R65 Ls with sidecar

[montmil]

Woah! This post began almost seven years ago! Quite a few names from 'back in the day' that we don't hear from no mo'.

Welcome to the asylum, 'snakeoil' Rob. Are you an R65 owner? Sidecar maven selling magic elixir out of a hack?

We all love to see what our members ride... <hint>

[Snakeoil]

Thanks for the welcome. No, I'm not an R65 owner... yet. I do own a '78 R100/7 and owned a K1100RSSE several years back.

The primary reason for coming here was do ask about this specific rig and have already explained why.

But, I also have considered an R65 as a new project bike. I was at Watkins Glen back in October as part of a bike show put on during vintage week and the running of the vintage GP. As part of the event, we were given two laps of the track. There were two riders in front of me that were both on highly modified R65 bikes. One had a custom exhaust that ran up under the seat. I've seen R65s languish on CL around me and thought it might make for a fun project bike. Then, last week, I found this sidecar rig.

So, I'm just kicking the bushes for now, trying to get up to speed on these and sidecars in general. Have ridden bike in one form or another since I was about 16 and I'm 62 now. The sidecar experience is a new adventure and learning new stuff is what I love.

regards,
Rob

[marcmax]

Hi Rob. Here is a picture of Scotty and his R65 sidecar rig in the parking lot at Perry's. Might help you identify if it is the same one. He sent me the pic when I was asking him about adding a sidecar to my modified R65LS. I did add one. The second pic is mine

.

The sidecar experience is a new adventure and learning new stuff is what I love.

It is definitely a new adventure and I am having to learn a whole new way of riding. Some rides are very enjoyable and some are sheer terror. I have only been driving the rig a couple of weeks now and am still nervous about taking a passenger. For now my "passenger" is a couple of 50lb bags of sand.  

[montmil]

Hi Rob. Here is a picture of Scotty and his R65 sidecar rig in the parking lot at Perry's. Might help you identify if it is the same one. He sent me the pic when I was asking him about adding a sidecar to my modified R65LS.

I took that photo of Scotty a few years ago after helping him off load his R65 rig at Perry's in Fort Worth, Texas. That was the very last time Scotty was on the rig as he cut a deal to trade in his R65 for a larger Airhead sidecar outfit. Took Perry Bushong's crew almost a year for the completion of a total new paint job on the "new" bike, rebuild of the car, painting the car and the mounting n' tweaking of the completed combo.

[Snakeoil]

Well, it looks like I have managed to get two threads focused on the same topic. Sorry, was not intentional. I should read first, type later.

Reading those old posts from Scotty, it appears his rig is a bit of a Frankencar. Said it included pieces from a Velorex, Cozy and wrecked R65 if I remember right. Also mentioned the Cozy body cracking and him having to make some improvements to fix those issues.

That picture you posted has me 99.99% sure that it is his old rig for sale. The windshied, white piping on the chair seat, the metal plate and driving light on the fender the angle of the front bumper all scream "MATCH". This is like an episode of CSI - Cycle Sidecar Identification.

Owner is asking $7900 for the rig. Said it has 20K on it now. He bought it in 2011 from Perry with about 18K on it. A friend who was a former BMW tech managed to drop the tank while doing service for him so there is a big dent in the front, which is not shown in the pictures. I thought the front wheel was a recall wheel, but now understand that the R65 came with 18 inch front wheel so not part of the recall.

Rig is 4 hours away so I don't want to haul my trailer all the way up there for something that I will not want after I take a good look at it. That's why I'd like to know more details from Scotty. Scotty's age shows as 70 in his profile. I assume that is based on his birthdate, so  correct. He's at the age where folks can go from being vital to nearly immobile overnight so when he did not reply, I was concerned that he was ill. Perhaps he does not get notices for PMs.

By the way, that Velorex rig looks very nice. I've never been a fan of that particular boat design. But in the two tone paint scheme it is a very handsome rig. I've passed over a few of those for sale and may have to rethink that decision now that I see yours.

regards,
Rob

[montmil]

Rob, As Scotty no longer rolls an R65, he has pretty much dropped off the R65 forum.

If you wish to call him, PM me and I'll pass along his number. He's always been helpful with his sidecar experiences.

[Snakeoil]

Thanks. I just sent an email to you using the email option. I know you said PM, but I thought that email was more direct and saves you having to come back, open your PM's... you know.

I have to say that for an unofficial and purposely disorganize forum, it is definitely a friendly bunch.

regards,
Rob

[Matt Chapter]

saves you having to come back, open your PM's...

pfff, monte's either here or at the funeral home getting free coffee and donuts.

[montmil]

saves you having to come back, open your PM's...

pfff, monte's either here or at the funeral home getting free coffee and donuts.

I heard that, Matt!  

[Snakeoil]

Speaking of free coffee... have you gents read this story on Ausherman's site. I was laughing out loud as I read it. It's long, but worth it.

http://w6rec.com/duane/bmw/boo.htm

Scotty got back to me and the rig is definitely his. He gave me a lot of insight into what went into buiding it, problems he had and other such details. It was very helpful.

He put a LOT of work into that bike and the rig.

regards,
Rob

[suecanada]

Marxmax, I hesitantly ask the following question because it has probably already been asked but...what is that great looking front knobby-style tire on the front of your hack? Plus, is it mounted on the OEM factory 18" wheel? Certainly looks to be the 18" factory size.

Thanks,
Sue in the snowy cold north

[marcmax]

Hi Sue,  The tires are Shinko 244 dual sport tires. 3.50 x 18 front and 4.10 x 18 rear. Supposedly rated as a 70% on road 30% off road tire. They were very good on the highway and not terribly noisy. The extra tread was nice on the occasional dirt or gravel road. The best part was the price. Total for a front/rear set including shipping was under $100. Rumor is that when Yokohama stopped motorcycle tire production Shinko (Korea) bought the molds and rubber formulas.

Only problem was once the sidecar was attached. It was scary trying to maneuver on just the center row of knobs since there is no leaning into corners any longer. I replaced them with a set of Metzeler side car specific tires. When I replaced them they had approx 2k miles on them and still had at least 75% of the tread left.

[suecanada]

Thank you! I chose a set of Shinko 705's for my new to me '08 Suzuki DR650SE and also find them reasonable on gravel roads. Sometimes I just wonder if it really is the 21" front wheel that improves gravel road performance more so than the tread. The 17" Triumph Bonneville wheel was quite "squirrely" in gravel.
The 244's from Shinko would be just the ticket for the DR200 to replace the Trailwings that come standard.

[Motu]

Sometimes I just wonder if it really is the 21" front wheel that improves gravel road performance more so than the tread.

That's what I thought for around 40 years, all my bikes I used on gravel had 21in front wheels. I thought you were stupid to use anything else.  Then I changed my mind, and set my Mono up for gravel with an 18in front.  I now think tyre profile is more important.   It's always good to change your mind, try something new assimilate, digest and go against what you previously thought was set in stone.