Hello,
As many know I am a sidecar newb who is trying to learn as much as possible about sidecar rigs before I take the plunge myself. My goal is to get a late 70s/early 80s BMW airhead (r100 or R80 if I can't find a decent R100) to use as the tug. I've found some of these already with Velorex cars on them but I find the style and larger size of the DNEPR or CJ cars appealing. Not wanting to start a flame war, but are there clear advantages/disadvantages to choosing a DNEPR over a CJ, or CJ over DNEPR? Or are they really basically the same, quality wise, mounting wise, etc? I would definitely want to go with some sort of subframe to strengthen the airhead frame and provide good attachment for the heavier car - are there subframe kits that work best with either of these?
Many thanks in advance for your patience and any assistance you can offer.
Mike
Mike,
Both are M22 clones, steel bodies, with less than perfect fit and finish.
The Dnepr has a trailing link coil over shock suspension, trunk access behind the seat and usually an out of round wheel. The CJ is somewhat rough, has torsional suspension, a trunk lid and better looking fender and lights.
All mount up to a /2 Beemer and none later without sub-framing of some sort.
There are Vendors here that can furnish a complete sub-frame mount set to ease the installation. A steering damper will no doubt be needed with either car using the Beemer tug.
Lonnie
Northwest Sidecars
I had a similar question recently. See HTTP://www.sidecar.com/megabbs/thread-view.asp?threadid=7014&posts=5
I am not sure if all Dnepr have sidecar brakes but CJ's, do not.
If bought from Yuri, one will pay extra for the Dnepr cable operated brake.
Lonnie
Thanks very much. I'd prefer a URAL sidecar over either of these, but they are often harder to score, and/or are higher priced, and justifiably so, I guess ! Sometimes I've found complete URAL 650 rigs (bike and car) for about the price of a new car alone - maybe that is something to consider further. The Velorex cars are much easier to find, etc. but their smaller size might be an issue (not sure yet) with some of the people or things I'd like to be able to fit in the car..
Sorry about making you re-answer the question - I had tried a search but I think that I made a typo and thus didn't catch your earlier post from a month ago.
Depending on how far you want to travel and how long you want to wait Craigs list can be a good source for bike packages, although I have never seen a sidecar alone in the NE area. I see you are in NH so have just had your first warm day. Soon the used bikes will be coming out just like the mosquitos and black flies. Never many listings in the winter. There was someone down around Rochester selling a lot of used Russian Iron last year.
As far as a CJ is concerned, I recently bought one from cnolmotorsport on E-bay that was completely reconditioned. He was great to deal with and has a warehouse full of them. With shipping from CA it came to just under $2K
Regarding Dnepr wheels, if they are chrome wheels then they are round. The chrome wheels were purchased by KMZ from a Russian aerospace company for Dnepr export models.
All Dnepr sidecars (for MT-11 and MT-16 models) built in the eighties and later have sidecar brakes.
Dave
