Nostalgia rules in a vintage sidecar
Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2007 7:52 am
Nostalgia rules in a vintage sidecar
Tuesday, January 2, 2007 - By Dave Abrahams - Motoring South Africa - motoring.co.za
Nostalgia, they say, isn't what it used to be but sometimes we get the opportunity to experience the simpler world before the electronic revolution – such as touring the Cape's winelands in a 1930's sidecar, complete with leather flying helmet, scarf and goggles.
60 years ago, if a young working man had his own transport, it was usually a motorcycle – cars were mostly for people who didn't need to work. So, when he married and started a family, the sensible thing to do was to bolt on a sidecar.
The advent of affordable, reliable small cars after the Second World War killed the sidecar as everyday transport and the few still seen on the road are regarded as quaint anachronisms
The Chinese renamed it the CJ750 and kept it in production until 1985
.
But not in some parts of the world…
BMW's R71, introduced in 1938, was a 746cc, sidevalve boxer twin with a foot-operated, four-speed gearbox and shaft final drive.
It was intended from the start as a sidecar tug so had a sturdy frame welded up from oval tubular steel rather than the pressed sheet metal of previous BMW's and state-of-the-art telescopic front suspension.
It was replaced in 1941 by the legendary R75 with sidecar-wheel drive, low-range transmission and a lockable differential, and would have become nothing more than a footnote in the history of motorcycling if the German government had not licensed the design to the Soviet union at the beginning of the war.
The Soviet military, for whom simplicity of maintenance and bulletproof durability were more important than performance, continued to build the R71 as the M72 until the mid-1950's then passed on the design to the Chinese, who renamed it the CJ750 and kept it in production until 1985 when the venerable flat-head engine was replaced by a torquier OHV unit derived from the BMW /2 engine of the early 1960's
The big, all-steel sidecars are upholstered in leather and surprisingly comfortable
.
The sidevalve rigs then found their way on to the civilian market, at first only in China, but later spreading to the West as retro mania took hold.
Which is where we come in…
Tim Clarke of Sea Point runs Cape Sidecar Adventures, with a fleet of 20 beautifully refurbished and immaculate CJ750 sidecar rigs, refinished in either classic black or art-deco burgundy, each with its name painted on the nose of the chair and, he swears, its own personality to match.
They're fully roadworthy with all the necessary lighting and even an electric starter but retain the narrow spoked wheels, sprung "ploughshare" saddles and simple, angular lines so evocative of the era between the wars.
They're available for rent – if you're licensed! - or for chauffeured tours from R750 a day and when Clarke offered my wife and I an overnight trip back to the simpler world our grandparents knew, we didn't hesitate.
To save time we trailered the rigs to Klapmuts, 32km north of Cape Town, where we left the national road, climbed aboard and immediately turned the clock back six decades as we cruised past vineyards and wheat fields at a steady 80km/h, to the self-satisfied chuff-chuffing of the side-valve engines.
Plenty of time
There was plenty of time to look around, enjoy the scenery and even take photographs – something you can't do from the pillion of a modern motorcycle or the seat of an air-conditioned tour bus.
The big, steel sidecars are upholstered in leather and surprisingly comfortable and the wind in your face is no problem at the modest speeds the CJ750s can attain.
The rigs are more stable than they look; my driver, Clarke's son Scott had no problem holding his course as I leapt about, swivelling from side to side to get the pictures you see here.
They're not easy to drive, however; the weight of the "chair" drags the vehicle to the left as you accelerate and it slews to the right under braking as the sidecar tries to overtake the bike.
You have to accelerate through a left turns or shut the throttle through a right, which is why Clarke insists on a driving lesson before he'll let you loose on one, no matter how experienced a rider you are.
Picking cherries
We took the rigs over the legendary Bain's Kloof Pass for a pit stop in Ceres and on to Klondike farm in the Matroosberg, where we spent a leisurely couple of hours picking cherries
Then we relaxed around a braai at the Matroosberg nature reserve, passing around glasses of home-made lemonade and watching a magnificent Karoo sunset, all thoughts of computers, cellphones and deadlines forgotten.
You don't have to be a tourist to enjoy seeing the Cape in a way you've never seen it before and to relax back into a more gracious era when getting there in style was more important than getting there in a hurry.
Thanks to Tim Clarke at Cape Sidecar Adventures; contact them on +27 (0) 21 434-9855.
Tuesday, January 2, 2007 - By Dave Abrahams - Motoring South Africa - motoring.co.za
Nostalgia, they say, isn't what it used to be but sometimes we get the opportunity to experience the simpler world before the electronic revolution – such as touring the Cape's winelands in a 1930's sidecar, complete with leather flying helmet, scarf and goggles.
60 years ago, if a young working man had his own transport, it was usually a motorcycle – cars were mostly for people who didn't need to work. So, when he married and started a family, the sensible thing to do was to bolt on a sidecar.
The advent of affordable, reliable small cars after the Second World War killed the sidecar as everyday transport and the few still seen on the road are regarded as quaint anachronisms
The Chinese renamed it the CJ750 and kept it in production until 1985
.
But not in some parts of the world…
BMW's R71, introduced in 1938, was a 746cc, sidevalve boxer twin with a foot-operated, four-speed gearbox and shaft final drive.
It was intended from the start as a sidecar tug so had a sturdy frame welded up from oval tubular steel rather than the pressed sheet metal of previous BMW's and state-of-the-art telescopic front suspension.
It was replaced in 1941 by the legendary R75 with sidecar-wheel drive, low-range transmission and a lockable differential, and would have become nothing more than a footnote in the history of motorcycling if the German government had not licensed the design to the Soviet union at the beginning of the war.
The Soviet military, for whom simplicity of maintenance and bulletproof durability were more important than performance, continued to build the R71 as the M72 until the mid-1950's then passed on the design to the Chinese, who renamed it the CJ750 and kept it in production until 1985 when the venerable flat-head engine was replaced by a torquier OHV unit derived from the BMW /2 engine of the early 1960's
The big, all-steel sidecars are upholstered in leather and surprisingly comfortable
.
The sidevalve rigs then found their way on to the civilian market, at first only in China, but later spreading to the West as retro mania took hold.
Which is where we come in…
Tim Clarke of Sea Point runs Cape Sidecar Adventures, with a fleet of 20 beautifully refurbished and immaculate CJ750 sidecar rigs, refinished in either classic black or art-deco burgundy, each with its name painted on the nose of the chair and, he swears, its own personality to match.
They're fully roadworthy with all the necessary lighting and even an electric starter but retain the narrow spoked wheels, sprung "ploughshare" saddles and simple, angular lines so evocative of the era between the wars.
They're available for rent – if you're licensed! - or for chauffeured tours from R750 a day and when Clarke offered my wife and I an overnight trip back to the simpler world our grandparents knew, we didn't hesitate.
To save time we trailered the rigs to Klapmuts, 32km north of Cape Town, where we left the national road, climbed aboard and immediately turned the clock back six decades as we cruised past vineyards and wheat fields at a steady 80km/h, to the self-satisfied chuff-chuffing of the side-valve engines.
Plenty of time
There was plenty of time to look around, enjoy the scenery and even take photographs – something you can't do from the pillion of a modern motorcycle or the seat of an air-conditioned tour bus.
The big, steel sidecars are upholstered in leather and surprisingly comfortable and the wind in your face is no problem at the modest speeds the CJ750s can attain.
The rigs are more stable than they look; my driver, Clarke's son Scott had no problem holding his course as I leapt about, swivelling from side to side to get the pictures you see here.
They're not easy to drive, however; the weight of the "chair" drags the vehicle to the left as you accelerate and it slews to the right under braking as the sidecar tries to overtake the bike.
You have to accelerate through a left turns or shut the throttle through a right, which is why Clarke insists on a driving lesson before he'll let you loose on one, no matter how experienced a rider you are.
Picking cherries
We took the rigs over the legendary Bain's Kloof Pass for a pit stop in Ceres and on to Klondike farm in the Matroosberg, where we spent a leisurely couple of hours picking cherries
Then we relaxed around a braai at the Matroosberg nature reserve, passing around glasses of home-made lemonade and watching a magnificent Karoo sunset, all thoughts of computers, cellphones and deadlines forgotten.
You don't have to be a tourist to enjoy seeing the Cape in a way you've never seen it before and to relax back into a more gracious era when getting there in style was more important than getting there in a hurry.
Thanks to Tim Clarke at Cape Sidecar Adventures; contact them on +27 (0) 21 434-9855.