I picked it up this morning and it's in pretty rough shape, but not bad considering is was built around 1969.
Someone welded a 1/4" steel plate on top of the frame (who knows why), threw away the swing-arm, and installed the wheel on the swing-arm axle (meaning: no suspension). There are a couple of struts, but no rod ends.
The body fiberglass is going to need a re-lamination on the inside; the fender is intact (barely), and there are no interior components, or windshield
These old rigs have an interesting history behind them, and I'm looking forward to restoring it. There is a brief history on http://www.sidestrider.com , but not enough images to really detail this chair. I have an email in to Doug Bingham so there may be more information pending his reply.
A search of this website did not reveal any previous discussion about this marque, so my questions are: Do any of you have a Bingham? Or Photos?
Thanks,
Lmo
aka: Lew Morris
A nice shot of Bingham racing the SideStrider (with windshield installed) at Laguna Seca.
p.s. Any suggestions about how to directly post images would be appreciated.
The 1/4" plate welded to the top of the Mark I Bingham frame is for ballast since these were light cars. It may have been placed there by Doug himself since this is one of his ballasting methods.
The body is copied from the Jawa/Velorex 560 with a trailer fender added instead of the fully enclosed Jawa fender style. That way an automotive wheel and tire could be used.
The Laguna Seca pic doesn't look like any suspension was present on that rig either.
Lonnie
Thanks for the input Lonnie.
If you saw the way this 1/4" plate was torch-cut with uneven edges left sharp, and the hack-job way it was welded (helter-skelter, odd-length beads, inside and outside the frame, odd spacing, horrible penetration, etc.), and compare it to the excellent over-all fabrication and the rest of the welds on the frame, and the OEM chrome-plating, I'm pretty sure you'd agree that Bingham didn't do the work. But all that aside, I suppose I could leave it on there; it just offends my senses.. . getting it off is going to be an ordeal.
Although I haven't run a chair for many years, it isn't my first; I was the Lead Designer on the Vetter Terraplane II project in 1980 in San Luis Obispo, California. I'm guessing that plate weighs around forty pounds, give, or take, and while ballast does make for a more comfortable, and predictable ride, it would be nice to NOT have the extra weight when I don't want it. Forty pounds represents a lot of gear.
I was thinking that this (red circle) was the swing arm axle... no? But, there is no obvious shock mount (the way the plate was welded on it would have been cut off ).... so perhaps there was no swing arm.
In the photo below (also from the Sidestrider website) it's hard to tell if there is, or is not, a swing arm. The object circled in the first pic is not on the this rig. The snug fit between the fender and tire suggests that maybe there is no swing arm ( I would have expected the swing arm to droop down away from the fender when the load is removed). But it's obviously a light-weight rig; there's no rider on the bike and the whole thing is resting on the left valve cover!
I haven't heard back from Doug, so I'll call tomorrow ... and we'll know!
LMO,
By all means call Doug.He ain't much for email and such usually. He will run up your phone bill though ..lol. Say hello from Claude
Well, I got a hold of Doug, great guy. A TOTAL sidecarist if ever there was one... he sent me a pile of old documentation to work with; exploded-view drawings, parts lists, sales brochures, etc.) Funny thing is, I guess he and I must have passed each other in the park at the Paso Robles Sidecar Meet. There were probably fifty rigs there and I wasn't paying too much attention to any particular marque that weekend because this SideStrider was still in my future.
So, the skinny on the old chair that I have is that it was one of the his first years' production run. No suspension; suspension was added on later models (so the circled object in the photo IS a swing arm).
I'm definitely going to restore it, but probably will not run it on my /5 tug project. I don't want to molest it any more than I already have (burned off that 46# steel plate yesterday) by welding on suspension components. And I think we'd all agree that suspension is must have for running on any but the slab.
It looks like the perfect light-weight rig for 350-450cc-ish sized city bike (which I don't have). But never say never. It is a nice little rig... and I just never know where that burr is going to end up next.
Thanks for the directional steerage gents.
Lew
