Mac, Please try and publish photos of your Swing in the as received condition showing all the pieces. I am considering the purchase of a Swing from Kalich. However, it is a leap of faith to buy a unseen sidecar from an unseen dealer in a far away country. I have an old but good 1998 BMW F650, the Swing subframe would be a custom build for that bike, If Ralph can find a simular bike to use as a model. Unfortunatly the Swing sidecar will only fit that bike as the mounting points vary from a BMW 1100 or 1200 bike. When did your Euro rate fix and how did you make payment? Thanks for any help
WHD, I've taken the paintable parts to my painter. It'll be about 2-3 weeks before I get them back. I'll get some pictures posted of the remaining parts in the next few days, as I get around to it. About your installation, let me offer some thoughts. There may be a reason that even though Ralph Kalich builds lots of these leaner sidecars, that he hasn't built any (according to you) for an older F650. You should really consider why you want to spend $9-10k for a sidecar, to put on a low power bike worth maybe $2k. If you can afford $10k (painted) for a sidecar, you might as well put it on a worthy bike. Please take no offense, but sometimes frank talk is needed.
That said, there are certainly some Kalich sidecars connected to a 650. Here is one from his site. http://kalich.de/html/bmw-schwenker_4.html
Proof it made it to the states, after waiting for the the Iceland volcano to settle down, just loaded up from Lufthansa Air Cargo in Denver. German car, trailer, and sidecar. Hmm...
Mac, There is also a Dakar further down in the gallery. All have the same Rotax/BMW 650 engine. Both are later models of my F650. As a note a Ural has 40hp and 740lbs, F650 has 48hp and would be at least 100lbs lighter. Should be OK up to 60, after that "not so much".
Oh, stuff & nonsense - don't let the nay-sayers distort you - Katherine's bone-stock 1999 F650 'classic' neatly hauls a full-sized Ural sidecar to 75MPH with porky me and a 200Lb engine in the hack. It will go a bit faster with the sidecar windshield folded down - but it rapidly runs out of RPM's above 80 since we're running a 14 tooth front sprocket. The Kalich should be 75Lbs lighter, and a LOT more slippery than the Ural, which is only slightly more aerodynamic than my mother-in-law. You might want to give Jim at Raceway Services in Salem a call - aside from the Ural business, they're pretty creative riggers, as are the Dauntless folks up here. If Kalich has a sub-frame for an Aprillia Pegaso either shop should be able to adapt it to your bike. The later F650's have a very different frame and pickup points. Cheers Jim
very good points there, would be wise to carefully consider that... Ralph has done leaner sidecars for the newer version of the 650 BMW thumper whether 48 horsepower is sufficient is a personal thing, but such an considerable investment, that can't be simply transferred to another bike, should be only done to a bike that one can drive for a lot more years to come....imho I was thinking myself of a Voxan, but the questionable future of that manufacturer (and hence the questionable spare part availability) stopped me from doing that....
Matt, I look forward to the progress. Nice car, but with the speed limits in the US you really should give it to me Jens
I'll keep that offer in mind, Jens. Just don't hold your breath... So, here is a teaser pic. This is the frame, with the subframe connected on the left, sitting on the crate lid. Total frame/subframe weight is 77 lb together. The wheel and mounted tire (not shown) weighs 18 lb. without the tub, we're still under 100lbs. Not bad. Although there is a little parallax in this picture, the centerline of the subframe is lined up on the left side of the wood below, and the spindle on the right is perpendicular. So, you can see that the frame is swept to the rear slightly. As expected, quality of all components is outstanding. I'll be visiting my painter in the next few days to settle on a paint scheme. Hopefully he has started prep work, since I dropped off the paintable parts last week. At first, he told me it would be 6-8 weeks, but after a little grease ($) was offered, my place in line suddenly changed from last to first. More info on the painter later.
It is interesting to note that Wes Weber has both mounts on the center line. Gary Kramer has the front mount up ~5" and the rear mount offset ~2" to the sidecar. The Kalich is in the middle, with the front mount up several inches and the rear mount on center line. All three seem well satisfied with the results. The sidecar mounting locations must not be super critical. The Kalich frame construction appears very professional. The bike subframe mounting points to the frame appears less robust than I would have thought, but they have experience to back up their design. Thoughts?
There are other parts of the Kalich mounting hardware that is not shown in the picture above. This part of the frame is just the core. Wait until you see the whole thing before you make such a judgment.
Is there eye bolts on the frame? It looks like it, would these be to make a rigid if you wanted? Garry
The rig is not designed or built to operate as a rigid frame, so those eye bolts you see are just "mounting points" and are not approved by Ralph Kalich to connect to the bike. However, if I find myself on an icy road, it is possible that these points may be used to assist me out of that situation (at my own risk, of course).
The round and square tubing is 35mm (1.4"), except for the subframe and the swingarm which are 40mm (1.6") round.
Both pivots are mounted in single-shear. Sure is a lot easier to set up that way, but its not good design practice for prime-reliant fasteners.
I believe the single shear strength of a grade 8, 5/8" bolt is about 28,000 lbs. There are 2, one for each Hiem joint. Look here Post # 52 on my flex. http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=525279&page=4 Garry
Gent, did you stay at a Holiday In Express last night? Ball joints are a very tried, true, and strong connection, and are used by many experienced designers and engineers of all sorts of mechanical devices. How is that first build of yours coming along, anyway?
I'm just looking after your license, so don't put it off for too long on the other hand summer is coming up and you will soon have a leaner to break in, so maybe you should put it off for some time and I offer to do that for you total is about 70 kg (about 150 - 160 lb), empty hardly noticeable