On a narrow tree lined street in Berlin, sits a sidecar rig
parked on the sidewalk. One’s first thought is how nice and clean it is. Not
that cheap bright plastic shine, but a hand rubbed pride of ownership sheen.
The smooth soft silver bodywork on a bright red frame is a strong hint that the
owner has spent many hours with his hands on this beauty. The second observation is the total absence of
any logos, brand markings or labels anywhere on the bike, the engine or on the sidecar.
The motorcycle has a familiar shape and look yet something
is different. The sidecar has a comfortable old school look but… it too is not
like others I have seen. Is this an Eastern Europe bike that we rarely see in
the States or maybe a recently built Indian knock-off? Definitely calls for a closer inspection.
Starting with the engine: it’s a single cylinder, air-cooled,
four stroke, very clean, no grime, no dripping oil. Appears to be a mid-size
300 to 600cc? Has a carburetor and a
glass in-line fuel filter. That’s unusual. The standard gear shift and drive chain
on the left side means it not older than mid-seventies though it looks to be
much older. Maybe a retro fit?
The two disk brakes with solid rotors on the front wheel says
mid-seventies or newer yet a small drum brake on the rear wheel declares it's a much
older bike. The trailing edge of the front fender has a low wide flare to
divert water away from the engine and rider’s feet. Looks like a 1970’s
bell-bottom pants leg. The front fender carries a seldom seen small chrome
running light top center. A matching
running light is on the sidecar fender. A single round headlamp sits in front
of a speedometer marked in kilometers. Handlebars are a chrome low rise with a
wide grip. Again standard clutch on the left, front brake on the right. No
windshield. No turn signals. Nothing to identify the manufacturer.
The seat is a custom bench seat residing above a chrome
after market horn. Not unusual for an owner to replace a factory seat with a more
comfortable custom. The rear fender is interesting. It’s hinged for ease of
removing the rear tire, but the fender mounts are unlike any I have ever seen. It has a small diameter old school looking taillight
that matches the taillight on the sidecar fender. Maybe this rig is older than
I thought.
Turning to the sidecar body, the front has that familiar
torpedo shape of a Cozy brand sidecar we see in the States but this one is
different. The rear section of the body
is tapered like the nose of an Indy racecar with a trunk lid and a small luggage
rack. The tube body is mounted at two pivot points to the sidecar frame in
front of the passenger seat. The rear of the body is hung with two chrome extension
springs.
The fender looks to be a familiar design yet the running
light on top and the gap between the fender and the sidecar body hints this is
not factory.
The sidecar frame itself is attached at four points to the
bike, which appear to be factory mounting hardware, though not like any I have
seen. The three wheels have normal squared
off sidecar tires.
Still not finding any hints as to brand or country of origin,
I look around for someone to ask about who might own this rig. Have many
questions to ask to resolve this enigma.
Only now I notice the rig is parked in front of a motorcycle
gear shop, LOUIS Fun Company. With any luck the owner will be a customer inside
buying something for his beautiful machine. Entering the store I ask the
cashier if he knows who owns the sidecar rig out front. He calls out something in German toward the back
of the store. A tall slender fortyish man with dark hair emerges from behind a stack of helmets. The cashier introduces him as Erik Haid, the
sidecar owner.
Fantastic! Erik willing shares his story of how he built
this truly one of a kind rig. What good fortune, but it quickly fades once we
realize our linguistic skills are not up to discussing things technical. While
Erik’s English is a thousand times better than my few German phrases, we are
stumbling over too many technical points. Quickly we recruit an interpreter.
Thank you, Detlev Louis.
Starting with just the engine, frame and gas tank from a
badly wrecked 1980 Yamaha SR500, Erik started an epic journey of building his
dream sidecar rig. After removing the useless damaged parts and sections, deciding what was salvageable and what to discard, Erik spent the next seven
years rebuilding with whatever parts he could source in his native Berlin from salvage yards,
abandoned bikes, scavenger hunts, friend’s parts bins and neighbor’s garages.
What he couldn’t find, he fabricated himself. With a limited budget of money
and time, Erik applied ingenuity and creativity to meet the challenge. Very few
new parts were bought. Most everything was outsourced and recycled.
The original front forks were twisted beyond repair. Searching around town, Erik found a set of forks with twin disk brakes off a Yamaha XS650. Then the headlamp,
speedometer, ignition and front fender were scavenged from several different MZ
BK350 bikes. Of course the many pieces
from all these different manufacturers could never fit together, so Erik cut, hammered,
welded and reshaped everything until they did fit. He says there was a lot of
trial and error fabrication going on. He would try something, go for a test
ride then rework it again until he was happy with the results. Today everything
fits together seamlessly as if it came from a factory that way, just not like any
other rig you have ever seen.
Erik thinks the sidecar might have been made by Globe in
India. When he got a hold it, it too had been in an accident. I thought the
front looks familiar but not the tail section. That’s when Erik explained the tail was smashed in so bad he had to build a new rear section of his own design.
While he was at it, he added a trunk with a top lid and a chrome luggage rack. Instead of the Cozy style rubber band mounts for
the sidecar rear, Erik decided to use a pair of chrome extension springs.
He says many of the original sidecar mounting brackets and sub frame
parts were missing as well as the sidecar fender. Back to scrounging for parts,
Erik either outsourced or fabricated whatever he needed in order to move the
project forward. He freely admits that not everything worked out on the first
attempt. Many variations of parts and ideas were tried, removed, reworked, discarded
and another approach tried before arriving at what we see now.
Erik says the most difficult task for him was having to
completely rewire the bike and sidecar. Having no factory wiring schematic to work
from, Erik created his own. In a burst
of inspiration, Erik decided to use matching old style small diameter taillights
on the bike and sidecar but the crowning touch was to mount on top of the
fenders small chrome running light from an early VW Beatle.
Satisfied that everything was working properly as he wanted,
Erik totally disassembled the rig, smoothed the welds, added gussets, sanded,
polished and painted. Then reassembled the hundreds of parts into a smooth
running machine.
Not only was Erik concerned about building a safe and smooth
handling rig if his family was to ride in it, he also wanted it to look good. An elderly German couple stopped to admire the
rig while we were talking. They complimented Erik on a fine looking machine. Looks like Erik has accomplished his goal. This
sidewalk enigma is indeed a fine example of good design, hard work,
resourcefulness and German ingenuity.
After seven long hard years and countless late night hours,
Erik now owns a sidecar rig that anyone in the world would be proud to call
their own.
If you are ever in Berlin, go to Louis Fun Company at GuntzelstraBe 17-18. Erik works there. Tell him you
heard about his sidecar story, his personal enigma.
Reiten am Horizont
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