A Look at a Sidecar Rig on Craigslist

Some of you are probably familiar with the online classified services provided by Craigslist.com. You can post ads for free and they're searchable of course.

A couple of days ago, I spotted this ad for a 1979 Honda CB750 Motorcycle with sidecar for $1300. The price got my attention, the picture used by the owner was not that great and my knowledge of Honda CB750s was nil.

I asked John, aka Sanoke, if he'd come along and take a look at the motorcycle from a mechanic's point of view since he is quite the wrencher and used to be an aircraft engine mechanic.

We met at the guy's house in Littleton, CO this morning, at 11:30 and we looked the rig over. Initial impressions were that it had some amount of surface rust where you'd expect it. The sidecar needed to have its paint removed and redone, the interior was "ok" and the seat would need some work as it had a tear in it.

Here's some pictures of the sidecar and what we assumed are mounting points from a "universal kit".

The sidecar itself had minor scratches and flaking of the red paint areas

Front Mounts

Interesting "universal" brackets, this is the topmost rear mount

Bottom rear mount

As you can see above, not exactly "concours" level condition in terms of appearance but then again, the price was pretty accurate according to Sanoke. He pointed out I could buy the rig, sell the motorcycle and keep the side car for eventual mounting on Brigitta, my 1987 R80 Beemer.

Front attachment point for the frame under the "tub"

A view of the bottom rear of the sidecar's tub and frame

After we were done looking at the rig, we were chatting by my motorcycle and an older gentleman drove up to look at the rig too.

We'd found out, from documentation provided by the seller's wife, that the sidecar was an American Brand sidecar. I'd inquired about these sidecars before via email to Dauntless Motors who specialize in sidecars and their mounts. They mentioned that the early American sidecars with torsion bars suspensions (which this one had) were known for "issues". That and the fact that parts are no longer made led me to decide to pass on this sidecar. Hopefully someone buys her, although we did not get a chance to ride her to see how her engine worked, it would not take too much work to make it a good looking rig.

I said my goodbyes to John and headed in to work to get some stuff done. He headed off for a ride, destination unknown. Lucky.

On the way back to US285 from the seller's house, I saw a large lake to the East and stopped to take this picture:

Marston Lake

So, the search for a decent sidecar continues, the need for one is non-existent...it's just a "want". Oh well.