R27 restoration update, sidecar question

[Andrew Luter]

Well,

Thanks for the advice all. Just a quick update on my little R27.

Had it in for about the last month at Darwin Motors in San Francisco (www.darwinmotors.com). Looks like they did a great job on it. New tires , Level 2 service, new points, fixed broken tension spring, complete lube etc. Seems to be running great.

Total cost (with tow, as I did not want to risk riding it in) US$ 750. A little more than I expected, but not too bad.

Next step, straighten out a bent foot peg and weld on another that broke off when the bike went down on the previous owner. I also need to replace all the rubber on the bike, as it is starting to break-down. And if I am ambitious this winter, I may want to strip and re-paint the frame.

One question, I am looking at a mini-Steib sidecar for the bike, but it seems so slow already I am afraid to attach it for fear of never going over walking speed. I think this bike had a sidecar at one point, as it came with a block tire on the rear and wear patches where it would have attached. Any expereince out there with the R27 and a sidecar?

Thanks in advance,

-- Andrew

[Allan Atherton]

I have an R27, and I added a sidecar to my R69S. I am projecting or extrapolating my experience from the R69S to the R27.

You need to have low ratio sidecar gears in the rear drive. Here is a comparison of full throttle solo and sidecar speeds from the R27 owners manual:
1st 22 (15)
2nd 40 (31)
3rd 59 (46)
4th 74 (56)
If your R27 can cruise at 60 and go over 70, you have solo gears. If you pull a sidecar with solo gears, it will ruin the clutch, overheat the motor, and you will probably not get out of 3rd gear unless downhill. If you use sidecar gears, cruising speed will be around 45 mph on level ground. If you add a passenger or go up a slight hill, you will spend a lot of time in 3rd gear.