Modern Vespa

I just installed a Cozy Sidecar on my 2006 PX200.
Still working on fine tuning the geometry. (toe in and lean out)





Would really like to change the sidecar upholstery to match the scooter


I used a hydraulic damper instead of the Cozy supplied friction damper. It works very well. No shimmy at all.

nice!

Very clean job, and I love the color!

Is the third wheel braked? If not, how can the unit keep going straight if you have to brake hard?

No, The sidecar wheel is not powered nor does it have a brake.
the rig will pull right on acceleration and left on deceleration.
The pull is offset by steering in the opposite direction.
The front scooter tire wears accordingly.

A well aligned rig minimizes the effect greatly.

However, some motorcycle sidecars do employ brakes. If fact, some even are powered but very few.

Sidecar people seem to be a very inventive bunch and customizing is the norm.

Last edited by ExonicJay on Sat Jul 07, 2007 6:10 am; edited 1 time in total

That really looks great! Good job.

looks fantanstic.. switch out your scoot seat to match the sidecar seat: sweeeet.

WOW! That looks so good! I really like that, great job, Beale.

Nice!

What type of drop in MPH have you noticed?

That's gorgeous, Jay!

Looks Awesome, I love it! I like how your handle grips match the side-car upholstery -- I'd say change your scooter seat to match the side-car.

-Dan

Sweet, That really is a pretty rig. I love the color, I agree about having the seats match, but I'd go with the brown seats. The brown looks great with the paint job.

If only Cozy made a 12" wheel version of that car that could fit to a GTS!

Gosh, that's purty!
Yeah I agree that brown upholstery for the sidecar would look better, but it might easier to just change the PX's seat.
Do you have a main purpose in mind for the sidecar?

I have had the rig up to 40 MPH for a brief time. I am still working on alignment adjustments and won't be going flat out until that is completed and I gain more experience as a hack driver.

From what I have heard, I expect the rig will be a 50 MPH top speed machine.

I intend to use the rig as a daily rider while riding a few dogs around maybe in the cards too. (No, the four legged kind).

Last edited by ExonicJay on Wed Jun 04, 2008 1:01 pm; edited 1 time in total

I am getting my Px200 next week. Mine is a 2006 and is all black and im getting the cozy sidecar. Im pretty pumped about it but i was going to ask you your level of satisfaction. Are you having trouble with the geometry? Is there anything different you wanted to do with it to improve it?

I dont even know how to drive it yet. Im going to try and learn quickly though. If you've got any advice id really appreciate it. Oh and by the way, ive got a sito plus and a malossi 210 on it, how much do you think that will improve the speed.

Do you plan on ever taking it on the highway?
How many miles to the gallon are you getting?

thanks for your help.

Also, it looks incredible....hope mine turns out that nice.

roadwarriot said:Are you mounting the sidecar to the PX200 yourself or is the scooter shop doing it for you?

Gorgeous!!

They are doing it for me...only$100 dollars more and im sure it would turn out a lot better.

roadwarrior said:That's the best $100 you may have ever spent. The mounting of the sidecar is a bitch. Lots of modifing of the scooter mounting bracket is required. The foot brake will not retract if the grinding and/or milling is not done to the bracket correctly.

The geometry is the key to having a good operating hack (hack is the slang name for a sidecar in sidecar lingo). I will bet your rig will arrive not adjusted for the best geometry. You will have to make adjustments for best operation.

The second most important thing is learning how to drive the rig.

Find a large parking lot with lots of space and no objects to interfere with the learning process. Spend hours there making large left and right hand turn. Learn to lift the sidecar wheel off the ground just a little that will help you when you are out on the road.

Also, you should start with some weight in the sidecar. Water bottles weighing about 100 LBS would be a good start. The water bottles like what you would take on a camping trip is what I used. I used 5 gallon ones that weighted about 40 LBS each. I started with three of them. However, any weight would work like salt, concrete bags, sand or any heavy substance that will fit into the sidecar.

Check out the following web sites that will give you insight to the mechanics and operation of a sidecar.

http://www.sidecar.com/Files/SC%20Manual.pdf

http://www.scooter-sidecars.com/

http://www.scooter-sidecars.com/

Lots more sidecar web sites can be found by searching on Google


Good luck and practice, practice and practice even more.

thanks a lot for your help.

How have you been going about adjusting your rig?

Adjusting the rig is a time consuming and thought provoking task.

The main issues are adjusting sidecar toe in, scooter lean (in & out) and sidecar leveling (side to side and fore & aft)

Here is a another web site that may help you understand the process.

http://www.public.iastate.edu/~gbh/VespaSidecar/

Do the VW damper as shown below. The juice is certainly worth the squeeze.

I have had a lot of inquires about the Hydraulic damper I installed on my 2006 Vespa PX200 and Cozy Sidecar.



Below is a list of parts I used to fit a hydraulic Damper to my Vespa-Cozy Sidecar rig:

1) JC Whitney # 882541 VW STEERING STABILIZER ...... $21.99
http://www.jcwhitney.com/autoparts/ItemBrowse/c-10110/s-10101/p-100000233888/mediaCode-ZX/appId-10245432/Pr-p_CATENTRY_ID:10000023388810245432

2) JC Whitney # 064730 3 Piece Clamp 1 1/4" Chrome Motorcycle .... $8.99
http://www.jcwhitney.com/autoparts/ItemBrowse/c-10111/s-10101/p-100000147560/mediaCode-ZX/appId-100000147560/Pr-p_CATENTRY_ID:100000147560

3) McMaster-Car #2988K141 Stainless Steel Tie Rod End M10 x 1.50 RH Male Shank ................. $44.56
http://www.mcmaster.com/nav/enter.asp?sesnextrep=18313689214969&partnum=2988K141&pagenum=1126&cad=&psearch=&selectfamily=&search=&pagetype=&catnum=113
or
3a) Pegasus Auto Racing Supplies #3066-M10x1.50-R Stainless Steel Tie Rod End ....... $22.99
http://www.pegasusautoracing.com/productselection.asp?Product=3066
or
3b) for a less expensive rod end in steel:
McMaster-CarPart Number: 59935K84 Steel Tie Rod End ...... $8.42
http://www.mcmaster.com/nav/enter.asp?sesnextrep=18313689214969&partnum=59935K84&pagenum=1126&cad=&psearch=&selectfamily=&search=&pagetype=&catnum=113
4) Special Bracket:
I made a bracket from 5/32" thick steel plate measuring 55mm x 70mm. The holes for mounting to the Vespa wheel assembly is on 40mm centers and 8.4 mm in diameter. I bent the plate about 30 degrees to allow for the tie rod end mounting. I drilled a 10mm hole in the steel plate for the shank of the tie rod end.

See a quick sketch I drew below:



The only thing I didn't mention was the metric nuts that holds the bracket to the tie rod end shank. They can be purchased at most any hardware store or from McMaster-Car. Get 10mm nut with 1.50 threads/mm.

I used this Hydraulic damper instead of the friction damper that came with the Cozy sidecar. I didn't want to screw up the Scoot's head set should I want to remove the sidecar.

Last edited by ExonicJay on Sat May 31, 2008 11:33 pm; edited 3 times in total

Beautiful Work (and scooter too!)

Desi B.

That is sharp. You should be proud.

I have been fooling around with a photo presenter (Photo Show from Photodex.com) and make a slide show
for some friends of my Cozy Sidecar I recently mounted to my Vespa PX200.

If you want to view it go to:
http://www.photodex.com/sharing/viewalbum.html?alb=134664

Or, follow the instructions below.

1) Go to www.photodex.com and point on the Sharing tab at the top of the page.
A drop down window will appear and click on "BROWSE MEMBER"
2) The Browser Member window will appear on the next page. enter ExonicJay
3) The website will download a photo launcher. (it's safe and a quick download)
4) A new page will be displayed. Click on the Vespa Sidecar album on the web page.
5) The slide show will come up. Click it and turn up your sound and enjoy.



Last edited by ExonicJay on Mon Nov 10, 2008 10:54 pm; edited 5 times in total

That's so cool !!!

My wife would love that looks kinda fun to ride with that ? Must attract some attention and comments too I imagine ?

Great to see so thanks for showing to us !!!

Vespa .........its a way of life !!!!

What a great thread to follow - fantastic work!!!

Wow!

Have never been too much of a side car fan, except on some older cycles, but I must say that looks pretty damn sharp!!!

where do you buy new PX200? I thought Vespa olny made PX150 new or in the last 5 years.

Got it at American Scooter Center, Austin TX. last year.
See www.americanscootercenter.com and search for PX200.

Here's that link

http://www.americanscootercenter.com/index.php?main_page=advanced_search_result&search_in_description=1&keyword=PX200&inc_subcat=0&sort=20a&page=2

Did you buy the car from them also ?

I see alot of older scoots with cars on eBay for sale but was scared off because of the horror stories like this one .
http://www.vespatude.com/2005_08_01_archive.html

Looks awesome.
Any chance you might be coming out to the PVSC camping rally in Steubenville, Ohio in a few weeks?
It would be very cool to see your set up in person.
congrats on a great job.

I haven't planed on going but I would surly consider it.
Do you have details or a website describing the event?

Hey,
DJ posted info at this thread http://www.modernvespa.com/forum/topic24944.html

It is the best camping rally on the east coast and it is located just above Steubenville OH, at the Toronto Band Camp

THey also serve some of the best food you have ever had at a rally, especially the pierogies

Thanks SanJoe for bring it to my attention.

Sorry...

I made a mistake on the Tie Rod End for the damper.
I have revised the post with the corect size Tie Rod End
and offered two additional alternates.
The steel Tie Rod End costs way less.

I used the Pegasus Stainless Steel Tie Rod End PN 3066-M10x1.50-R
on my sidecar rig.

Sorry for the mix up and if I caused you any inconvenience.

Last edited by ExonicJay on Mon Oct 20, 2008 10:49 am; edited 1 time in total

Great! It is one of the best loooking scooters with sidecar I´ve ever seen! In 1984 I had a Vespa P 200 E Lusso with a Squire PV1. It´s fantastic to ride such a nice scooter.

Stefan

Your combo looks fantastic! I have just purchased a 2001 PX200 and cozy rocket sidecarbut have yet to go through the difficulties of seting up the rig .... in fact they wont be delivered until later on this week. Can't wait though.. it's gonna be a cool winter project

Last edited by martscombo on Wed Oct 29, 2008 7:38 pm; edited 1 time in total

Yes, I did buy the sidercar from American Scooter Center about 1 year after buying the PX200 from them.
They also painted the sidecar the tan color to match the PX200.

That's really nice.
I had my sidecar on a p-range before putting on the gts, they're great fun.
Enjoy.

hi, nice scooter is a marvel in your country is sold with a sidecar

Great sidecar project! Looks very nice. I have a Stella with a sidecar that I am tweaking and fixing. Where does one get the rubber parts for the Vespa?
I have looked at quite a few parts outlets and have not found the little rubber pieces for the mirrors?
thanks