Black Widow - karre (1)

This is the sidecar on the bike of the previous owner. He was in urgent need of cash, I liked the idea of a sidecar as I wanted to try that out without spending a zillion.

A company in Germany seems to convert Wasp sidecars to this sort of thing. Underneath the seat is an extra gastank, and the vacuumoperated fuel pump can be switched over to the extra tank. Looks nice, but passenger still ends up in the wind.

As fitted to my bike. I cut a deal with the previous owner, who is a motorcycle mechanic and does a lot of work on sidecars. He mounted it and did a very good job of it too. Incase anyone is wondering. It´s legal. The legislation on sidecars is so limited overhere you would not believe it. It needs lights, a suitable seat if you want to take a passenger. That´s about it.

On a trip through England I had some misfortune. 9 spokes in the rear wheel broke. Seems a spoked wheel has problems handling the sideways forces. So I changed the wheels for cast type.

A friend of mine posing on the bike. Pizza delivery box is handy for keeping stuff dry.

A lot of people ask about this so I made some close ups:
The front wheel is XS400 18 inch wheel. It makes the steering a little bit lighter. It is interchangeable with an XS500 19 inch front wheel. But not with an XS650 front wheel, which is 5mm or so wider.

The fork is XS650D (35mm), the T-piece is XS500, with a solid mounted handlebar - gives better response but vibrations in the handlebars. Standard XS650D disks and calipers.
Mudguard is something I picked up with a ton of other pieces - haven´t got a clue where it comes from. Plastic, very flexible. Survived a taxi backing up and hitting it with the fender.

Rear wheel from a XJ550, it has cushion drive, the sprocket is in rubber blocks. Also - the sprocket carrier has a seperate bearing, making it a smoother drive.

The sprocket on the seperate carrier, and the brake. Also 180mm, like the standard xs, but approximately 30% wider, so more braking power and smoother operation. I put a standard brake shoe next to it to compare.

Ruud and Annemieke posing. We went for a holiday to Germany and while we were there visited a German XS rallye. The sign reads "Wietstock" Wiet means marihuana in Dutch. Ruud is having a roll-up. I guess it was tobacco he was using.

Going for a roundtrip with Ruud in the sidecar.The Germans thought I was crazy, and astounished that this was legal in Belgium. They can´t even put on other tires without permission from the TUV.

Here fun and games at the Dutch XS 650 rallye. Some people wanted to see how many people would fit on a bike and still ride it. They managed something like 7 I believe. So I had the brilliant idea of trying the same with the sidecar.

Though nobody managed to keep count, first try was something like 26 and second try was 28 or 30. Somebody actually sat on the pizza box and bent the auxiliary frame. But it didn´t break.

After the little stunt my rear shocks were totally shagged. I got thinking what the weight was the bike had to carry and I still wonder how come only the shocks crapped out.