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Every once in a while, Common Tread gets wind of a vehicle so right, and yet so wrong, that the moral thing to do is to share it with our readership. Ladies and weirdos, consider this magnificent specimen. It’s a motorcycle with a sidecar… or perhaps it's a sidecar with a motorcycle. The engine is not in the bike!
Sadly, attempts to reach the seller, Adam, went unanswered, but the pictures give plenty to look over. This… thing started life as a BMW K75 (1985-1995), which would have had a 740 cc triple, not the empty void you see here. Did I say empty? What I meant was full. Full of potential. I’d maybe make that a small luggage area.
It gets even better. This sidecar gone sideways is Honda-powered! Based on the included image and the description, that Honda engine is out of a carbureted CBR600F4 or a fuel-injected CBR600F4i. (I think I see some CV carb tops in there, so I’m going to guess it’s an F4, a fine motorcycle in its day. The image of the donor bike looks like an F4i, though, so who knows?)
Regardless of engine, the Honda lump probably makes 20 horsepower more than the K did at the expense of some torque down low. Wind it out! You’ve probably noticed that 600 supersports rarely power road-going sidecars…
Stuffing the engine in the DeLorean-inspired sidecar does have an upside. “Sidecar does not lift in turns like other sidecars,” says the listing. “Instead [it] stays flat on the ground.” I do appreciate the BMW-style “kidney” grille.
The engine apparently turns a conventional countershaft sprocket and chain, except instead of going to a rear sprocket, the automotive-style wheels are driven through a series of chains and a limited-slip differential.
Just like the rear, the front end isn’t exactly what the Bavarians intended. The front suspension is looking decidedly Uralesque, which is not like burlesque, and sizable front brakes slow the whole thing down. Brakes are Brembo all around.
It’s in “ran when parked” condition, with 29,134 miles on the BMW’s odometer, and an unknown number of miles on the CBR engine. “Needs maintenance… fluids changed, carbs cleaned, new battery, air filter, wire reconnection, and other small miscellaneous things.” And maybe a more comfortable sidecar interior? Sort those things out, and you could be screaming down the freeway with your BMW/Honda wunderbike.
Was this a running BMW sidehack at first, which died and received an unlikely transplant? Or was this the plan all along? I was hoping to ask these questions (and more!) to Adam, but alas, we may never know.
This remarkable mobile is posted on Los Angeles Craigslist, with an asking price of $3,850.
