DIY: Building a sidecar rig for a pre-WW2 motorcycle

The bike's original sidecar was binned and my friend built his own.

BHPian Indian2003 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

This bike was built by a friend of mine. He started off with a Soviet clone of the pre-war BMW R71, the Dnepr. The bike has drive on 2 wheels. Many of these bikes are refitted with BMW boxer engines by owners who want a more reliable bike. This green one has a BMW engine.

These bikes were notorious for very bad workmanship and breakdowns with cracked welds and components of bad quality. I met one a few years ago that had broken down along the road with a wobbly rear wheel. Upon further inspection, I saw that the rear wheel bearing had been fitted without grease.

He stripped it down and rebuilt it with Porsche pistons and used western bearings and components where possible. The frame was rewelded and he binned the sidecar and built his own.

The finished bike looked very nice and is a very capable mud racer. I like the routing of the exhaust pipe.

The BMW factory in Germany was dismantled and taken to the Soviet Union as war reparations. The bikes were used in the army in the Soviet Union but they started to export civilian versions to the West in the 80s.

A friend of mine rode one to Russia in the 90s and visited the factory. They were so impressed that they put him up in an apartment as a guest and overhauled his bike so he could make the return home safely. He spent about a week there.

He was riding with another friend riding a Minsk 150 cc. This guy is one hardcore biker. He has toured the length and breadth of the Soviet Union on his Minsk. He has a collection of Eastern European bikes, mainly Jawa.

A few years ago he was run over by a hit and run driver and became lame in his right arm. He converted his bike with a left-hand throttle and continued on his trips. He should be returning soon.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.