I have been posting various things on here about my ongoing K100/Hedingham single seat chair.
 
I enquired from Hedingham about the possibility of fitting a brake to the chair because mine is a very early one which is unbraked.
 
Evidently the very very early ones had no facilities for brakes at all. The later early ones had tapped holes in the hub for a disc. Mine has no such holes.
 
I can see no problem in making suitable bracketry to attach a master cylinder and pedal to the chair frame.
 
I can also see little problem in making a floating plate to hold the caliper and bush in exactly the same way as happens on the Wasp front forks. It would need a torque arm with rod end bearings attached to a bracket on the chassis but that wouldn’t be a problem.
 
I’m wondering what the best way of attaching a disc to the hub would be bearing in mind that the hub has no spigot to locate the disc centre. It would also need a disc with a relatively small centre hole because the hub itself is not huge.
 
I know it’s relatively difficult for people just stabbing in the dark but any suggestions and/or photos  would be extremely well received.  


Whilst the reply from Hedingham was extremely helpful, the cost is going to be prohibitive at about 700 quid.
 
I don’t particularly want the brakes linked to the bike as I prefer the chair be braked separately.
 

On the other hand, should I really worry about a chair brake at all?


J

I might be wrong but I struggle to get my head around not having any brakes on the sidecar wheel. The combined car and passenger weight combined with what I will call offset or one sided braking would scare me on corners in the manner of a car pulling to one side when you hit the brakes.

Sidecar Paul might have some good comments there.

I found this on line too... Australian and seems over there sidecar wheel brake is not compulsory.

www.mrasa.asn.au/pdf/MR808_Fact_Sheet_Motorcycles_and_Sidecars.pdf

92KK 84WW Olaf wrote:I might be wrong but I struggle to get my head around not having any brakes on the sidecar wheel. The combined car and passenger weight combined with what I will call offset or one sided braking would scare me on corners in the manner of a car pulling to one side when you hit the brakes.

Sidecar Paul might have some good comments there.

I found this on line too... Australian and seems over there sidecar wheel brake is not compulsory.

www.mrasa.asn.au/pdf/MR808_Fact_Sheet_Motorcycles_and_Sidecars.pdf

 True but it pulls the other way when you accelerate! Lots of lightweight chairs have no brake. This isnt lightweight though but it certainly didnt have one from new

Surprising as it is you don't really need to have the disc centred very well at all. I have done it by eye and it has worked quite well.  It can be done by eye so it is within 10 thousandths, any more and depending on the weight and outer diameter you might get a bit of out of balance. So this means that having a centre spigot is desirable it is not really essential.
However you do need to have it running true so as there is no wobble.

RicK G wrote:Surprising as it is you don't really need to have the disc centred very well at all. I have done it by eye and it has worked quite well.  It can be done by eye so it is within 10 thousandths, any more and depending on the weight and outer diameter you might get a bit of out of balance. So this means that having a centre spigot is desirable it is not really essential.
However you do need to have it running true so as there is no wobble.

 
Thanks for the reply. Provided it’s a new disc I think it could actually run out by 3 or 4 mm or even more provided the pads are always in contact with the braking surface and don’t run over the outside edge and subject to balance of course. It’s not the concentricity that is going to be the problem of course it’s going to be side run out. Regardless, that can all be resolved on the lathe.
 
If I go ahead with this I think it’s going to need some kind of spacer to space the disc out from the hub and then bolt through the whole lot disc and spacer and into the hub….or pick up a new wheel!

I've never had a sidecar brake in 50 years.........and never not stopped!

Towed trials bikes, racing bikes, model traction engine and transported my lathe (5" Harrison) and Milling machine, when I moved house, all behind various outfits, but mostly behind the K. 

So, is a sidecar brake necessary? No, but if you want to fit one then go ahead.

Paul.

I wonder if a rear pressure release - distributor from a car system could be helpful

these restrictors provide some form of balance front to rear on a car (most braking power to the front and some percentage to the rear )

my thoughts are, it could be helpful ,,,in as much as you want some braking to the chair ....but maybe not all the same force as the fronts ? 
I just wonder, could this be helpful ?

sidecar paul wrote:I've never had a sidecar brake in 50 years.........and never not stopped!

Towed trials bikes, racing bikes, model traction engine and transported my lathe (5" Harrison) and Milling machine, when I moved house, all behind various outfits, but mostly behind the K. 

So, is a sidecar brake necessary? No, but if you want to fit one then go ahead.

Paul.

What he ^^^ said 100%

Al

I think Sidecar Paul has answered the question.....

The earlier units on cars were attached to the rear axle or other suspension component and if the rear became light then braking was reduced. Load proportioning valve was the term applied to some, lots of weight on the rear increased the braking pressure to the rear, little weight and the pressure at the rear was reduced. I recall fitting one to a Ford Transit van. But in such vehicles generally rear wheels are much the same, with a sidecar I imagine a significant difference.

From what I can see a sidecar brake doesn't seem to be a legal requirement...! Lighting rules and positions, brake lights, number plate lighting etc do seem to be legal requirements but no mention of brakes.

Thanks everyone for the replies. I feel a lot better now.

I’m going to have a little play when everything is together and if I can fit one, I will but if I  can’t, I’m not going to worry about it.