Greetings to all. I am new here. I have recently completed a thorough restoration of a 1985 BMW K100RS and I am seriously considering a side car for the bike. I am 70 years old and have been riding since I was 15, mostly British iron, Triumph and Norton and BMW. I have 0 experience with a rig and would like to before I check out. What would be the most compatible side car for the K and can I get technical help to install one . I am a reasonable mechanic having restored 5 bikes since 1972. I would appreciate any help or info the membership here can give me. Thank you, Craig
Hi Craig, Welcome to sidecar ...com. I have a few BMW K bikes with sidecars. First off where are you? I'm in Trotwood Ohio USA and where can I get a belly pan for my my K100RS?
Your bike brings back great memories of my rides. Nice color too. With a K, there are not many options. The most popular rig is the EZS sidecar that you'll find here https://www.ezs-sidecar.com/en/. There are some distributors and installers in the U.S. If you search, you might find also the Armec sidecars. That was a Swiss company that promoted for many years their excellent products, but eventually they folded like many other manufacturers. Now the best for this bike is the Flexit sidecar here http://improvelife.info/links/bikes/flexit.htm. That one also disappeared but their group seems still active.
Nowadays I drive a Triumph Bonneville with a Cozy sidecar and I'm having the fun of my life.
Good luck and welcome to the group.
Hi Craig:
I rode a K1100 LTA with a Motorvation Formula for 20+ years (form border to border and coast to coast) I had the folks at Motorvation install my sidecar. I never touched the settings on the mounts in all that time. It was a good rig for hauling my wife and a child.
My brother has a '85 K100 RT with an EML ( I forget the model). He bought it already set up and has been very happy with the combo.
Yes - The k-series BMW's make an excellent tug. The mounting is complicated by the "Tupperware" that you have to work around but both of our rigs were mounted very competently without messing up the fairings.
Will Short
USCA President
Just a couple of comments...
While the FLEXIT is an excellent sidecar, parts are a real challenge and sine it is a leaner, you have the typical sidecar experience.
Armec is still in business in Switzerland. They make very high quality products but have no current US importer.
EZS and EML are both very good choices and their hacks come in several sizes. The US rep for EML is interested ONLY in selling and servicing new EML sidecars. Don't bother asking for parts for an old hack. The importer, EuroWing in Hialeah, FL feels that he was burned by a person asking for old parts and that was the end of that.
I had a K100RS with an EML "Sport", which is a smaller sidecar perfect for one person. I also ran an EML GT2, a larger hack for 1 1/2 or two (smaller) people.
A key to your success with sidecars is to get it set up by a knowledgeable rigger. Most folks who aren't happy with they rigs cite set up issues as the cause.
Good Luck!
K bike friendly web page
If you want to strap the car on and go, I would recommend getting someone who knows what they're doing to install it. I'm not sure where you're located, my first choice would probably be Jay at dmc.
If you don't mind futzing, you can find enough literature and tips here to do it. You will put it on, drive it, adjust it, drive it, adjust it, repeat a few times, and eventually get it. It's not really difficult project wise, but you're kind of shooting in the dark, and you'll know when it's right. You really need to make sure it's mounted correctly, and it's all about the mounting hardware. You might need a subframe or something. I used the universal mounts, we all know how one size fits all (not). Mine have been welded and modified so that they won't ever be universal again. I modified 3 out of 4 of the mounts, longer, shorter, 90 degree bend, weld the adjustable bracket down... Kind of a PitA, so I suggest being sure you want to do a lot of futzing because you might be going there. As I said, not really difficult skill-wise if you're as mechanically inclined as you seem, just every time you do something, align everything 3 different ways, again, and repeat. Hint: get a sidecar dolly early. Wish I did.
Hi Craig:
I will throw my 2-cents worth in here. IF you try to mount your sidecar yourself you need to make sure the bottom two mounts are the same distance from the floor. On my first mounting - by myself - I wasn't aware of that and every time I made an adjustment all of the other adjustments changed. I wrestled and wrestled with my setup and finally got it to a reasonable point - but if I had known then what I know now my life would have been sooo much easier. My second rig was set up at the Motorvation factory and I never messed with it all the 20+ years we rode that rig. My third rig was set up at Hannigan's so I'm not going to mess with it either. Incidently - my second rig was attached to a K1100LTA. It made a great tug horsepowerwise. It pulled the Motorvation Formula at speeds in excess of the speed limit. It steered hard but I didn't do anything to the forks except turn the axle so it put the axle in front of the center of the fork. That helped a little but not like the leading link fork would.
That's my 2-cents worth
Will Short
USCA President.
We do make mounts for the K100 as well as leading link front ends and sidecars.
Jay G
DMC sidecars
www.dmcsidecars.com
866-638-1793
Update, I have purchased and am in the process of restoring a Vetter Terraplane sidecar for my BMW K100RS. I have ordered two kits from DMC sidecars for the hookup. One kit for the bike and the other for the Vetter sidecar. I am hoping to have it completed by mid winter and on the road next spring. The sidecar will need a lot of work but I enjoy the work as much as the ride. This weekend I disassembled it and have cataloged all the parts. The brake is pretty much shot so I will have to replace the master cylinder and the caliper piston and seals. Parts have been ordered. I'll keep you all updated as I progress. Thanks for the advice and encouragement. Craig
Craig,
We want pictures!
UPDATE: I have spent the better part of the last month on the sidecar. So far I have redone the frame , sandblasted and painted, ordered new brake parts from aerheart, had the seat recovered, ordered new windscreen and side panels from gustofson, cleaned the tub and installed new carpet, replaced wheel bearings, had the wheel bead blasted and then I painted it. Had a new tire and tube installed and balanced, replaced the shock and most of the hardware, riveted the tub to the frame and today I painted the upper half and the cockpit cover . The color matches the bike. So far I think I have put about 130 hours of my labor into this car. I will try to attach some photos. Craig download was unsuccessful I will work on it for my next post.
Tried again, file size is still too big. Will resize again and get back to you. Craig
The site is set to accept images up to 1 megabyte in size. Anything that displays at above 72 dpi is a waste on most screens. If you have a lot of pictures or don't want to resize, consider posting on one of the picture sharing sites and post a link here.
