Sidecar project

[Andy M]

Ok, I'm at work and I'm bored. Looking at GC's work sidecar project and some web pages on roof top tent's for 4x4's has set me thinking. Wouldn't a foam lined, pop-up top, sidecar body make a decent sleeping "pod"? This would be off the ground and therefore warm. Only downside I see is that your general kit would have to live outside, but I'm sure I'd rather sleep indoors and put the gear under a tarp than the other way round.

I know someone is bound to have slept in one of those huge 2+2 chair bodies. Was it comfortable? I can lay down in the Ural with the seat out, but the suspension hump and boot cross member make it impractical.

I've seen pictures of a Dutch set up that made the body a sort of trailer tent? Anyone remember the name or where there might be any pictures?

I'm sure it'll come to nothing once I review the costs, but thought the design exercise might pass an hour or two 

Andy

[guest18]

iirc Jethro was using his busmar(?) da as a sleeping "pod". Don't see why it wouldn't work.

[002]

iirc Jethro was using his busmar(?) da as a sleeping "pod". Don't see why it wouldn't work.

Yes...I did use mt Doudble adult Gemini as a sleeping"pod".
Was quite warm if a little cramped.Bulky kit outside in a bag underneath sidecar.
Stretch out full length no problem,saved putting the tent up when pissing down and blowing a gale.

Jethro

[guest7]

There was an bloke we used to see at the dragon (late 90s) and he had made a box sidecar body for his Ural. Once parked he could fold out panels to make it into a small sleeping box a la Monty's war wagon.

It wasn't very wide, but it was long enough to stretch out in and quite high too.

GC

[guest27]

Was an Apencrate at a Cornish rally one time with what looked like a small caravan as a side car - I know it could not have been - but the bod and his bint slept in it.  Then at one Prowlers Party (I think it was) some guy with a coffin as a side car turned up - real nice one with bow top and ll - he slept in that......

His mate had a hearse.

R

[Andy M]

The pod idea doesn't seem that practical having made some measurements and sketches over the weekend. A covered unit wide enough and high enough to be comfortable is going to need a few extra horses to drive it through the air (or it is just like a coffin and requires you to sleep a la Dracula). A pop-top/trailer tent type solves the height issue but is rather complex to make, heavy and will be prone to leaks. An L-shaped design with the sleepers head under a bubble canopy looks good until you think about parking on a slope. With the bike parked to roll out backwards or drive upwards and away, your head wants to be in the nose of the pod. This means a single purpose body rather that my original plan to carry the dog in there (don't fancy Gooners safety or comfort right in the nose of a fibreglass or wood/steel body).

The next option is an open topped box or platform. This is easier to make open up to a decent size but still leaves you sleeping in a bivvy bag under a tarp (albiet with a half-inch of polystyrene and some still air under/round you) and with no where for the dog without changing bodies.

Pitching a tent over the sidecar and using the platform as a bed (old Dutch idea) would make it work like a trailer tent, but does seem to rather defeat the object of getting rid of the canvas. Carrying a tent and camp bed in the normal body gives much greater flexibility.

All in all worth a look, but I can see why most of us are still carrying the canvas.

Andy