fitting a sidecar

[neddyo]

I am thinking of fitting a sidecar to my 250ES/2 and wondered where the attachment points are on the frame. If anyone out there has a sidecar fitted to this bike could they do me a sketch of the set up please. Another query I have is with the starting, if I use any choke the engine floods without starting.
Cheers, Nick in oz

[DAVID THOMPSON]

had a sidecar on a 1953 bmw r51/3 24 to 28 hp and it was overloaded big time and the chair only weighed
125 lb when the wife got in it it was good for a grocery getter and not much else
and i managed to trash 2 motors with it in 8 years and made only one long out of town trip

if you do it make sure you have an extra motor ready because the 15 to 18 hp is going to be working very hard

dave

[Guesi]

Hello

The attachment point on the frame are:
1.axe for rear swinging arm
2. Between fuel tank and seat
3.on the front support bearer (don´t know if it is the right english word for it).

And there is an additional stabilizer on the rear swinging arm.

And it is no problem to drive an ES 250/2 with sidecar. It was fitted this way from the factory, so you cannot compare it with the BMW
But you need to change several parts on th bike:
Front swinging arm
Rear swinging arm
Additional steering damper
sprocket on secondary chain drive
Speedo drive
By the way:
The bike on the pictures is for sale from a friend of mine.

[neddyo]

Hello Guesi,
Thanks you for your answer re fitting a sidecar.

I think there will be a problem as I have to fit the sidecat to the left side of the bike
and the kick starter could be a problem.
Also I guess it would be dificult to find all the parts such as, a front and rear swing arm,
a longer rear swing arm axle and speedo drive.

Maybe I will put it in the two hard basket, thanks anyway.

Nick.

[Guesi]

Hello
It is not possible to put the sidecar on the left side.
Even in the UK the MZ with side car was sold with right handed sidecar.

[mr_luke]

The Superelastik sidecar as pictured above was only made to be fitted on the right hand side, but it's perfectly possible to fit another make of sidecar on the left - I know because I've got one on my ETZ! The ETZ frame is very different to the ES, so there's not much point in posting photos of my setup for you, I'm afraid. Leaving space for the kickstart may well require some thought, but the conventional frame design should still mean it's easier than a TS or ETZ. You'll generally want 4 attachment points: one just below the headstock on the front downtube, one at the bottom of the front down tube in front of the engine, one in the area around the swinging arm pivot (this is the one that could give you kickstart problems) and an upper rear mounting, either just below the front of the seat or near the shock absorber mount. Do you already have a sidecar to fit, or are you on the lookout?

If you have a look on google there is an article on the Starfield MZ site about building a ES250/2 / Velorex outfit with the chair on the left. Could be handy for you!

I've got a 17t engine sprocket instead of the original 19t, and as long as you don't mind a top speed of around 55mph, it copes pretty well and is a lot of fun!

[neddyo]

Thank you Mr_luke you have restored my interest in fitting a sidecar to my ES

I have a sidecar body but no chassis, which I intend to build myself,
I want to use an es front wheel and mudguard and try and make as period as possible.

I haven't ridden an outfit for close to 50 years so could be interesting, the last one I had was
a 500 single BSA with an Australian "Dusting" sidecar, (google)

Cheers, Nick.

[DAVID THOMPSON]

may i recommend the use of the swinging arm from the passenger side of a vw super beetle
from the early 1970's it had a strut type arm and allows for mounting a rubber air shock
used on some trucks they come in several sizes and a shock
the tie rod them allows for toe in toe out adjustment
been looking at home making one my self as i am having problems walking

there may be 15 or 16 inch rims that will fit a flat profile cycle tire and that hub
that fit it advantage is no broken spokes to fix
dave

[therealche]

Nice ES250/2 Velorex outfit spotted at the Cumbria steam fair last weekend

[breakwellmz]

That`s nice,surprised to see it on the`UK`side.

[neddyo]

Thanks Dave and Therealche.

It's good to hear from ES people who are sidcar minded.

As soon as I put the decals on my ES I will post a photo.

Cheers, Nick.

[neddyo]

Preview: Re: fitting a sidecar

I think I can now see how to fit a sidecar to the left hand side, all but the
top front mount near the head stem.
Could someone please show details of this.
Cheers, Nick

[therealche]

This is the mounting that MZ use

[neddyo]

Thanks Therealche for such a quick reply.
I guess they would be like hens teeth to
find, but at least I know what the setup is.
Nick

PS is this a good looking bike or what?
http://s686.photobucket.com/user/neddyo ... 1.jpg.html

[therealche]

The only problem is that Superelastik sidecars are like rocking horse droppings in the UK. Also a right hand sidecar is a royal pain when you drive on the left. The bike rides in the gutter and a lot of passengers seem to object to be used as spotter when you go to overtake
" Is it safe to overtake now?"
"NO NO NOOOOOO!!!!! PULL IN PULL IN!!!

The fittings are also rare ( the one in the picture is spoken for!) but it shouldn't be difficult to fabricate some sort of clamp to go round the downtube . Or find a rusty british fitting that can be modified