Sidecart for a motorised bmx

[Henshooter]

Hey again all , went around a mates for a few brews this evening and we got onto the convo about motorising his motorized bicycle , he's somewhat of a err bmx bandit though and was asking about fitting a motor to an old Haro mx he has ,took me around the side of the workshop to show me the frame and low and behold there is a gem to be seen ,it's a sweet looking side hack/cart on an older style mx ,large inner diameter on the frame and I believe would fit a china girl ,she would be tight but it's manageable , safety wise I'm not to sure though , would it be safe to do so , it's well made and looks to be tig welded so no melt through on the frame and very clean and tidy ,almost looks like a production line hack

No pics unfortunately ,tried to take them but no light with an ipad = worse pics than Miley's twerking
Hopefully I'll get around on the weekend and have some ready to upload

Anyway ......
Safety ,have any of you guys seen or heard of a motorised side cart / hack mx and if so what are your opinions
Would love to do the build but ain't no way I'm doing it if he will injure or kill himself due to instability issues
Looking on the net it's very similar to this one except more caged in

Opinions ????

Regards Henshooter

 

[Theon]

It does kind of sound a little dangerous.
I'd be wanting to get my CoG as low as possible.
I've never ridden a bike with side car, but they usually have a different front end, and I believe can be a bit of a handful especially without weight in the side car,
You don't see to many side cars on the road these days.
I'd keep it slow.

 

[Henshooter]

It does kind of sound a little dangerous.
I'd be wanting to get my CoG as low as possible.
I've never ridden a bike with side car, but they usually have a different front end, and I believe can be a bit of a handful especially without weight in the side car,
You don't see to many side cars on the road these days.
I'd keep it slow.

Great minds think alike ,these are the exact thoughts I had ,see it's a bit of a moral delemma for me ,on one hand I'm happy to build it for him but on the other hand I'm not going to build a kit to see him hurt or kill himself on .
He is a younger bloke too so IMHO pushes things a bit hard at times

Says he will use it for transporting stuff and no passengers but can I really trust that he won't

Hmm think I'll have to mull this one over a bit

If any members have riden a motorised Sidecart let me know how stable they really are

Oh and cheers for your imput Theon

Regards Hen

 

[maniac57]

I had a buddy into BMX sidecar racing back in the late 70's BMX scene. The hacks were very well made and burly stout to handle the monkey climbing all over it at speed! The riders were all completely insane, with the monkeys far worse than the riders as a rule!
I think it would work just fine once you got a feel for it and found someone athletic (and crazy!) enough to be your monkey.
Stuffing a HT motor in one would be delirious fun!
I say go for it! You'll never pull up to one like it at a light....


Here's some inspiration:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyowpRur1v0

 

[silverbear]

I have no experience with BMX type bikes, but do have a vintage cruiser with a sidecar I made from a canoe. It takes a lot of getting used to the difference in handling since leaning into turns does nothing for steering. You don't realize how much leaning you do with two wheels until you try it with three. So, you steer with the handlebars and it takes some time to get the feel of that. Turns are best done slower. When the same bike is ridden as a two wheeler (sidecar detaches) top speed I run it is about 40 mph. With sidecar 30mph on the straights is as fast as I want to go. My dog loves her sidecar and it gets a lot of attention. Great fun.
SB

 

[CTripps]

I'm interested in the idea, either vs. or coupled with a trailer, but haven't dabbled yet. The only experience I have to date with a sidecar was a guy who had one in the neighbourhood I lived in years ago. I didn't know him to even wave to, just from seeing him around all the time. Saw him riding his motorcycle (a mid-range Honda or Kawasaki) with it all the time, even in winter conditions.

One day I saw him without the sidecar on my way to work. He must have just detached it, because I saw him pull up to the stop sign and almost fall over. He remembered in time and put his feet down. Then he slapped his helmetted forehead.

 

[rock out]

That looks like it would be awesome to carry my tools to work