Claus zum Fledermaus-telefon bitte.

[Lmo]

Have you ever fitted a drum brake to a Dnepr sidecar?

The backing plate seems to be available from several sources, but the pedal assembly is not. Perhaps there is a 'simpler' way to fit a brake than the with Dnepr parts?

[Wildhorse Cafe]

Quick, to the bat phone!

[Claus]

I did. Last time I hung a Dnepr sidecar to a BMW R80/7 I mounted a Ural pedal assembly to the Dnepr side car. No pictures, but the customer is coming to my shop this Saturday to get a new neutral switch done on his gearbox. If wished, I could make some pictures of what I have done.
What I remember is, that I used a Ural back plate and welded a piece of steel to the swing arm to hold it (it´s different to Dnepr, where it´s locked by two bolts.
The pedal assembly and the linking parts can be done real easy if you´ve got a welder. No rocket science.

[Lmo]

Photos would be most helpful (no need to re-invent anything). And, I do have a welder.

Vielen dank.

[Claus]

Now here some pics:
As I had the rig in house I remebered that it was not me to convert the brake to Ural , but it was me to make it work. I reinforced the lever bracket and put a roller-bearing with a plastic wheel under the brake pedal.

[Claus]

This are pics of a 650 Ural sidecar to show how it is made from the manufacturer
I hope the pics are clear enough to explain what´s it about.

[Claus]

I forgot this:

[Lmo]

Thank you for the extensive photos Claus. The roller under the brake pedal is brilliant!

My rig is 'mongrel' (Mischling); the wheels are all Dnepr, with Dnepr front brake, but with a Ural rear brake.

I haven't spent much time looking at the Dnepr sidecar swing arm, but I'm guessing that adapting a Ural sidecar brake backing plate might be easier that installing a Dnepr assembly. I imagine Ural parts are more available over here (although there seem to be plenty of Dnepr sidecar brake components overseas (on your side of the Atlantic)).

Your thoughts?

edit - did Ural even make drum brakes for the sidecar? Maybe I should just stick with Dnepr parts...

[Claus]

edit - did Ural even make drum brakes for the sidecar? Maybe I should just stick with Dnepr parts...

They did. In my opinion (I don´t want to offend those who keep that Dneprs on the road with big effort) the Dnepr system is not as convenient to drive as the Urals side car brake is. The foot lever is too high and the brake cable is too weak. I personally like the lever- activated rod system of Ural .

Talking about the backing plate, the Dnepr system is better from the construction sight, because the brake can be adjusted from the outside, where on a Ural you have to take the wheel off. But that´s about all, when talking about benefits. Regarding the times when all wheels were braked with drum brakes, the side car wheel had the best brake on a Ural rig. It´s even good enough for a 60 hp rig, if set up properly.
Building up a Ural brake on a Dnepr side car goes together with welding, building parts, galvanizing and painting.
The foot brake lever of a Dnepr is not made for activating anything else than a Dnepr brake (but once having the angle grinder at hand... )

I´m not sure what I would do. If you are bored, have the tools in your shed, miss a side car brake and have some spare time in winter, well, that might be a good thing. If you find the Dnepr foot brake lever a PITA like I do, it´s another reason. If you like your bike as it is and just want to add more braking power to it, it might be easyer to install a Dnepr brake. It can be set up to work well if you invest enough time and your brake drum is o.k (not separated from the hub and the drum is still round). This would take only a few hours, and less money. In the worst case, your swing arm has no holder for the Dnepr backing plate. So you have to make one and weld it on.

Screenshot_2019-12-10 Hinten Schwinge Seitenwagenrahmen URAL IMZ sidecar lever Levier Palanca eBay.png

But this would only mean to have one single welding on the swing arm


The roller on my conversion is much better than the original Ural system, but you have to do it as the last step . The rig has to be set up to your desire before that, because it´s not as variable. It has to be located directly under the brake lever. And it has to be very sturdy to avoid twisting.

Regarding the availability of parts here: I can buy every single part very easy. One of my closest friends is Dimitri, the owner of ural-hamburg.de
Regarding the parts quality of most Dnepr parts nowadays in the German market:

[Lmo]

Vielen Dank! Viel mehr zu lesen!

And yes, I do find the Dnepr brake lever a royal PITA; for more than one reason.