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English Club Celibrates 50 years

 
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sidecarkeith



Joined: 06 Jan 2007
Posts: 336
Location: yorkshire uk

PostPosted: Sun May 11, 2008 5:21 pm    Post subject: English Club Celibrates 50 years Reply with quote

Saturday 10th May was the South Yorkshire Sidecar Club's 50th Year.


Old and New gathered.






One for Bandit Bill

We all had a good time and the food was all home made, yum yum.

Keith Big Grin Big Grin Big Grin
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BSAVINTAGE



Joined: 26 Jul 2006
Posts: 21
Location: CT

PostPosted: Mon May 12, 2008 10:24 pm    Post subject: English Club Celebrates 50 Years Reply with quote

Thanks for the pics. That's a beautiful old BSA rig.
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01 BANDITO
63 BSA SUPER ROCKET (RESTORED,LEAKING)
65 BMW R60 WITH "74 900 ENGINE
71 BMW R75 (RESTORED,NOT LEAKING)
99 HARLEY ELECTRAGLIDE
73 PORSCHE 914 (ENGINE IN BASEMENT)
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sidecarkeith



Joined: 06 Jan 2007
Posts: 336
Location: yorkshire uk

PostPosted: Fri May 16, 2008 8:09 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

http://www.sidecar.freeuk.com/
Click on the link on the page to South Yorkshire Sidecar Club, there's more pictures on there.
Keith
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zentime



Joined: 22 Jan 2005
Posts: 837
Location: Massachusetts USA

PostPosted: Tue May 20, 2008 1:11 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

sidecarkeith wrote:
http://www.sidecar.freeuk.com/
Click on the link on the page to South Yorkshire Sidecar Club, there's more pictures on there.
Keith


Wow, 50 years, that's a milestone! Thanks for sending the pictures and links. I see one whole page of pictures devoted to our HPS group.Big Grin

Looking at the pictures, makes me wonder why we see so little CHS in England? It seems to be mostly LL or standard forks? Is there any special reason for this? Are there government restrictions that prevent the building or importing of Center Hub Steering? Or is it that people just don't think it's worth the effort / expense? Question Question
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sidecarkeith



Joined: 06 Jan 2007
Posts: 336
Location: yorkshire uk

PostPosted: Tue May 20, 2008 8:27 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Zen
I think it's a bit of all three, what you've gotto remember is our sidecars are on the left so importing the parts wouldn't help. Unless the companies paid the right to alter the technology.
Forgive me if I get this bit wrong, EML is one of the biggest sidecar manufacturers in Europe who have sidecars on the right, it as taken them 5 years to get through the English laws and to produce a sidecar on the left.
Given that no English sidecar company could match EML's fundings, our companies have left such technology alone.
Being a nation of eccentricts, there's nothing saying some private induvidual will not produce his/her own. Big Grin

Keith
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Paul



Joined: 27 Jan 2005
Posts: 182
Location: Utah

PostPosted: Tue May 20, 2008 3:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

sidecarkeith wrote:
I think it's a bit of all three, what you've gotto remember is our sidecars are on the left so importing the parts wouldn't help.


It depends - the CHS is separate from the sidecar mounting. Many designs share the same subframe - but the front suspension hangs from the motorcycle, not from the sidecar, so it should work in the UK.

Are there laws restricting which side the chair is on? If not, you could just import and use an entire sidecar/CHS assembly. Certainly here in the USA you see the occasional sidecar mounted on the left side of the bike.

And what about Japan? Anyone seen any HPS CHS use there? They drive on the correct side of the road too - so you could import any Japanese CHS and use that.
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sidecarkeith



Joined: 06 Jan 2007
Posts: 336
Location: yorkshire uk

PostPosted: Tue May 20, 2008 10:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Paul
I think it comes down to Zen's last point, the expense, since no one in England make them they would have to be imported.
Maybe some day we'll have them.

Anyway does anyone know what the advantages are over leading links, maybe someone as ridden both types.
It would be worth knowing if it was worth investing in a set.

Keith
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Ralph



Joined: 27 Jan 2005
Posts: 603
Location: Lexington, Ky

PostPosted: Tue May 20, 2008 11:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Day and dark Smile
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zentime



Joined: 22 Jan 2005
Posts: 837
Location: Massachusetts USA

PostPosted: Wed May 21, 2008 12:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

sidecarkeith wrote:
Zen
I think it's a bit of all three, what you've gotto remember is our sidecars are on the left so importing the parts wouldn't help. Unless the companies paid the right to alter the technology.
Forgive me if I get this bit wrong, EML is one of the biggest sidecar manufacturers in Europe who have sidecars on the right, it as taken them 5 years to get through the English laws and to produce a sidecar on the left.
Given that no English sidecar company could match EML's fundings, our companies have left such technology alone.
Being a nation of eccentricts, there's nothing saying some private induvidual will not produce his/her own. Big Grin

Keith


So English law is somewhat restrictive concerning sidecars? If an individual were to build and just start riding around with CHS, would they be breaking any law? Given the one time popularity of sidecars in England and the collective mechanical creativity amongst British motorcyclist, I find it interesting CHS technology is not more prevalent. As Ralph said, the difference is like "Day and dark" A wider range of tires can be fitted on the front. The tire maintains more contact with the road in turns which translates into better grip. CHS done properly give much better lateral support for the front wheel than do LL or telescopic forks. I guess in short, it just works better and is more "tunable" to a riders preference.
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sidecarkeith



Joined: 06 Jan 2007
Posts: 336
Location: yorkshire uk

PostPosted: Thu May 22, 2008 7:23 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Zen
Basically your right, anyone can build a road vehicle, but they have to get a certificate from Ministry of Transport (known as a MOT) to say it is road worthy.
Before you can put it on the road, which is where the restrictions come in.
Now I've never delt with any of that so I'm no expert on what is allowed and what isn't.
The Ministry's laws are so outdated at times that new technology that sometimes they are not defined in their rule & regs.
Maybe thats why we don't see CHS over here, I have seen one at a show but I think it was French or German.
Perhaps our French members could throw some light on that.

Keith
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zentime



Joined: 22 Jan 2005
Posts: 837
Location: Massachusetts USA

PostPosted: Thu May 22, 2008 12:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

sidecarkeith wrote:
Zen
Basically your right, anyone can build a road vehicle, but they have to get a certificate from Ministry of Transport (known as a MOT) to say it is road worthy.
Before you can put it on the road, which is where the restrictions come in.
Now I've never delt with any of that so I'm no expert on what is allowed and what isn't.
The Ministry's laws are so outdated at times that new technology that sometimes they are not defined in their rule & regs.
Maybe thats why we don't see CHS over here, I have seen one at a show but I think it was French or German.
Perhaps our French members could throw some light on that.

Keith


For the sake of discussion, your outfit is already on the road and passed all the regulations, could you now go off into your garage and build CHS for your rig and start driving it around without problem? Or is there periodic inspections that would cause a problem?

I strongly resent government intrusion into personal creativity in this regard..........and most other things. Fortunately, I think here in the states, there's a large industry surrounding building of hot rods and specialty vehicles, so I think in some ways, people are accustomed to this sort of thing. I know that lots of people build one off type vehicles over here and mostly what is required is that that they pass a basic safety inspection . If it's built from scratch and passes inspection, a vehicle identification number is issued. Hell, in Kentucky, you don't even have to register a trailer that you tow behind a car, so I'm told! Laughing

I understand it's a bit more complicated in Canada. If any of our members from France or other European countries are reading this, it would be good to hear how free you are to modify your sidecars with CHS etc. Question
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docmike



Joined: 27 Jan 2005
Posts: 630
Location: Eastern NC

PostPosted: Thu May 22, 2008 5:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Here in North Carolina there seems to be no rules as far as sidecars are concerned. When I go for the yearly inspection all they are interested in is if the bike itself has all the required lights, mirrors, and a horn. One dealership said as far as the state cares adding a sidecar is no different than adding a saddlebag or radio, just another accessory.
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zentime



Joined: 22 Jan 2005
Posts: 837
Location: Massachusetts USA

PostPosted: Thu May 22, 2008 6:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

docmike wrote:
Here in North Carolina there seems to be no rules as far as sidecars are concerned. When I go for the yearly inspection all they are interested in is if the bike itself has all the required lights, mirrors, and a horn. One dealership said as far as the state cares adding a sidecar is no different than adding a saddlebag or radio, just another accessory.


Pretty much the same up here and it dam well should stay that way.

Good to hear from the country of North Carolina Laughing
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docmike



Joined: 27 Jan 2005
Posts: 630
Location: Eastern NC

PostPosted: Thu May 22, 2008 7:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

That's not to say I don't see some scary stuff on the road around here.

(been a slow day at work today, I can see air force one from the parking lot, a lot of non smiling guys in dark suits standing around, so I'm just staying inside and quiet.)
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sidecarkeith



Joined: 06 Jan 2007
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Location: yorkshire uk

PostPosted: Thu May 22, 2008 9:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Zen
Okay your safety standards are our MOT, after 3 years from new we then have to get them MOT'd every years after.
It's basicaly what you have said about your safety test light, horns, etc, just a bit more on the roadworthyness, thats all.

We too have specialist builder who are registered with the vechile department, to say they are qualified builders.
At the same time anyone can build their own, but they must go through a safety test before they can put it on the road.

Given that kit built trikes are expensive and hard to come by here, a lot of trikers build their own, now it's okay putting a porche engine in a home built frame but the frame needs to be able to take the stress.
Which is why we have MOT tests. You don't want some idiot who knows nothing about building trikes, to just weld a frame together one drunken night, then go out and find the whole thing falls apart at the 1st bend.
I would say people who build the are responsable and either have machanical knowledge or study it before building.

Hope that explains it a bit more.
Keith
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