Any more pictures of how it works? How is the slack taken out of the drive change?Ron in Co
Ron, all I have is the pic I DLD a year or so ago. I dont know about how it works, but it did. seems there is a pivot on the starter motor base, that allows it to tilt forward and take up the slack when activated. must be a lever from between the bike/tub, going to the starter motor, like an old emergency brake lever. push it forwrd to engage, then hit the starter motor button.
ello,
Is there some sort of ratchet so that the chain is not moving when the sidecar is under way? In other words, the only time that the chain moves is when you engage it? It looks like a nice idea, for sure.
For your Harley there is a nice aftermarket add-on reverse gear conversion kit for the gearbox. I have seen them mounted and in action, they look pretty sweet.
Yep, I'm definitely gong to invest in one of those, probably the Champion version, after I recover from purchasing the sidecar.
As to BMW, it would be great if someone could come up with an add-on reverse, internal to the gearbox as with the Champion. It would be a real seller. I know that it's been done before on the WWII Zundapp KS601 desert model with its chain-driven box and also on the WWII BMW's used by the German army. There's no reason it couldn't be done agian.
I recall that the old HD sidecars that I used to ride had a hand-shifted three and a reverse. There was an extra idler gear inside the box and that took up the room ordinarily used by one of the gears. They were dangerous, too since there was an off chance that you could engage reverse at a stoplight unless you were careful.
btw - I did track down a company in Germany doing reverse gear conversions for the BMW airhead 5-speed gearboxes, but they are not cheap...
The nice thing is that they usually have one on-the-shelf and ready to go in trade for your old transmission. If you want "your" transmission case back the lead time is about 3 months...
But, if you have them build up your cases for you, there is an option of getting a lower first gear for less clutch slippage on takeoff & parade duty, and/or a taller 5th gear for highway cruising.
The cost for all this niceness is ~$2650 for the off-the-shelf exchange including shipping and insurance (not including your cost to ship your old one to them)
For an extended 1st & 5th gear buildup with reverse, get ready to shell out right around an even $3000...
I am still trying to get more details from them about how it is shifted into reverse, but they do claim that there is a safety interlock to prevent accidentally going into reverse while driving forward.
I think this might be a different kit than the one that Guenther installs, but I am not sure, and I have not heard back from him. I can keep you all posted if anyone is interested...
btw - the email address for the German outfit is below. They also have lots of other really nifty upgrades for the older Beemers... They have a downloadable PDF file of their catalog.
The prices in the catalog are higher than what we in the states would pay, because it already has the German VAT tax added in. For instance, they quoted 1895 Euros for the standard reverse gearbox to the USA vs. 2300 Euros as listed in the catalog. (95 Euros for shipping/insurance)
I had a 1949 45 Harley that had a bad transmission when I got it in the 60's and the only one I could find was a servi-car trany with 3 speed and reverse was on the bottom below 1st. It was the same speed as 1st I think. One day I was challenged by my friends to ride it backwards out the driveway to the street and I got about 10 feet and went down. After that I put a bolt in that position and don't think I ever took it out again.
Ralph
Originally written by SidehackRalf on 11/3/2006 10:33 PM
One day I was challenged by my friends to ride it backwards out the driveway to the street and I got about 10 feet and went down. After that I put a bolt in that position and don't think I ever took it out again.
Ralph
Ralph, that test demonstrated what some respected cycle researchers at MIT studied for years (i.e. rear wheel steering for a two wheeled vehicle, most particularly for recumbent bicycles...) What they found out is....
IT CAN'T BE DONE!!!
They played around with all kinds of different linkages and steering rates (including increasing and decreasing differential outputs with angle of input), positive trail, negative trail, positive and negative head angles... Some helped, but ultimately all were either COMPLETELY unridable, or so unstable as to be unsafe without outriggers for emergencies and nerves of steel...
I used to design and build recumbent bicycles. The holy grail, so to speak, of recumbents because of the long drive line/chain to the rear wheel would be to have a front drive - rear steering design.
There were a couple of front-drive/front-steer models tried out, but the twisting of the chain while turning was always a real problem.
Either that, or trying to get your hips or knees to twist sideways if the pedals swung about along with the front wheel! :-O
The bottom line... Anything over a slow walking pace with your feet dragging while going backwards on two wheels is definitely asking for trouble!!! Just ask the MIT prof. with the sling on over there... 😉
And no, your mileage will NOT vary... physics wins on this one...
I'm still trying to figure out just how to look cool as I reach down for a shifter on my Ural, that is really too short for me in the first place, and try to get it properly locked into gear. Let alone, do it and back up, and then get the blamed thing out of reverse gear to go forward.
I get on the rig and just sit there for a couple of minutes as the enrichers do their thing in warming the engine up. I pretend to be pre-flighting the thing with a good inspection as I sit on the seat, but I am really praying I don't look the fool as I get it into reverse and head on off to the hills. It is really icing on the cake if there isn't a cager nearby wating for me to leave the parking space so they can take it. Takes practice, but I am at the point of almost looking cool....Well, maybe in a month or two. 🙂
Haven't goosed it in reverse yet. No point in killing myself until my insurance kicks in at work, right? 🙂
Huey
I'm thinkin' you shouldn't have to reach down to shift it Huey, you should be able to shift it with your foot. At least it used to work for me...
Originally written by Huey on 11/4/2006 8:49 AM
I'm still trying to figure out just how to look cool as I reach down for a shifter on my Ural, that is really too short for me in the first place, and try to get it properly locked into gear. Let alone, do it and back up, and then get the blamed thing out of reverse gear to go forward.
Maybe you could rig up a linkage like some of the old WW-II R75's had. Lever up on the side of the tank that ran down to the transmission through a long linkage rod.
Here is one for sale down at Blue Moon, if you click to enlarge the photos you can see the tank mounted reverse shifter.
http://www.cycletrader.com/addetail.html?78973220
{I would love to own one like that... }
Yup, that is the easy way though and I am more fumble footed than fumble fingered. Still takes practice to make it work correctly, so I am still working on developing my "looking cool as I screw up skills."
Huey
The german outfit making them is found at http://www.motoren-israel.de/DesktopDefault.aspx . I have bought several items from them.The transmission is very expensive to import to Canada.He sent me many pictures but they are too big to put into the photo album.I too have emphysema,cogestive heart failure,a bum knee and just getting old.The reverse on my Beemer would be nice.I have considered selling it all and buying a Ural just for the reverse.Nah.
Originally written by Beemerwhacked on 11/17/2006 5:11 PM
The german outfit making... (snip)... selling it all and buying a Ural just for the reverse.Nah.
Well I sure screwed up putting this in the right place.Newbie mistakes.
"ello,
Is there some sort of ratchet so that the chain is not moving when the sidecar is under way? In other words, the only time that the chain moves is when you engage it? It looks like a nice idea, for sure. "
Referring to some posts on the previous page:
Good Day,
The chain is not in motion when the sidecar is moving under normal circumstances. A pedal between the sidecar and the bike operates a cable which engages the sprocket to the wheel via dogs. Otherwise the sprocket just rides along on the axle without engaging anything. I've had it on that rig for a few years and the only time it gave me any trouble was after I sideswiped a big rock in the boonies and bent it. It still worked but a little wonky. However, it was easily staightened when I got home and it continues to work well. I think a guy could create a neater looking version if he wanted to but my old Dirtwing cried out for rugged rather than cute so that's what I built.
Regards,
Norm
