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Ian Soady¹ said :-
I haven't got time to mess around taking snaps for your delectation young Ren. Note the (rather art deco) mudguard isn't in place yet. Also there's no seating etc. Iteration 1 will be the box of pavers I mentioned a little while ago. I have a tonneau cover for whose clips I have drilled the holes.
The worst bit at the moment is that the sidecar body seems to be wider than the chassis was desgned for even though I bought the whole lot together and it's said to be new old stock. So clearance between the shell and chassis is minimal in places.
Yes, Suzuki DR-Z400 engine - originally from a CCM I believe - which has a rated output of 42bhp which I think is plenty for the kinds of roads I use. Probably not enough for motorways though. It's easy enough to fit a larger rear sprocket if I need to drop the gearing although from memory it was pretty low as is.
17/02/2026 13:55:41 UTC
Upt'North ¹ said :-
It's looking good Ian. Do the slightly less than ideal clearances explain why it was NOS? Perhaps returned in the distant past?
I've got every confidence in you, although I'm less confident about your knee lasting the course.
Upt.
17/02/2026 16:04:43 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
The story I had was that it was the last one imported before the company went bust. I had it from David Angel of F2 motorcycles who is a very highly regarded figure in the sidecar world - formerly he imported & sold Ural bikes and sidecars but now mainly does Velorex. He told me he'd got the Steib as a project but lacked the time to complete it which I'm inclined to believe. I did get it at a very good price so am quite comfortable working out how to get everything to fit. At the end of the day, the body isn't structural so as long as it's securely attached it should be fine. Realistically I won't be taking any passengers. Or prisoners for that matter.
17/02/2026 16:55:33 UTC
Upt'North ¹ said :-
Ian, are sidecars mounted in a soft way on the chassis or rigidly mounted. Or both of course. It would seem to be a good shout to offer some shock absorbing material between sidecar and chassis. Don't worry about your first passenger, myself and Ed have been fighting for the privilege behind the scenes and unfortunately for me Ed won. He's hoping for a spring ride. Gromit rides again! You'll need biscuits.
Pffffffftttttt.
Upt.
17/02/2026 20:39:44 UTC
Glyn said :-
It’s looking great Ian. I have an unexplained interest in the Ural Dnpr outfits and almost bought one last year. It would have been a whole load of trouble I’m sure. I too would line up to be a passenger but would need considerable assistance to actually get into the chair and even more to get out. I can’t get in to my car yet due to the knee.
18/02/2026 07:54:27 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
There are two suspension systems. The chassis is suspended on a leading axle which has either a rubber or torsion bar in the fat horizontal tube under the rear of the body. This is fairly stiff, moving about 20mm when I put my inconsiderable weight on it. The body pivots around the front support mountings which have silentbloc type bushes in the chassis bosses, and at the rear has a pair of motorcycle type suspecion units. I've found some fairly soft versions of these although as with other parts clearance is a bit tight. Spacers will be manufactured!
18/02/2026 10:02:05 UTC
Upt'North ¹ said :-
Ta me duck.
18/02/2026 12:23:56 UTC
nab301 said :-
Ian , hopefully you won't lose interest with this one after getting it sorted and end up selling it at a loss!
Talking of Urals , this thread had me searching under sidecar outfits and had one hit locally for a 2019 Ural combo , a snip at around 20k Euro...
Nigel
18/02/2026 13:58:18 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
I usually manage to at least break even costing my labour at £01 / hour. If I charged more then I would be losing heavily! The bikes I've lost on have been things like the daft scooter I dallied with. Others, like the Sunbeam I restored a few years ago, have returned a slight profit.
But old bikes these days ar pretty much on the bottom - there are loads of Nortons, BSAs etc for around the £3K mark whereas they'd be £6K+ a couple of years ago.
Re Ural sidecar outfits there are a few about. David Angel has just built one onto aan Enfield. But it wouldn't have been cheap. There's one on car& classic for £5.5K (see link). It's been on since January I believe. But if you wanted something special there are a couple of BMW/Steibs in the Iconic auction at the end of the month.
https://www.carandclassic.com/l/C1994653...
18/02/2026 15:00:55 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
Iconic link
https://www.i-bidder.com/en-gb/search-results?searchTerm=steib#lot-e17c60ef-8c55...
18/02/2026 15:01:46 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
That should of course have been £.01. Missing the point as usual.
18/02/2026 17:08:51 UTC
Glyn said :-
I was watching a YouTube video and there was a chap making the rear tub of a custom car from a Steib sidecar. He’s cut it down the middle and mounted it either side of the body at the rear. I thought of Ian instantly. On the Triumph, I had to completely rebuild the rear caliper with new pistons and seals. The piston are supposed to be stainless but were seriously pitted. All done now though.
19/02/2026 19:15:33 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
Can you show us the pitted stainless steel pistons Glyn? I can't imagine how they'd be pitted if they are stainless steel. Hope the knee is easing off a little for ya.
20/02/2026 09:17:48 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
Using a Steib to fix a custom car? Sacrilege!!!
Like Ren I'm very surprised that real stainless pistons would get pitted unless they'd been submerged in acid. The caliper looks lovely but 3 copper washers? Are there 2 banjos going onto that union?
Just refining the body fit - here it is with loosely fitted tonneau cover. I think it'll look good in red.
20/02/2026 10:15:51 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
pic 2:
20/02/2026 10:16:09 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
pic 3:
20/02/2026 10:16:42 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
Aaaah I'm starting to get the understanding of it now Ian. So I'm figuring the sidecar tub and mudguard will end up the same red as the BZuki?
20/02/2026 13:10:57 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
That's the general ides. Also, if you look at the body there are channels running along it. There are alloy strips to fit in these but I'm contemplating replacing them with stick-on chrome beading that I've got from ebay. Mainly because the alloy strips are held on with little nuts & bolts through the holes you may notice. I'd need to be a contortionist (or emply a suitable child) to fit them, plus they need a good polish. If my chrome strips don't work I can always find an urchin who will do the job for half an out of date pasty.
20/02/2026 14:37:28 UTC
Glyn said :-
The reason I thought the pistons were stainless is because the replacement genuine Triumph items are (I know Triumph don’t make Nisin calipers or parts and so are not actually “genuine”). I tried the old trick of getting them almost all the way out to clean them but there were indentations that could not be removed with t/cut or metal polish. The pistons were incredibly tight and after I pumped one out I had to use molegrips to remove the second even though it was almost there. The pistons had a light gold finish to them. When I saw your posts I went out ( with my magnet) to find the old ones but have lost them. The three copper washers were indeed well spotted. The lower one was used to mask the face when I painted the caliper. Now refitted to the bike it’s been removed and the 2 new items used. Those chrome strips you speak of Ian will make it look similar to a Watsonian from the front. Was it Steib or Watsonian that fist came up with that look?
21/02/2026 11:10:31 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
Steib were first - Watsonian copied them as did Garrard for their GP which was a very sought after model. Steibs are actually steel (which makes them heavy) - in fact I've just weighed all 3 wheels on the bathroom scales (and it was hard getting the outfit in there!). The chair wheel with no ballast is 100kg; the rear bike wheel unladen is 80kg and the front wheel 100 kg which is more than I would have thought. Of course the scales may be wrong - they constantly tell me I'm heavier than I think I am. I may even have set them to pounds rather than kg at some stage.....
This is a Steib publicity image from 1949. Interestingly showing a right hand drive model but without the swoopy mudguard - not sure when that came in. At that time Watsonian were turning out staid but well built child/adult models like the one my dad had.
21/02/2026 13:07:51 UTC
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