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August 2009
Many years ago, I saw a picture of a Wessex Sport Sidecar mounted on a series D, enclosed machine. I immediately wanted to have one, and after some years, I finally bought one. I'm intending to mount the sidecar on my Vincent Victor copy. The plan is that as the renovation goes on, I will present the development on this page. Renovations tend to start up with a lot of enthusiasm, only to decline some time later. Should this happen, feel free to wake me up with an e-mail.
I would much like to recieve pictures of sidecars from members in SVC and VOC for publication on this page. I hope to be able to have pictures of sidecars both mounted and dismounted. Also pictures of sidecars from non-members are welcome, preferrably English sidecars from the fourties and fifties.
A Wessex is made of a middle part of sheet metal that is self carrying. On this part, the sidecar wheel hangs with the shock absorber, and on the other side, four mounting brackets is located.
The front cone and the rear cone (which are identical) are made in fiberglass. So is the nicely sculptured mudguard with its elegant rear lamp. The sidecar also has a beautifully designed foot step in cast aluminium.
The interiors are made up of a seat with spiral feathers mounted on plywood. This is covered in artificial leather. I will replace the back support with one from a small English sport car. There is mounting points from two arm supports on the Wessex, as well as some sort of fitting for a floor mat. There is also a small compartment on the same spot where the dashboard would be on a car.
The canopy is designed and made in the worst English style, but is at the same time very charming.
September 2009
I couldn't help myself but to mount the seat and sat down in the sidecar. When I was to get up, however, I was unable to push myself up. I began laughing. The telephone was too far away to reach, the mobile phone was on the working bench and nobody was at home. What if my wife has found me sitting like this? At last, I managed to turn around 180 degrees so that I could crawl out of the sidecar. I'm beginning to believe the old truth that a sidecar unites the worst properties of the car with the worst properties of a motorcycle.
When I inspected the object closer (I had only seen it on pictures when I bought it), I saw that the wheel, sprung parts and the breaks were in a very good condition. The can't have been used much. Only by cleaning them, glas blastering them and giving the parts new finish, I have made them as good as new. The break drum is lathed very skillfulled. I have bought a new coachlined rim that is black with red stripes. I also bought new polished spokes and nipples from Central Wheel in England. Unfortunately, I ordered a 18' WM2 rim, so it's difficult to get a sidecar tyre. I also made a knock-off nut with a Vincent logo in the middle.
The self carrying middle part has some minor rust damages. This will be fixed, but it will have to wait until a marriage between a bike and the side car has happened.
October 2009
The plastic parts has had quite a few incidents during the years. They were so badly injured and horribly fixed that I deicided to made new forms so that I could cast new parts instead of trying to repair the old ones. The forms are now finished, and hopefully the fiberglas parts can be cast soon. Cracks and fractures in polyester plastic clad in fibreglas usually 'go through' the newly polished surface, so a new laminate without old cracks and damages will surely do. The gelcoat surface and the colour on both the machine and the sidecar will be the same. When all is finished and tested, I will probably put on a nice coating and a few gold stripes for the whole carriage. Besides, it might be good to practice some driving with the sidecar before putting on the finish. As there has been a few damages on the old fibreglass parts, one should probably have some humbleness towards driving with a sidecar attached. A few so called friends give me detailed descriptions about their experiences with sidecar driving. All stories end with the teller concluding that they won't ever get close to a bike with sidecar attached again.
The mudguard and the first cone are now cast from the form. The whole ordeal passed without damage to the newly cast parts. I have been aware of the so called 'release angles' on the mudguard were off a bit, but by making the form slightly flexible,letting the laminate harden properly (it shrinks about 2% during the hardening), as well as beeing on the good list of the guy upstairs, I got the mudguard out from the form completely undamaged. During the first week of November, I'll try to cast cone number two. The wheel is complete and mounted with the help of the great people at TH Pettessons in Gothenburg.
I'm beginning to look closer on how others have mounted their sidecars. The Wessex needs no less than seven supports between the motorcycle and four attachment points of the sidecar. I have an idea on how to mount the car on my clad Vincent by attaching a support frame. I hope to be able to mount and dismount the car in less than 30 minutes.
A rear lamp, the same as on the Austin Healey MK1 Sprite, was bought from MG Center Sweden in Kungsbacka (very helpful people). I have also got hold of a back support to an Austin Froggeye, that look much better than the original back support. The interior will have to wait for now, but I will probably have to create a little bogus dashboard in wood, that contains at least an 8-day Smiths clock and obviously some toggle switches. The interior will be red or crimson coloured leather that blends nicely with the black. Both the car and the bike will be black. My intention is also to widen and perhaps heighten the canopy so that a passenger with helmet can sit straight in it. Who knows how many of these plans will come to be.
November 2009
Cone number two is now cast and taken out of the form. I have begun to make/modify supports between the car and the bike. This is taking a lot longer than enticipated, but people who aren't optimistic about time won't get anything done. When some BSF-fastings that I ordered from England arrive, the wheel hanging can be mounted, and a first test drive can be done. Close to my house, there is a very large parking lot where I plan to make the test drives. An Austin Mini chair has been purchased. What the ad claimed to be as good as new, turned out to have lost its colour due to the sun and have three large scratches in the cloating and have miscolourings on the seat. Fortunately, it was within a 50 km radius from home. Due to the bad condition, I only paid 100 SEK. It could be useful for future interior work. Maybe I can get the seat to go with the Austin Froggeye I bought earlier.
The cones and the mudguard have been test mounted. Some smaller adjustments must be done to the mudguard in order to get an acceptable fit. The supports between the machine and the car are now good enough for a test drive to take place. I have ordered tubes for the 'canopy' and contacted a friend who has promised to help me bend the tubes and weld the construction.
The Victor has since the beginning gone under the working name 'La Cucaracha' which is Spanish for cockroach. Because of that, I have bought a compressor horn that plays the tunes from the traditional Spanish corrido that got popular in Mexico during the Mexican revolution that goes 'La Cucaracha La Cucaracha, di di di di'. You won't be happier than you make yourself.
Hans Hallström of Sidvagnsimporten has given me great many tips on how the sidecar should be mounted and adjusted. Thanks a lot to him. All tips about adjusting and handling the sidecar will be gladly received.
December 2009 and February 2010
Due to the cold and snowy weather, I havn't had the possibility to work with the sidecar project. Hopefully I will resume the work when the spring sun appear again.
If you have thoughts or questions, please e-mail calle@vincenthrd.se
Misc. and pictures
A member of SVC has a very beautiful left-hanged Steib LS 200 for a Vincent for sale. Concact Calle and I will make you get in touch.
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The page was last modified March 22 2010 22:25:08.