Sidecar heater

[Sidcar]

Anyone out there with a Wing rig fitted a sidecar heater?
A Wing has coolant and a pump to circulate it so putting a heater radiator, one out of an old Mini might do, in the sidecar should be possible.


Sid

[WingAdmin]

Sure, I can see that working. A fitting on the radiator hose, a couple lines out to the sidecar, and a radiator with a fan. You might want to put dampers in there - it could get overly hot in there with no way to cool it off otherwise!

[SteveB123]

Just put a valve in the water line.

[wjnfirearms]

I could see using a smaller heater core in an enclosure with a fan blower. For regulation, a mechanical heater control unit as used on older cars with a "dashboard" control. Not complicated and would work.

[Sidcar]

The Oxford sidecar appears to have a box section under the front seat so, providing the Wing water pump can cope with the extra load, I hope to fit a heater rad and fan in the box section an the duct it to the passengers feet and up to the screen to demist it. When I've got the forks done, my EZ-Steer kit has got as far as San Francisco according to UPS so shouldn't be much longer, and I can get the outfit back on the floor I'll star measuring up to see what space I've got.


Sid

[bustedwing]

As a matter of fact you can even put quick disconnect fittings on the water lines if you intend to take the sidecar off at any time, like for maint. We used to do that for heat on heavy equip. In cold settings the engines were easier to start once we plugged into even a pickup truck and let it warm up awhile.

[WingAdmin]

As a matter of fact you can even put quick disconnect fittings on the water lines if you intend to take the sidecar off at any time, like for maint. We used to do that for heat on heavy equip. In cold settings the engines were easier to start once we plugged into even a pickup truck and let it warm up awhile.

I was thinking the same thing - one male, one female, so that you could plug the ends of the lines into one another, once they were disconnected from the sidecar. The coolant would then just circulate through the loop.

[bustedwing]

Right, and you dont loose any coolant. Works great.

[sparrowhawwk]

Haven't done one off of a water cooled bike but it should work great. The one I did was an air cooled bike and I used an oil cooler which worked quite well. I was not trying to include defrosting for the windshield, just heat. I built a "box" for lack of a better description that mounted on the inboard side of the sidecar and was open in the front and rear. I mounted the oil cooler near the front of the box and cut a hole through the body behind it. I then hinged a flap or door that pivoted on the back edge of the hole. Actually I used the piece I cut out of the body for the door. I put a small drawer pull on the door to open and close it. I used a piece of rubber molding around the door as a seal. With the door "open" it would channel the heat into the sidecar and with it closed the heat exited through the rear of the box.
It will be interesting to see how yours turns out. Might have to consider one on the 83 1100 I'm building. Hmmmm! Defrost too eh?

[Sidcar]

My EZ-Steer kit has made it across the Atlantic to some distribution depot over here so hopefully I shall soon be busy fitting it.
This sidecar heater is going to take some careful planning. There is a large box section under the front seat of the Oxford which I need to measure then find a heater core to fit in it. A valve in the input hose should be no problem (cable operated so the passenger can regulate the heat? why not) and I've seen somewhere tubular electric fan units that would fit in the ducting which would reduce the space needed around the heater core.
All sounds perfectly feasible so there's bound to be a catch somewhere.

At the moment I shall be more than happy just to have the rig back on the road

Sid

[redial]

and I've seen somewhere tubular electric fan units that would fit in the ducting which would reduce the space needed around the heater core.

Fans from an old computer might be good for your purpose. They come in different sizes from small ones to around 5 inches, so you may like to take your pick. They should be cheap enough, with the number of junked computers around.

[Sidcar]

Good thought, I'll add that to my growing list for this job.
I've now got to step out into the pouring rain and go to work!

Work is the curse of the motorcycling classes.

Sid

[sparrowhawwk]

My EZ-Steer kit has made it across the Atlantic to some distribution depot over here so hopefully I shall soon be busy fitting it.
This sidecar heater is going to take some careful planning. There is a large box section under the front seat of the Oxford which I need to measure then find a heater core to fit in it. A valve in the input hose should be no problem (cable operated so the passenger can regulate the heat? why not) and I've seen somewhere tubular electric fan units that would fit in the ducting which would reduce the space needed around the heater core.
All sounds perfectly feasible so there's bound to be a catch somewhere.

At the moment I shall be more than happy just to have the rig back on the road

Sid

They probably won't tell you this but when you install the EZ Steer clamps add at least 5 ft lbs to the standard torque setting. I have one long time customer that adds about 10 but I really just look for a little noticeable drag on the steering with the wheel off of the ground.