The R18 sidecar thread

[Petrus]

So now the usual magic solution: Throw some money at it and it will run ok again

Farming it out as for one I am less good a mechanic than a good friend of mine whereas I have more slush fund than him.
So we made an exchange deal: He will start on it when I am off on the Vespa trip deep into Morocco.

The engine will get good quality parts but stock spec.
The only performance improvement will be me shedding more girth/weight

Minor detail, surprising optical effect:

The windshield on my Nimbus has an aluminium surround. It has two effect. For one all see the thing better so less accidental contact with it. Secondly the framing makes it optically appear smaller, especially lower.

Thus also put a chromed surround on the windshield of my BMW rig. Same result.

Because of it's compact dimension, on the Inder boot the windshield looks out of proportion high.
YES!!!

The surround solved it.

 

[R2K]

 

[Petrus]

Thát´s the spirit @R2K and thanks for sharing.

Hope you have had good enough weather for the R18 rig.

 

[Petrus]

Not shooting is a guaranteed miss so...

 

[Petrus]

today had an appointment in Málaga for brake tests by a certified institution for the homologation. Combined with a tech analysis for said homologation.
It was for sure not quick and dirty. All in all little change from 4 hours.

 

[Petrus]

Back in the country; literally. Went desert en high mountains (up to 2.650 m altitude) riding in the heart of Morocco. In all 2.000 kms. On a Vespa

Back to the R18 sidecar today fitted the chair front light with hopefully the correct homologation number.
Tomorrow is supposed to be nice dry weather so plan photograph all four sides and send them off to the paperworkers.

Thén tackle the Vespa sidecar engine.

p.s. on the one but hardest, roughest mountain path we, on the descend, overtook a group of BMW GS adventurers. On the hardest no such bikes. All day only 6 KTM hard enduros. And us

 

[Petrus]

Tomorrow is supposed to be nice dry weather so plan photograph all four sides

 

[Petrus]

Btw @R2K, how are you getting along?
I find the steering heavy because I also have the delightful hardtail Nimbus and featherweight Vespa. Not too heavy btw and it gives great feel of the traction of the front.
Second ´gripe´ it that would like much shorter first gear and that is with my relatively light combination.

What I should have understood but initially disappointed me slightly is that the cornering speed is limited by the cóncept. The grunt/power does not make for any difference through twisty bits.

 

[Petrus]

Today went for a relaxed drive but it went weírd.
Left in the chill of the mountain morning and notice I was still tuned in to the Vespa wresting over no-roads: Way less mechanically empathetic than I usually ride/drive. The seemed to líke is. Behaved more sympathetic to driver input. WOW that´s a win-win I thought.

The back drop is that I have a VERY complicated relationship with Ex+1. The Ex I have simply blocked/erased. From Ex+1 I simply want to keep a bit of distance so had asked and gotten the key of the piso back before off to Morocco.
Yesterday her fibre optics cable was out because of tree maintenance or what. As she works self employed from home that can not be. So... offered her the use of wifi in my piso. She was in all day/evening.
After having left for home she later came back for the key for today/Sunday.
Now her best friends have opened a what I call a clothing shop with a simple food corner but they call it a ´concept store´. It is EX+1´s ´safe place´. As such I stay away. She told me however to go there as they had ´canvass´ docker pants. She was to be at my place today so I left early with the plan to visit the store half way the drive.

That subconsciously altered my usual focused way of riding/driving. No way distracted but not my racer/hunter chip. Added to the Vespa desert mode it was ... interesting.
I have slid the rear wheel everywhich way. First sort of by accident crossing the limits of adhesion because of desert mode. Next just having fun.
Both in straight line braking and accelerating. None too worrying that.
Skidded/braked a 90 degree parking.
Drifted out corners.
Next on some worn smooth concrete bits added a slight front creep with counter steering to the rear drift.
In the end I drove it néarly like I used to with my old MZ rigs. The difference being more slow motion.

The verdict is that whereas under normal driving the front understeer and the weight keep the margins of error tight, the rough riding shifted the limits. The weight made the response of the rig itself more ... well... I would day gentle. The inertia slowed down any potentially violent reactions. It was fun! Would not évvah had thought this possible.
Bottom line it is NOT the way to routinely drive the rig but most definitely VERY valuable info/experience with the frontiers of handling.

The net result btw was no such pants in the shop and Ex+1 decided to take a day off work.
On Sunday the shop is closed so Ex+1 will go to the friends for wifi.
Makes one wonder why she came back for the key no?! Ah well changing minds is well known female behavior.

 

[Noelpolar]

So, setting aside the "women are from Venus" part..... you discovered the "dirt track" like style fun capabilities of your R18 rig!

When riding my R18 (or r9t) on loose surface dirt tracks one can live within "traction" and ride like on the road but slowish at times or turn off traction control and spin up the rear gyroscope (rear wheel) and have all sorts of fun. Sounds like you have a sidecar on road version.

Now to do it with your dog.... video it!

 

[Petrus]

So, setting aside the "women are from Venus" part..... you discovered the "dirt track" like style fun capabilities of your R18 rig!

When riding my R18 (or r9t) on loose surface dirt tracks one can live within "traction" and ride like on the road but slowish or turn off traction control and spin up the rear gyroscope (rear wheel) and have all sorts of fun. Sounds like you have a sidecar on road version.

The bonus of a rig being the extra wheel. Apart from the obvious extra safety margins, the added inertia widens the spin margins too.
As to the ASC it imo on a rig is an added safety to have it OFF!
The risc of a an off because of a spinning rear wheel is eliminated by the extra wheel and the possibility to light the rear up adds steering possibilities.
For those in doubt read the Ural driving manual. Happy to provide the live link again.

 

[Petrus]

btw the ´ensayo de frenos´ mentioned a few posts above went só against my mechanical empathy it nearly physically hurt. The rig though took it in its strides, shrugged abuse off. It helps me be a bit less sympathetic, subtle with my build.

 

[Noelpolar]

You need to do a video....

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies