Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

~ ~ ~ -, ~ 00 O'l ....... ~ ~ (1) c ~ ~ Sidecar frame mounts with a sturdy four-point attachment. i n g. Depend ing on th e success of the des ign for a particular sidecar, these blending of characteristics ca n range from sporty to downright dangerous . One sidecar enth us ia st, a Dutchman by th e name of Henri Winkel huis, was apalled by the shortcomings of most sid eca rs . The solution was to construct his own . and the end result was the formation of EML Techniek Holland b.v . We won ' t tr y to spell it out h er e. but th e Dutch words which give rise to the initials "EML" literall y mean " do it yo urself. " The BMW/ EM L is a sidecar that is engineered from the ground up specifically as a sidecar. Un like most other rigs. th e motorcycl e cannot be detached to operat e as a sepa rate vehicle. In addition to the BMW rig, EML o££ers sidecar kits to adapt various bikes that Winkelhuis has deemed sturdy eno u g h for sidecar use. Currently a vaila ble are kit s for the Honda Gold Wing, Kawasaki KZ1 300. Yamaha XSII, Suzuki GSllOO, and for th e Moto Guzzi range o f m otorcycles. Just a n nou nced is a kit for the BMW KIOO. . All EML kits incl ude the necessary chassis pans,the sid ecar frame . body. suspens io n and wheel s. As evide nc ed on our test vehicle. th e quality o f .construction matched or exceeded that of th e BMW driveline. Top quality stuff, to say the least. The secret to the EML's performance is the leading link front suspension. a lso known as the Earls fork . The des ign a££ords the lateral stability and resi stance to flex necessary for sid ecar u se. Small . wide wheels. equipped with Un iro ya l Rally 280 radial tires. provide a lower cen- ter of gravity, a nd superior ad hes io n ' over an y motorcycle tire. T he sma ller d iameter tir es a lso serve to gear th e rig down . to compensate for th e ex tra weight of the sideca r. We t est ed th e BMW / E M L . eq u ip ped with th e 1000cc boxer twin engine. Because the Box er 's frame is notoriously flimsy. this is the only EML combination that includes a n EML-manufactured frame . Similar to the BMW design, the EML frame is longer from the sw ingarm pivot to the stee r in g head . as well as being su bsta n tia lly stronger. For this ap p lica tio n, only the engi ne, electrics, drive train , swinging arm , seat and some sh eet metal are used from th e BMW. The rest. including wheels, front fork, frame . disc brakes. sidecar, sus pensio n and odds ' n ends are included in the kit to tr ansform a stoc k BMW Box er. For other models, however . th e stock frame is retained. For exa m p le, th e Gold Wing kit comes with a front fork that mounts ri ght into th e stock s tee ri n g head . A s ma l l, r ad ial eq u ip ped wheel fit s o n the H onda driveshaft spline. The sa me is true fo r th e kits for th e other J apanese models. Five styles of sideca r a re avai la ble from EML, though not all a re im ported in to the U ni ted States. T hey ran ge from a tight. stream li ne d "s p o rt s" model to a big. " do u ble-wi de " touring ver sion that ca n acc o rno da re two peo p le. The fib ergl ass quality o f th e EML sidecar body is fir st class; all th e pieces fit snugl y and securely. All EML models include a locking trunk. chrome luggage racks. a n d easy en try via a tilt-forward windshi eld. T hough specifica tio ns vary for th e ind ivid ua l models, all EML sideca rs Locking tr unk is watertight. and can be top ped w ith a luggage rack. are decidedl y hi gh-perfo rman ce , sporty vehicles. These a re th e Ferraris of the sideca r world - the next step in performance being dedicated ra cing sideca rs (a whol e new ball game). The replacement o f BMW's con ventional18-inch wheels with 125-15 radials lower s th e sea t height from 34 to 3 1 inches with a commensurate , lowering of th e o vera ll center of grav it y. The EML fork lengthens th e wheelbase from 58 to 63 inches. Our rig had EML-built disc brakes' on every corner: one a t the rea r wheel , two up front , a nd one on th e sidecar wheel. Braking a bili ty is better than a so lo motorcycl e ; th e brakes are stronger and th er e's m ore rubber on th e ro ad to bring things to a halt. The test rig was fi tted wi th the EML sports/touring sid eca r, nicel y sized between th e slee k spo rts model and th e bodacious dou ble-wide tourer, The seat was room y. entry proved ea sy a nd th e locking trunk afforde d m ore th an four cu bic feet o f secure sto rage space. A tonneau is p rovided . a nd a convertible top with frame a re a vai la ble as option s. Th e huge wrap-a ro u nd winds h ie ld provides exce lle nt wi nd protecti on for the. passenger. While th e sea t is pl enty so ft, th e sidecar rideis rough , th a n ks to th e sp or t-tu ne d suspension of th e EML. Our test rider had man y yea rs of exper ienc e o n sideca rs. but reponed th a t the EML req u ires so me seri ous a tti tude adjustments. T he . U.S. d istr ibut or sai d , " Do n ' t even try to steer i t. Just rest yo u r hands o n th e han dl eb ars a nd th ink wher e yo u want to go ." H e was right - a lmos t in a literal sense. Whil e m ost sideca rs requir e muscle a nd full size handleb ars to stee r. th e EM L is eq ui p pe d wit h short. flat bars. Even so . the steeri n g is light ning quick . .. in fact , downright to uc hy! We found th e steerin g and handling wer e 'so mew ha t like a gokart : th e most impercipribl e pressure o n th e han dl eba rs would ca use a n in stant la ne cha nge. T he speed o f the stee ri ng is ac t ua lly o n th e verge o f in stabili ty. T he ra i n groo ves o f Ca li fo rnia, as well as ri dges i n th e pa vement of th e rest o f th e world, would ca use th e EML rig to bob a nd weave when underwa y. T he rider ca n ada p t to th is a fte r so me few hundred mil es of experien ce, but by-and-large th e steering is too qui ck . The U .5. d ist ribu to r has advised th at ca refu l set- u p a nd precise ly-tune d tir e press ures ca n m in im ize thi s cha racteri sti c. Acceleration wi th th e BMW-powered ri g was qu ick ; in fact. much bet ter tha n wou ld 'be exp ected fro m a gO O-pound rig. We n ever got th e rig a ny wh ere n ear it s speed potential, bu t were satisfied that the EML 's ski tt ish form of sta bili ty remained intact at speeds o f 80 mph, At th ese moments o ur wildest th oughts turned to the 1300c c Ka wasaki/EML. Outrageous! Th e sus pens io n, provided by Koni 7610P shocks a ll around, is stiff a nd sport ing. Spring preload a nd rebound damping ar e adj us ta ble. T he overa ll stu f' Iness o f th e suspen si on goes largel y unnot iced by th e r ide r (leaned forward o ver low , Ilat handlebars). The passen ger . however , becomes in rirnat el y acquainted with every pot hol e and bump in th e ro ad. Th e automotive radial tires are much better su i ted to sideca r app lica tion th a n a re traditional motorcycl e/ sideca r tires. The EML wi ll stic k lik e g l ue unt il th e tir es begin to howl all a t ve ry impressiv e la tera l g-Iorces. Au tomotive tir es a lso last a lo t longer. T ypi call y, a sidecar rig wi ll scr u b through a rear tir e in less th an 3.000 mil es. T he tires fitted 10 th e EML ar e good for a t least 20.0 00 m il es - a t a bo u t th e sa me p ri ce o f a mot or cycle tire ! G as m il eage - a lways a so re su bject a mong sidecar ow ne rs - was not th e EM L' s bes t poi n t. Cons erva tive freew a y cr uis ing would net figures arou nd 33 rnpg , whi le co n cen tra ted hi gh -speed runs over mounta in ro ads wou ld bo ost co ns u mp rio n to near 25 mpg . T he EML wou ld quickl y exhau st BMW 's ge nerous six ga llon gas ta n k, req u ir ing frequ ent fuel tra ns fu sion s. So wh at does the ul tima te sideca r cos t? That 's h a rd to sav sinc e suc h a ra ngeof do-it-yourself options is a vaila ble. Do yo u have a wr ecked G old Win g sitt ing a ro u n d do ing no th ing a ny way? Or sha ll yo u rush O U I a nd grab a n EM L ki t a n d throw mo st o f a new BMW in th e trash ? If yo u' re n ot inclin ed to bu ild yo ur o wn , th e importer wi ll set o ne u p just to yo ur specifica tio n s , . . for a fee! T he BMW kit, wh ich in cludes th e co m p le te c hassis . goes for ' abo ut $5.200 . Kit s for th e various J apanese roa d burners are $4.3 00. Those wh o thin k th is is too m uch probabl y a re no t fa m i lia r with wh at it cos ts to bu ild or bu y a prope r sideca r ri g. Co nsi der th at th e o n ly producti on ri g ava ila ble today goes for nearly $14 ,000. Con sid er th at you ca n spend o ver $3, 000 for a Stei b sid eca r a lo ne, sa ns mo to rcycl e. Consider th at eithe r o f these o p tio ns won ' t begi n to de liver the del igh tful perf orm ance of th e E ML. Fo r th ose in terested in a topq ua lity sidecar. th e G ol d Win g / EML or th e Ka wasak i/ EML rn av be the best bargain going. . Th e so le U .S. importer is BMW Mo to rrad of St. L o uis. In c., 40 11 Forest Park Blvd .. St. Lou is. Misso uri 63 108: 3 14/53 1-40 10. • 29

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