Australian sidecars - happy & sad tales.

[Pezz_gs]

Well as most of you know I run the Scrapheap Adventure Ride and for 2013 we are heading to Back O Bourke.



I will again be riding my XR460/4 and for 2013 want to fit up a sidecar to it.

So the question is, anyone know of a trails or offraod sidecar that is sitting in a shed some where?
In the spirit of Scrapheap it needs to be CHEAP

If I cant find one, I will build one, which will be extremely funny to watch

[BigFella44]

Originally Posted by Pezz_gs

Well as most of you know I run the Scrapheap Adventure Ride and for 2013 we are heading to Back O Bourke.



I will again be riding my XR460/4 and for 2013 want to fit up a sidecar to it.

So the question is, anyone know of a trails or offraod sidecar that is sitting in a shed some where?
In the spirit of Scrapheap it needs to be CHEAP

If I cant find one, I will build one, which will be extremely funny to watch

this will be interesting,,,,,,,,

[TouringDave]

[Brendan J]

Here is a good start for you Pezz !!!

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/DJP-Mono-coach-Sidecar-Circa-1970s-/190706011656?pt=AU_Motorcycle_Parts_Accessories&hash=item2c66f6ce08

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Sidecar-body-only-Central-Coast-NSW-/160846609718?pt=AU_Motorcycle_Parts_Accessories&hash=item2573347d36

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/SIDE-CAR-/130734255721?pt=AU_Motorcycle_Parts_Accessories&hash=item1e705e6e69

[Pezz_gs]

Thanks Brendan

Was thinking more along these lines

[boy60]

My son who is 24 is riding my sidecar to work. He did alot of traveling init when he was young. Good to see young ones still interested in sidecars. He is on the left.

[Floda]

Originally Posted by GTinAus

"which leads me to the lament.....I want one.....for myself".

That is simply fabulous, a credit to you guys, you deserve much success.

[Floda]

There's something slightly prophetic about the title of this thread, mine is a sad and finally, a happy tale. Early this year I decided to import sidecars. This after a look at who is importing and who is manufacturing sidecars. I found almost no-one was serious with exception of the URAL importers who by all accounts do a fine job.

That's not my market. I wanted low cost, say sell them for around $2,000.00 and have models which can be fitted to Vespa type small Motor Scooters, sales of which are growing faster than Motorbikes.

After a good look around the World, I decided to import the Cozy/Kozi models from India. They have been made in India since the late 1950's. The Indians bought the rights and all the tooling from the German company named Steib, who had been making them since 1919.

A short History of Cozy/Kozi sidecars:

According to Wikipedia, by the mid 1950's the German economy bounced back and the average German family could afford a small car for the safety and shelter it gave over a motorcycle. Volkswagen was struggling to keep up with demand. In addition the was the little Goggomobil, the Fiat 500 and exotic three wheel offerings from BMW and Messerschmidt. By 1958 sales of Steib sidecars were barely 5% of what they were earlier, sales fell off a cliff. At the same time India had an emerging middle class who could stretch to a sidecar fitted to a motorcycle. That's when they did a deal with the Germans.

All this seemed to lead me to Cosy: A tough, German design around for nearly a century and by now World famous plus they have a model which fits scooters as small as 150 CC. They are sold world wide through several Indian based distributors.

No worries so far!

I contacted a distributor with a VERY high Internet Profile, ordered and paid for two sidecars in February 2012 and then heard nothing for around 4 to 5 weeks. That's when the fun began: I'm no stranger to importing. I have imported literally thousands of Vending machines from Italy, Spain and New Zealand and never had a problem.

Trust me, you haven't lived until you encounter a devious shyster like 'Agent' I had the misfortune to get caught up with. He had zero intention of supplying me with the product. I will not disclose his name here, but by all that is sacred, if you ever decide to something like this, be careful! In the end I contacted the main American Cozy importer who intervened on my behalf.

Shortly afterwards, a new (and very polite) Indian fellow telephoned me at home asking what MAKE and model Bikes they were to be fitted on. He told me they would be shipping them that evening. A couple of weeks later two large shipping crates arrived.

This took precisely six months, thanks to me picking the wrong agent.

The American fellow also introduced me to his Indian agent whom he has dealt with for years and never had a problem.

The sidecars:

On opening the first crate I noticed there were Seagull droppings on one end. And as we manually shifted it, some water, at least a litre or so poured out. I began thinking bad thoughts, about rust and exposure and such. To our surprise after jimmying the lid off the crate we found the entire sidecar was completely encased in a sealed blue tarpaulin. I used a Stanley knife to open it and inside was the finest, neatest, indeed blackest little sidecar I have ever seen in the metal.

Three of us unpacked it, my mate John, a former NSW Motorbike Highway Patrol Cop and Tim, an Artist. All of us were amazed at the trouble to which the Indians went in packaging it and the quality of the unit. It is no exaggeration to say that if this were fitted to a black Yamaha, Honda, Suzuki etc, a layman would think the sidecar came from the same factory.

The black 'Euro' shape is attached to nice old Suzuki GR650 with only 22,000 K

The Red 'Rocket' shape is still in the Packing crate it came in my garage.

Both come with all the 'fruit' Windscreen, Tonneau cover, lockable boot, stainless steel pack rack
full size chrome bumper bar, rubber floor mat.

Everything is always for sale.

For pictures of Cozy/Kozi, take a look my American friends website, bear in mind
they are on the 'wrong' side of the bikes.

http://www.cyclesidecar.com/buzz/faq.html

bernie.busch@bigpond.com

[tripodtiger]

Originally Posted by Floda

There's something slightly prophetic about the title of this thread, mine is a sad and finally, a happy tale.

Good on you Floda. I suspect the Euro model would look pretty bloody nice attached to a W800 or a Bonnie.

[tripodtiger]

I don't know if many on this forum would know Ray Gilbert but I've just read that he passed away, from cancer, in late August.

Ray was a long time member of teh Sydney Sidecar Owner's Club. He was always around on the Goldwing, recognisable by the silver nude female silhouette on the nose of the sidecar. He was a long time representative on the MCC of NSW.

One of those blokes that, even though you only ruyn across him once in a blue moon, he's still a good mate you could sit and chat with for a long time.

Rest in Peace, Ray

[TouringDave]

Damn, that's sad. Condolences to his family.

[Floda]

Originally Posted by tripodtiger

Good on you Floda. I suspect the Euro model would look pretty bloody nice attached to a W800 or a Bonnie.

It sure does and thanks TripodT, there's a smart young bloke in the US who scours America looking for immaculate late model Bonnies which he buys for as little as he can and then fits a Cozy in matching colour. The outfits look sensational. Then he does a little walk around film which he puts on on you-tube. He is a fastidious blighter and must be doing al-right as he has a different one on quite often.

BTW One thing I neglected to say in my recent post is the Cosy/Kozi design goes back to 1919 German Steib. I'm a solidly built beer loving bloke, about 180 Cm and weigh about 100Kg. Back in 1919 people were smaller. I fit into the Kozi/Cosy sidecar quite neatly. I'd say the Indian wallers have never taken into account people, especially in Western Countries, have become a lot bigger in the past 100 years.

[Precis]

Originally Posted by Pezz_gs

Well as most of you know I run the Scrapheap Adventure Ride and for 2013 we are heading to Back O Bourke.

I will again be riding my XR460/4 and for 2013 want to fit up a sidecar to it.

So the question is, anyone know of a trails or offraod sidecar that is sitting in a shed some where?
In the spirit of Scrapheap it needs to be CHEAP

If I cant find one, I will build one, which will be extremely funny to watch

Here's a cheap outfit; it was at the British Bike show in Birmingham last weekend:

[tripodtiger]

Must be bloody dark over there. How many headlights does it need?

How far can one ride in the UK without street lights?

[TouringDave]

There is a link somewhere on here showing how they made that body. Very impressive....(for a Beemer)