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Hi! Dan Shaffer here in my 3rd year of dabbling in the arts of sidecaring. It all started with cash earned for a work task that I didn't want to do and didn't enjoy and of course the stark boredom of covid isolation. All solved with a 2005 Ural that has since been sold. All the fun of riding slowly. All the worry of will it make it home. And the suction of time doing repairs and adjustments to keep old technology running reasonably well. The video NOT allowed attached shows what happens in winter when there's not enough snow for the snowmobiles around here. Get bored and go ride!
Then a replacement rig for the itch was located 10 hours away near Chicago. Borrowed neigbor's snowmobile trailer and had some fun driving the rig up a tilted trailer and proudly returning north with the prize. After the Ural's limited snow adventures it was important to see how an STll00 (with road tires) compared. Actually surprisingly it stuck to ice adequately to get up and down modest hills. And it was quite responsive to my steering input whilst fishtailing when it broke traction. Pretty fun!
Now I'm waiting for the time to do the engine valves and carb tuning that I sense it requires. Piloting the 100+ horsepower rig is quite lovely. Handles reliably and well, the grunt of this beast makes it inviting to twist the throttle to it's limit too often. Not sure the seating position is going to be the ride I take on for 8+ hours/day, multiple day rides but it sure provides a pleasant way to do a grocery run and rack up 100 miles pretty quickly. And I'm feeling quite happy rocking back/forth on the two wheelers so maybe that's all good enough for now. Hoping to avoid for many years the need to have 3 wheels or rot inside the cage of the automobile.
Pleasure reading your stories as well - Dan
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Howdy Y'all,
Short time lurker, first time poster.
My name is Scott Heath (lack of imagination explains the "sheath" user name. lol). Picked up Screaming Yellow Zonker (SYZ) as a first "learner sidecar" back in August of this year. Current monkey is Super-Muttress Adele. She does a great job of holding down the seat cushion, and adding ballast.
The idea of getting a sidecar came when out on a beautiful ride through the Rockies here in Utah on an Adventure bike. I was by myself, and didn't have anyone to share the joy of the great "State of Outdoors". Smarter Half decided she had enough riding motorcycles, and wanted a Jeep. I've "been there - done that", and wanted something different. She agreed to at least "try" riding in a sidecar. Time moved forward, and Smarter Half got real smart and moved on. So currently it is just Super-Muttress and I (come to think of it Adele is smarter than me too LOL), for the near future. Next season the plan is to do more exploring and camping with SYZ.
SYZ is a '95 R1100 GS that was pretty thoroughly rebuilt a couple of years ago, and updated with a '98 transmission, 1200 injectors, and all the other little issues repaired, like the wiring harness, etc.. This winter's projects include correcting the trail with a shortened Telelever/extended fork bridge, changing the Final drive gears to 37/11, grooving the drive tire for better off-road traction, installing a new front tire, and possibly connecting the sidecar drum brake up as a parking brake. The sidecar is a mid '90s Dnepr. It has some great dings in the metal from a life well used. The person who built this project cleaned the tub, and then put a nice quality paint over top without doing any body work.
Got to attend the Hotchkiss Rally in Hotchkiss CO this year (thanks to an invite from Dirty DR ), and had a great time. Hoping next year there are even more sidecars in attendance.
Pictures are: Super-Muttress Approved. First mod of a new MRA Vario windscreen. First steps of goggle training on a very willing partner.
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Hi....my name is Miles, and I must be a habitual criminal, because I was SO bad (how bad was I ?) that I got sent to Banned Camp from that place that is full of inmates.
These things all add up to making this place a little more active. Kick all the good inmates out of that other place, label them as habitual criminals, send them to Banned Camp, and here they can learn to play all the different musical instruments.
Oh, and I do have a couple sidecar rigs.....
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Excellent suggestion, Scott.
And I shall follow through with that, exactly.
There are others here, and around the World, that have shipped sidecar rigs, and those regular 2 wheeled things called motorcycles, to other Continents, so I am not the first, and won't be the last.
But this coming year, 2024, I will be finalizing all preparations for my '06 Wing w/Champion Daytona 2+2 sidecar rig, making all the needed and necessary changes, such as new tires, new brake pads, replacing the front fork seals, etc....so that when I deliver it to Orlando, FL and hand it off to Stefan Knopf, it will be in a "ready-to-drive condition when it arrives in Heidelberg, Germany.
I will start a new thread to document all that, the procedures, the shipping, and the experience.
BTW, does this sidecar make my Honda Goldwing 1800 look puny ???
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Might as well do the Intro. Name is Tim AKA Qwik
Rides are a 2005 Suzuki Bandit 1200 with a Hannigan Bandito hooked up to it and CenterHub Steering with Automotive wheels on all three corners. Doing a couple needed upgrades this winter if I can afford it.
The other one is a 2011 Ural Patrol named Olga with a Brand New Engine (Because the one that was in it for less than 6000 miles decided to shear the crank just after I bought it)
I live in Aspen Colorado and work in Snowmass Village so the commute is fun winter or summer.
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Gday. Young sidecar enthusiast from downunder. Built a couple and built parts/fixed mates , even knocked up a set of leading links. I am by no means a expert and love learning from others ,fabrication and humour 😉
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