would love to have a rig like that for winter riding. this year has been a crazy year for snow. i have been looking at the ural & dpner hack set ups. one of those might be my next bike.

[nhmaf]

It does look like it is built for sturdiness, that is for sure !
Though, I think that I might have routed that front brake line differently so as to avoid the possibility of it getting hit by thrown up rocks, etc.

[Rob Valdez 79 R65]

i love the oil cooler/ filter set up. i would love to have a rig like that for winter riding. this year has been a crazy year for snow. i have been looking at the ural & dpner hack set ups. one of those might be my next bike.

I had he best time for 5 years using my sidecar rig for a winter commuter in Indianapolis.  The salt made a MAJOR mess out of the engine, though.

They are a (expletive deleted) BLAST in the snow!  A snowmobile for the city, if you will.  I don't recall ever getting stuck due to snow, however.  Further north, where Jon is, I could see the driven side wheel as an advantage.

But to really make it work, you need a heated garage with a floor drain so you can clean it off on a regular basis...

I have heard a heavy coating of WD40 before the season on the aluminum castings works to repel the salt.  
BUT!  Verify that before you try it.  I don't even remember where I read it.

Bottom line - I highly recommend it.  Put a car battery in the sidecar for ballast, and run long cables over to the bike.  It never failed to start.  Well, except for when I would forget and leave the hand grips on...  

[Semper Gumby]

Love the knobbies!!!