Sidecar on late 60s single frame?

[limeyrob]

Good period Steibs seem to be in the £3500 to £4000 range as people can make a classic outfit.  That's not your need so that green one looks a bargain. The £1200 one looks like it was snapped up in a private sale.
The Steib fittings are good quality and you want to be sure you get the lot in the sale.
Fit is as is (luminous) at lease you can find the fittings get running true then paint it. From a safety point of view that colour is superb and the wheel looks in good condition.

[iansoady]

Yes, I think you're right but they seem much rarer. I missed the first one due to dithering and have decided I couldn't live with the colour of the other and it would be a shame to repaint it given the quality of the work.

Currently considering this which won't be as teetery as a more modern trials chair:

[limeyrob]

The rear fittings are odd, I'm not sure its safe with that arrangment.

[DAVE BRADY]

Hi,

It looks like the lower rear one is not all there. The part clamped on the chassis tube will probably have and 'eye' bolt and then a short attachment to go across the near the swinging arm.
Aha!  it looks like the missing part is in the sidecar.

Dave.

[iansoady]

My wife says it's too ugly and I have to confess she may be right. So I'm back looking for a Steib S350 or S500 or maybe if I was very lucky a Garrard GP. One of the latter went on ebay for nearly £3,000 which is outside my budget.

It'll be interesting to see what the Watsonian fetches.

[limeyrob]

Spend time with her talking about how nice bright green is.  That paint is making that an absolute bargain.  You could just paint over it.  Don't get sentimental about the work that went into it, they made their choice.
Some 15 ears ago my mother bought a flat in Windsor, her budget was limited but we had always said we don't mind a bit of work. The estate agent called and said, how you with bright colours, bring some sun glasses.  The flat was large, central and well under the average for that location.  He met us at the door and said "brace yourself, we've given up on first time buyers, it scares them".
The hallway (long) was dark green, doors, floor ceiling and walls. It was like a fairy grotto.  The master bedroom was light blue and dark blue on a floor to ceiling diagonal, with a raised floor of solid timber and brass screws taking up half the room.  The agent said they had offered to paint the flat at their expense as the price rise would more than cover the cost but the owner declined.
We bought it, then spent 5 days with battleship grey obliterating paint and the wood ended up as a garden shed.
That paint saved us £20,000, I reckon there's £2000 saving just painting over that green.

[DAVE BRADY]

Hi,

Is your wife considering riding in the sidecar once you fit one?

Dave.

[iansoady]

If I did buy the green one I think I'd want to get a professional spray job on it, and probably powder coat the chassis. The green paint has covered those nice alloy styling strips so they'd have to be rescued. Probably the thick end of £1,000 all told. It's also missing the nice curvaceous mudguard. However I agree that from the - poor quality - photos it looks superb. I wonder why people don't take the trouble to take decent snaps. Apparently the ebay vendor is selling it for her dad who owns the Harley bobber seen in one pic.

My wife's relationship with sidecars is patchy to say the least. We used the 16H/Watsonian to go from Brum up to my parents in Bishop Auckland one Christmas. The northward journey was cold but uneventful. The return trip was in freezing fog and sleet. We stopped near Derby to try to thaw out but my wife refused to get back in the sidecar saying she'd rather die by the side of the road. It was only with the help of a passing lorry driver that I managed to persuade her back in. When we got home she swore she'd never ride in one again so I took the chair off and I'm ashamed to say chucked it away.

However, when she sees those nice Steibs she did say "Hmmm, I might fancy a ride in one of those". But not the green one.

[limeyrob]

For all we know the frame may be black underneath.  Those strips come off so you can strip them, I think they are anodized alli.  My logic is the whole sidecar is an experiment that may fail. If it succeeds you won't mind spending on the paint, if it fails you can paint it black and more than get your money back.
Looks like the seller's dad went though the same process as you to keep riding, now he's stopped, he may not have liked the green either! 

[iansoady]

I'll keep it in mind but would prefer to find a more original looking one. The fact that there have been a couple on ebay in a week encourages me. And I'm not in any hurry - in fact haven't got the room at the moment!

[DAVE BRADY]

Hi,

The Watsonian Monza is a smaller side car but still has a decent chassis.  Bear in mind that the frame has not been designed to have too much weight hung on the side unlike the twins with 'Forth Bridge' lugs for the fittings.

Dave.

[limeyrob]

Wait and see what comes up is not a bad plan. Especially if it comes up close to home and you can put your bike along side it.

[iansoady]

Yes, I do tend to get overexcited and go for something I later regret, although I have dodged the occasional bullet. A couple of years ago I saw a Tri-Greeves on ebay and really wanted it but missed it. A good job as it wasn't road registered and would have been impossible to get registered. I later decided to build my own which of course was much more satisfying - if occasionally frustrating - and I was plaeased with the result. Sadly it was stolen from my garage a few weeks after completion.

[Novocastrian]

I had a B40 with a Bambini sidecar.  Both the bike and sidecar have now gone.... had some interesting incidents with that bike,  including demolishing the level crossing gates at Seghill 

[iansoady]

"Divvent gan near the Seghill Mine,
Across the road they stretch a line
To crack the necks and break the spine
Of the dirty blackleg miner"

The Blackleg Miner, the only folk song ever recirded in Bishop Auckland to my knowledge.