Not so modern sidecar stuff

[Paul Boyd]

Tired of that windshield on your vintage road racing sidecar chair pod cracking and just looking bad.....
I have the fix, a one piece cut to fit hand laid fiberglass vintage chair pod for only $180.00 plus shipping.
Also available a one piece cut to fit upper fairing for vintage road racing sidecars $195.00 plus the shipping.
Upper firing shields cut to fit are available for $159.00 plus the shipping.









Contact,
Becker Moto Works
760-961-2108
mrbillb@charter.net
West coast

[paul whittaker]

Hello Paul, what motor did Bill intend to power this with? assume its in Cal?
why would he build a right hander out there?
Time you got into the vintage side of three wheels. Paul.

[Paul Boyd]

I sent your question off to Bill.
Too me it looks like it has a shaft drive so it would be a BMW.
Funny you should ask about my sidecar future as I hope in a few years to be on(driver) a vintage rig.
It looks like too much fun.
Paul

[limy_1]

Paul,
Get it together now while you are spending time with the kid.
This way when the kid becomes mobile you won't have to chase the kid while trying to remember where you left off on the rig.
I suppose you could chase Kelly around the house in the mean time.

[larryc]

FYI, the rig in the picture was built by Bob Bakker out here on the left coast. We were going to go vintage racing a few years ago and Bob built the chassis and Ozzie Auer was going to do the motor. The project lost momentum as Bob has his hands full with his Bonneville sidecar. So he gave the chassis to Bill knowing that somewhere down the line between his F1 and F2 builds he would get to it. The chassis was set up for a BMW and if you speak to the "old school" you will find that BMW outfits should be on the right side.

[paul whittaker]

Hello Larryc?
interested to know who constitutes the "old school" ?
street chairs were intended to be on that side which allowed the passenger to alight onto the pavement (sidewalk over here). currently we build according to whether the majority of events will be run clockwise (Ontario and most of the world) or anticlockwise which are mostly Nascar tracks. The caveat is that any given rider may feel more at home with the chair the side which suits him/her, and being more comfortable should turn quicker times.
From a safety angle it would be better if all sidecars were on the same side, since the recovery of an out of control rig is more likely one way than the other. How many right hand F1-F2 are there on the track presently as a proportion of the field?

[larryc]

For me old school is where I learned the trade and that is Germany. In the day, 60's and 70's, Germans ruled the roost and they were all right side chairs. Speak to a vintage German sidecear racer and it is right only, Speak to brit and it is a left side chair. Some Swiss outfits were left and of course all the brits were on the left side. As you state it is really all relative to your own time frame and reference/preference. I won championships with both left and right so it really is just a matter of getting used to the chair. I don't necessarely believe that certain tracks favor one side or the other. A good team can make an outfit work properly either way, I know because I have had the good fortune to prove that theory. Todays F1 and F2 equipment is all left side. The main players LCR, Windle, Bakker, Art, Becker are all left side and all of the fiberglass and components are set up for left so it just is easier to build to the left side. Either way it is sidecar racing and in the end that is what matters.

[paul whittaker]

thanks Larry for the run down, pretty much confirms my own conclusion. If you grow up with right hand, you are likely more comfortable with that side.
The BMW flywheel torque may favour right hand to help keep the chair down but that also means it worsens rear wheel lift. "Gain on swings lose on roundabouts" seems to be the way with most items sidecar related.
As to tracks, we run on a couple of short anticlockwise squirt and brake tracks in Quebec and I find it impossible to match the times of a right hand chair there.

I would add that most solo riders also seem to feel more capable turning left over a right hand turn, does that translate to the opposite for yourself coming from a right side experience? Paul.

[larryc]

You are probably right about the solo left turn comfort thing, I wonder if that is different in the UK? As far as my own comfort level with a sidecar I am for sure more comfortable on the street with a right hand chair in a left turn. On the track with a kneeler I think really enjoy getting the edge in a right hander with a right hand chair. We used to race against a team here on the west coast at Sears Point. They had a left chair and we a right, more often than not the outcome of the race would come down to a right hand hairpin (turn 11 at Sears) we would always out brake him and get the edge going into the turn and then we would have a great drag race to the finish line. We always gave him fits because he was "supposed
to have the edge" with his left hand chair. That to me is the essence of sidecar racing, being able to make an outfit work under all circumstances.