There seem to be some misconceptions about the relationship between the Cozy and the Inder sidecar. I have sold Globe/Cozy/Inder sidecars from India for 18 years and until recently was the US importer and distributor of the Royal Enfield motorcycle. (www.cyclesidecar.com) All three sidecar brands are/were all handmade including the steel tubs. Sidecars in India are usually only used for handicapped transportation. There was no such thing as a leisure market in India until about 8-9 years ago. Motorcycles/Scooter were basic family transportation and cars were only for the very rich or government officials. Today if you aren't in the export business you are dead making sidecars.
Quick history
Globe was part of an affiliation with the original Steib company in Germany when things started to go south for Steib (I am referring to the original company not the fine folk that are making them now). The idea was to lower their prices by manufacturing in India. This affiliation went nowhere. It was too much too late. Globe then started to make copies of the LS 200 and one of the 500 series Steibs. I visited the factory and met the son of the founder who was running the company. The first sidecars I imported were Globes in 1999 but they went out of business shortly thereafter. I purchased their remaining stock.
Two brothers inherited the Cozy company after their father passed. They claim to have been the company that built the tubs for Globe. There was some "tension" between the Cozy brothers and the Globe son. I also started with Cozy in 1999 after Globe closed. The units were a bit rough initially but were always strong and I have never had much trouble with them. I have been to the factory probably a dozen times over the years and we have worked together to improve the units for this market. Nothing happens quickly in India but over time we have come a long way.
Early on I name the sidecars the "Rocket" and the "Euro". I did it because there was a lot of confusion with my customers. I guess the names have stuck because I see it everywhere on different brands.
A few years ago the brothers has a disagreement over whether to remain status quo or to make technical and quality improvements. Because if this they split up. It was not a good parting of the ways. One brother opened "Kozi" and the other kept the name Cozy. I went with Kozi because he was the innovative one. Shortly thereafter Cozy went out of business and Kozi purchased what was left and the name You can find sidecars in both the Kozi name and the Cozy name, I went with the Cozy name.
Inder was owned by two brothers who were passed the company when their father died. Their core business was and is industrial equipment like boring bars, car lifts, valve grinding machines etc. Sometime after the turn of this past century the started to copy and make the Cozy. I have also spend several days at their facility. I imported them and their trailers for a short period of time. Soon enough each brother brought his son into the business. The two sons did not get along and there was a very acrimonious split between the two older brothers and their sons. It was and is very sad because they are all nice people. Each side of the family has stayed in the business making the Inder brand which can be very confusing. One brothers has remained in India and the other while still in India has some ties in Oklahoma.
There has never been any relationship between Cozy and Inder. In fact there is some level of bad blood between them. They are made in different parts of India and from two different cultures.
I like working with Cozy because at some levels they "get it". We both stand behind the product (which is all but unheard of in India) which is why I am very comfortable giving a one year warranty. The other reputable sidecar manufacturers/dealers/importers in the US ( which includes most of them) stand behind their units as well. All of us strive to help anyone who needs it regardless of which brand they have. We refer customers to each other if our unit is not right for them. I would say that all of the reputable sellers do their very best to make a sidecar safe and reliable for their customers..
The Cozy is a fairly light unit and is best suited for bikes which are from 250cc up to maybe 1,000cc's. Mid sized bikes are our core market.We do have many nice installations on Triumphs and Sportsters. We are clear about this in our sales pitch online, in person. When we get a customer looking for a unit for a larger bike we refer them to one of the others that sell a heavier hack.
Kevin Mahoney - Cycle Sidecars
Kevin,
I moved your post and changed the title. I hope you understand. It was buried in a thread about really bad sidecars. Your product isn't in that class and it is refreshing to hear the whole story on the subject. Let's not have folks think about Safer and your products at the same time.
So, someone is selling a sidecar under the Inder name that they claim is superior to regular Inders because it has a heavier frame and maybe some other improvements. Do you know who this is and what the story about the difference is? It is claimed to be made in the same factory but if that's so maybe a model name change would be a good idea. What's the scoop?
Kevin
Thank you very much for taking the time to post this article. You have enlightened me greatly. As you know from the Enfield site, I am the proud owner of a G5 with a Kozi Rocket. I still enjoy the rig but it does not get much use now that I have two others with more power to carry two plus. Keep up the good work.
Mike in MS
Moving the thread was a good idea. I really didn't pay attention to where I was posting.
I really don't know how or if the Inder units vary from one family to the next.
While I can't say if they are made in the same factory or not but there is so
much animosity between each side of the family it would surprise me.
Kevin
Cycle Sidecar
Kevin,
I purchased a variation of an Inder from a gentleman in Oklahoma. it was told to me that heavier tubing was used in the construction and would be suitable for 1500/1600 size cruisers. I purchased it and installed it on my 1600 Nomad. I have had to replace the rear lower mount with a pinch tube type, welded onto the existing frame. I had to replace the swingarm pivot, the swingarm, the wheel axle and wheel with heavier components in order to handle the weight of the bike. all of these parts started to show signs of mis-alignment after running the car under the heavy weight and stress from my bike. This might be the one Al is referring to above, but if you find any further information, I'd love to hear more about this one!
Thhe sidecars coming from Safer Wholesale are not Inders any longer. We just dealt with two and they bith had small square tubing frames, very light duty brackkets for the bike and very small hardware to 'mount' them with. The one had a rubber torsion suspension on it and the other had no suspension. Appered to be a trailer axle welded to the bottom of the frame with a trailer hub installed. One had fairly decent ealry haley design body on it and the other had a rounded nose body that looked like a a propane tank may have been use as a mold for the nose. The body was only 4" wide. We refused to mount either of them. Note that one was already mounted and moved all over the place. We are using the 'okay' body on one of our frames and the round nosed body will end uo possibly on a bicycle or maybe used as a planter. The rigid frame will have a second axle welded to it and become a lawn cart. Sad state of affairs.
