I just bought this motorcycle with a wide sidecar. The bike is a 1979 Suzuki GS850.
More pictures here:
http://rt-eng.com/images/SuzukiGS850Sidecar/
I would like to maybe add brakes to the side car, but probably one of the first orders of business is to identify what company made the sidecar.
Does anyone have any suggestions how I can identify who made it? Is there maybe a data plate on it somewhere?
Does anyone have any suggestions on how to add brakes to this sidecar? I read that maybe electric brakes are better than hydraulic?
The sidecar wheel looks like it has 5 holes on both sides of the rim that might be used to add a brake rotor.
I am also thinking I might need to add a weight as I have read about in other threads.
Thanks in advance for any help that anyone can offer. I am very glad to find this site with so many knowledgeable people on sidecars!
Greg Garner
WELCOME ABOARD GREG!
You have either an Auburn sidecar or a Texas Sidecar. Call Bob Darden at Texas Sidecar he will know for sure. Say hello to him from Claude.
Welcome Greg: Yep, I suspect the sidecar is the predecessor to the no-longer-in-production Texas TwinStar. But Bob Darden would know for sure.
There's a little more info and pics here: http://www.sidecar.com/mbbs22/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=7183
Lee
MB5+TW200+CRF250L+GTV300+INT650
XL883R w/Texas Ranger Sidecar
Zuma 50F + Burgman w/Texas Sidecar<Mrs. SwampFox
That is a "Ride by Side" two passenger sidecar or Texas TwinStar. No longer in production snce shortly after Bob Darden bought them out the molds were destroyed in a fire at the fiberglass shop.
Here is one of the last ones made.
Lonnie
How hard is it really to reproduce a set of molds?
I was on the phone the other day with California sidecar. They told me they stopped building sidecars because the molds were damaged in a fire.
They wouldn't even help me figure out what mounts I would need to put one of their recent sales on my Goldwing. What a way to insure that your customers will get nothing in resale value. I'm looking at a sidecar currently mounted to an Ultra Classic. CS tells me I need to buy a new frame to make it fit something "as large as" a Goldwing. 😉
Jay at Dauntless, (www.dmcsidecars.com) was able to tell me exactly what I need. He will even furnish the parts needed to enlarge the frame to fit my Goldwing.
CSC, Champion and some others would much rather follow the current trike fad. There's just more money to be made there.
Sidecars have had a limited following for decades and keeping up with the constant changes in bike models takes a lot of inventory.
I started working with fiberglass in 1955 in Oakland, CA when Taylor and Art Plastics (TAP) first came out with the epoxy resins suitable for car customizing. The polyester resins were being used for boats but weren't really applicable for metal application.
I tried making molds for a while and it ain't all that easy. Technology has improved things since then but it's still labor intensive and messy.
(Using a female mold of the 560 Jawa body is how the Bingham Mark I came to be.)
Lonnie
To make molds is pretty easy for a boat maker, Early this year a kayac builder made up the mold for the lower boat shell of my velorex boat within 3 days.
Even the scretches and original texture came out perfect. Same as the exact positions of the drilling holes, allthough the boat was badly destroyed.
As we say: "With some patience and a stick you even get the green apples down!"
Good luck
Sven
Thanks for the ID, I will check with Bob Darden.
Any suggestions for whether or not it is a good idea to install a brake on the sidecar, and if so what kind of brake might work?
Greg Garner
The doublewides are good candidates for a sidecar brake. Most come with them.
Brembo seems to be the brake of choice.
lonnie
