Sidecar

can any body recommend a sidecar for my Cali 1100i 95 Â , I have looked at the monza on web watsonian/squire page but don’t know much about themÂ

Hi Gerbil, first question is what do you need it for? A lightweight open single seater for the young lady or a vast load lugger to use for your plumbing business?


Cheers, Gerry.

I had an operation on my left arm loosing some power as they cut some nerves and a lot of muscle taken away  fingers not feeling to good sometimes. I can also put some fishing gear in  and still want to tour around uk and abroad and take my brother along easy to fit him and all gear than stuck on back as will not have the power to hold up bike so looking for a gp Manx  or monza Plus it might be funÂ

As a sidecar rider myself, I was surprised how much muscle power they need to steer. Maybe not to hold upright at a standstill, but overall require more strength (particularly arms and upper body) than a two wheeler, in my experience. Apologies if you already know this! It may be an idea to try one first, before you decide to buy/build. There are places that do sidecar training or taster days - Len Tempest and MPC spring to mind, but I am sure there are others.

I admit that ever since one tried to kill me I hate sidecar outfits with a vengeance…but one thing I have learned from the “tricycliatric patients” among us is that leading link forks make the steering much lighter - so much so that they are considered essential by most of them. However a good set can cost a lot ( £1500 ? ) so take that into account when considering buying a sidecar. It might be cheaper to buy a good well set up outfit than fit a new s/car, forks etc to a bike you already own.

Agreed - I ran a T3 with a Busmar D/A for a while and found it a very physical experience. That was with teles, and I’d presume that a proper leading link set up would be the way to go.

Thank you for all replies and already started doing my research and it will be sometime next year giving me some breathing space and to clear garage as I already have two cali’s in there , I would swap a Cali and cash for a fitted outfit but will see what happens .Â

By far the best option is to sell/swap your solo Cali for a sorted sidecar outfit. Â

To make an outfit handle nicely you are looking at £1000 for leading link forks, probably around £400 or so for a fifteen inch back wheel conversion (to drop the gearing and allow a car tyre to be fitted).  Probably best to get the sidecar fitted by someone who knows what they are doing, which could cost another grand on top of buying a sidecar.  Having said that, if you really want to fit a sidecar to your bike I would recommend looking at a Hedingham http://www.hedinghamsidecars.co.uk/

As others have said, you actually need more upper body strength to ride a sidecar outfit than a solo. Â It is also a fairly steep learning curve if you have never ridden one before.Â

This is mine:-

You may have seen it at Moniave the last couple if years if you were there.
Cheers
Steve

This occurred to me also, so in fact the opposite of what Gerbil was hoping for.

I would agree, they are a lot more tiring than a solo, if it was me I would be looking for one of those MP3 thingies, twist and go and 2 front wheels, or if I could find one cheap enough a grinnall :laughing:

Yep…deffo try and get a ride before you commit…in my youth I had an MZ lightweight outfit on teles…great fun but needed strength…all this mite sound negative I know but tis more…concern…x

Hi, i dont know if you know, but there is a cracking watsonian sidecar for sale on ebay at the moment, item number 351261090986 cheers chris.

Hi i fitted a watsonian palma on the side of my cali 1100i,i have a set of leading links but not fitted them yet so still on normal forks,its hard work on your forarms,but not to bad handles nice ,and its quite weighty,i do also have a squire single seat for sale thats on the side of a bmw r100rs,now that one is a lot easy to ride and turn,even with the small bars

You WILL want leading link forks it makes steering ALOT easier . If i were you i would buy a ready made outfit with leading links and what ever sidecar is fitted big or small . Keep you eye on ebay,gumtree and the like they do come up .I have had had ural,hedingham steib s500 and sudo steib tr500 sidecars on T3 type guzzis and they all looked great.One other piece of advice is look out for left hand bends.

I got a squire sidecar for sale

Well guys i’ve taken the plundge and bought a sidecar it’s a Squire ST2 in very good con no cracks or repairs will see what happens next? Â I have recently found two people in my area who have sidecars and one owns two including a ural which he says i can play with around his farm until i get used to one , thx for all the relpies , i will also be looking at fittings as the one i bought came off a BSA Â and do nit know how or if the fittings i have will fit.

You’ll be sorreeeeeeee Kev… :smiley: :smiley: :smiley: :smiley: :smiley: :smiley: :smiley: :smiley: :smiley:


or rather Russell will.

Russel going to do all the fitting and be the test pilot , if this doesn’t work will sell all and have to buy a smaller lighter bike but must be a Guzzi :slight_smile: Â

Guzzi 350TT trials outfit?

There is a set of Guzzi leading links on ebay just now.