NGC Kozi Sidecar Experience

[motoguzzibill]

I've been interested in hitching a sidecar to one of my bikes since grandchildren have blessed my life. Locally there is a Kozi sidecar for sale, the European model, with very little use. It was previously hitched to a Royal Enfield Electra. Anybody have experience using one of these? I'd appreciate hearing the pros and cons to this car.

I could also hitch it to my Enfield Electra (hard to believe there are two in town) or a 73' Eldorado.
TIA,
Bill

[Hahnda]

They are a fairly small sidecar so you wouldn't want to put it on anything to large. Big bikes and small sidecars are not so much fun. Sidecar wheel will be coming up in every right hand turn.

If it came off an Electra it should be a fairly easy install onto your Electra.

[kingoffleece]

I hacked a Bonneville with that car and rode it for two years.  A blast to drive (be SURE to practice the right turns and learn how to pivot the bike in a emergency or you can get out of shape before you know it) but my passengers hated the (lack of) comfort.  I replaced the shock with a VW air-cooled one on a recommendation and it was "better" but my wife and boy still disliked any distance at all.

The build quality is questionable.  The wheel was bent, tube shredded, bearing crap, and the floorboard cracked after 1000 miles just from bumps in the road.  But, I loved driving it.

David Houghfs book "Driving a Sidecar Outfit" was a big help.

[Sasquatch Jim]

 Kozi sidecars suck.  The bodies are small and the suspension crude.

[Perazzimx14]

No comment on the Kozy but I just had a Velorex 562 married to one of my DR650 and its a blast. Now the Velores isn't a "high quality" car either and it took extensive modifications to make it into what I wanted so I could haul the pup into the mountain for swimming and hiking.

1. The frame was extended & gusseted.
2. The mounts were relocated to places more conducive for good triangulation and allow for proper adjustment.
3. Top of the frame was plated with a piece or 3/16 steel 23" x 48" to add natural ballast and further reinforce the frame. This is also nice remove 4 bolts and I have a large flat surface area to haul stuff.
4. Custom cross bars
5. Sway bar to link the hacks suspension to the swing arm of the bike. This did a couple of things:
   A. Add some dampening and spring weight to the very meager shock of the Velorex.
   B. Keeps the rear wheel from wanting to unload when doing left hand turns.
6. Custom sub frame to allow proper mounting points to the bike and also reinforce the bike frame and generally makes things more ridged.
7. Side car fender was raised 2" to allow for more clearance.

This all came at a hefty price tag of several thousand dollars not including the sidecar or bike. I though about trying to marry them myself and I am glad I didn't because there is a lot more to it than meets the eye.

[Cal3]

Hi,
I would pretty much repeat what has already been said. I had one for awhile to give the kids rides. I thought the Cozy was fun but just for playing around the hood. I don't think it would be good for any serious journeys.

[Sasquatch Jim]

 I put a velorex on a Suzuki S-40.  I agree with all the changes he did to make to safe,  additionally on mine I re machined the wheel hub to fit thev20mm axle that I put on.
 The original was only 15 mm.
 I put a Ural hack on a DR 650 E which was a much stronger rig.

[jrt]

If the car is too light, yes, it will tend to lift on R/H corners.  You can put a piece of sheet steel on the frame to give it a bit more mass.  I tried sandbags early on- worked great until they started leaking sand...

[kingoffleece]

I'd put 150 lbs of sand in my Cozy car and could lift it at will.

[TodkaVonic]

If you don't mind my asking, where are you located? I ask because I have a sidecar that I could be persuaded to part with which was previously attached to my ambassador so hooking it up to your eldo would be a snap.

[sidecarnutz]

Back  the 90's I mounted a Ural hack to my 97 Cali. Liked it enough that I am now mounting a 99 Ural hack on my 90 Guzzi Cali III. The lower rear mount is the difficult one. I weld a extension below the lower frame to the rear and then add a vertical brace as well as a horizontal one to a center stand mount.

You DO want a balanced rig. Too small a chair and its frame will flex under cornering stress and send you off in directions you don't want.

Plan on losing 30% of your gas mileage with a hack. Much more clutch, tire, wheel bearing, brake and fork seal wear will happen too.

[Moto]

A rule of thumb that is found, I think, in the U.S. Sidecar Assoc (?) manual is that the car should weigh about 1/3 of the bike's weight. My Spirit Eagle weighs 140 lbs (which I found out by using a bathroom scale). This works out to be right for a 140x3 = 440 pound bike. It was nice on my (departed) BMW R60/2, which is said to weigh 430 pounds. You might consider that kind of calculation for the Cozy.

I enjoyed flying the car with my wife, child, and mother-in-law, but not all at once.

I bought 60 lbs of lead to put in my sidecar when it wasn't occupied, but sold the BMW before I tried it out, so my main satisfaction from the purchase was the look on the postman's face (as I imagined it) when it arrived in one of those flat-rate boxes.

I personally would be checking for signs of impending structural failure, rather than spending thousands of dollars on reinforcements. I'm still alive and well. You're more likely to be killed misnegotiating a right-hand turn, I think, than by the sidecar falling apart.

Moto

[kingoffleece]

Mine was on a Bonneville 865 mag wheel bike.  had I kept it I would have replaced the Triple Tree with one designed to make the steering a bit easier.  From DMC I believe in the PNW.

[not-fishing]

I've been looking at sidecars and talking to people who own sidecars for a few years now.

My Holy Grail would be a hacked Quota with a mounting step because Quota's are so tall

Yet the more I think about it I'm probably better off taking the hard top and doors off my jeep, driving it and not worrying about the difference in gas mileage.


not mine but very close to it

Mark

[Perazzimx14]

I've been looking at sidecars and talking to people who own sidecars for a few years now.

My Holy Grail would be a hacked Quota with a mounting step because Quota's are so tall

Yet the more I think about it I'm probably better off taking the hard top and doors off my jeep, driving it and not worrying about the difference in gas mileage.


not mine but very close to it

Mark

Just like sitting on your couch watching racing with a fan blowing in your face. Its like you're almost there!