Only's Sidecar Mountings

These are the mounts on my 1983 R100 BMW/SL1 outfit.

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Lower Front Mount

Upper Front Mount

Lower Rear Mount

Upper Rear Mount

Under Seat Reinforcing

Sorry about the photo quality, I'm slipping!!!



I started with the lower front mount. This was cut from 6mm plate to be held by the two engine mounts and a U-bolt at the lower front frame rail. The photo is in two sections as it was difficult to photograph in-situ. Effectively, the plate is an 'L' shape laying on it's back. I made a template from cardboard to check clearance etc before cutting the steel. The plate is reinforced at the rear to prevent any flex.

The upper front mount is a combination of 6mm flat bar and some 3/4" RHS. This is the mount I am least happy with, and will strengthen a bit more. The frame clamps are the rear sway bar mounts from an Australian Holden Commodore car. All the bolts used are the highest tensile strength I could find. This mount is bolted across both front downtubes.

The lower rear is the only 'welded' mount on the bike. I drilled out an existing hole in the footpeg/exhaust hanger. Unfortunately the surface wasn't parallel to the wheelbase, so I welded a machined wedge-shaped spacer to align the mount, which was then bolted up.

The upper rear involved drilling a 1/2" hole through both plates just forward of the rear shock mount. A spacer was made and fitted inside the shock mount to avoid crush, and a fabricated strengthening strut was made to run diagonally forward to holes existing in the upper front subframe mounts on the main frame. (See Strut photo) This involves removing the tool carrier permanently, and the strut needs to be removed to replace the battery. (A ten minute job)

Alignment was simple, as explained at Only's Outfit. An outfit's alignment will always be a compromise unless you carry the same weight in the chair all the time.

I'm very pleased with the final result. This outfit is my only transport and gets ridden every day of the year. My sidecar loads vary greatly but I have very little unwanted lift. However, I do take left-handers a lot slower without weight in the chair.

If you have any comments, then email me.

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