Dusting Sidecars

Does anyone know anything about Dusting Sidecars? I am looking at a bike for sale and they guy has one but I Know nothing about sidecars whatsoever.

Is it in Australia, or from Australia.
I'm fairly sure Dustings were made there.
Long slender canoe like structure, all tin, very pretty.
Made a lot of them at some stage...

I think about sidecar so looked this kind up and pretty sleek, like the front of a woman's high heel shoe, cool.
https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=+Dusting+Sidecars

Sorry hit wrong thread with climate poo poo. Dusting style still reminds me of woman's hi heel style which appeals to me for some reason.

Hi Guys,

The Sidecar is from Australia but was imported here to the states. I've made an offer on it and the bike attached to it so fingers crossed that it all works out. The bike is an AJS 18 500cc (Single)

Very purty....

Something to chew on is that the sidecar is on the wrong side for US roads.
I had a doublethink about the opposite scenario, and decided against it.
Poking the sidecar out into the oncoming traffic to see if its safe to overtake is not without its dangers. !!

Jist out of curiousity, what sort of $$ are involved.
Old Ajay/Matchy ironhead rigids are not renowned for their brute hp, (although willing as solo mounts)
and not usually priced accordingly either. Might be a little rarer in the US though.

It is hard get a really good feel for prices for AJSs as there have not been many up for sale here for a long time. The guy selling this bike also has an unrestored original 1948 m18 too. I am trying to bundle them together. Here is a pic of the 1948



Here's an older picture of the 49 (from when the guy bought it in 2003 when it was still in Australia)


They both turn over but have not run since he imported both of them. He apparently got the 48 from Stuart Bray in the UK. It was actually running in 2003 ( I verified on the DVLA's website that it was registered in 2003 in the UK which means it passed its MOT) but when he got it, it turned out to be much nicer than he thought and he decided that he'd restore it. He ran into hard times and didn't have money or time and they just sat in his garage under a tarp for almost 12 years. He's now moving and is selling everything. With the sale comes a stack of old AJS books from the 40's, Lucas manuals, a 47 bottom end, extra magneto, etc.



As far as the sidecar being on the "wrong" side. I don't think that it's got enough power to actually overtake anyone so I'm not worried about it. The sidecar will be used to carry beer mostly.

The seller is "thinking" about my offer. If he turns it down, I may just counter with an offer on the 1948 and leave the 1949.

What are your thoughts?

Am I missing something about the sidecar being on the left side of the bike? Aside from the obvious issue with overtaking with the car on the left side sticking dangerously out in traffic, is there something that I'm missing? I talked to a couple classic bike guys here in the USA and they both said that they would avoid a bike with the sidecar on the left. What gives? Are they difficult to resell? The market for sidecars is small in general so it's really hard to tell if it makes any difference if it's on the left or right on a 65 year old bike.

If you can get them for those prices, go for it.
I've got a project 49, and its not as pretty as that one, yet.
They look very complete and quite authentic, at a quick glance.

Sidecar on the left is set up for British roads.
If you've ever driven a car in traffic with the steering wheel on the wrong side, you'll know the feeling.
Although some folks do it all the time, and seem to have no problems.
As long as you appreciate that you are not going to be doing much overtaking esp with the outfit,
you will be fine with these bikes.

Rohan said:

If you can get them for those prices, go for it.
I've got a project 49, and its not as pretty as that one, yet.
They look very complete and quite authentic, at a quick glance.

Sidecar on the left is set up for British roads.
If you've ever driven a car in traffic with the steering wheel on the wrong side, you'll know the feeling.
Although some folks do it all the time, and seem to have no problems.
As long as you appreciate that you are not going to be doing much overtaking esp with the outfit,
you will be fine with these bikes.

Click to expand...

Thanks Rohan. Interestingly enough, the only time I've ridden a bike with a sidecar was in Scotland and the sidecar was on the righthand side of the bike so I guess I'm doomed to always have it on the wrong way around.

If I am successful at negotiating then this will represent bikes #5 & #6. I am negotiating with the seller via email now because he works all day. We;ve spoken on the phone a few times and I have verified that he's legitimate. He has even agreed to receive payment via PayPal which gives us both some protection (More so for me).

I don't have time to ride the bikes I already have now so the sidecar bike will only come out on very rare occasions and the 1948 will be a project for the future.

Seems strange to be referring to these bikes as 'projects', they are some of the most original and authentic looking Ajays I've seen for a while.
If they were in known good running condition, would be worth a significant amount of money more in a good sale,
especially the outfit.....

No telling whats inside them from the outside of course, but its entirely possible with a maggie clean or rebuild,
and the same for the carb and the oiling system, they could well be off and running ?
Not forgetting to check the tires and tubes, and all fluids and cable lube and adjustments, and electrics...
Sounds simple, until you tot it all up....

Update. Seems these bikes have been very widely advertised, to a large audience.
Be very surprised if that doesn't start a sorta bidding war. ?
Other pics show these in very good condition...
Cheers !

Its hard to have a bidding war when the seller is flaky. I have been trying to get these for a while. He doesn't return calls or emails. That picture you posted, Rohan , is of the bike when it was for sale in Australia in 2003 -it is from the original listing when the guy I'm negotiating with bought it. I am not about to throw money at a bike when the seller can't even send decent pics of the thing... as demonstrated from the ones I posted above. How hard is it to roll the bikes into the sunlight and snap a couple pics.? He seems nice enough, but I'm getting the feeling that he really doesn't want to let them go which I can certainly appreciate.

He's been advertising these off and on since 2010. I think he must go through periods where he wants to sell them then changes his mind. I had a shipper lined up to pick these up twice now.

Also, he doesn't have titles for these and doesn't even know if they turn over. He thinks they do but got irritated when I asked him to check for me.

Johnnymac said:

Am I missing something about the sidecar being on the left side of the bike? Aside from the obvious issue with overtaking with the car on the left side sticking dangerously out in traffic, is there something that I'm missing? I talked to a couple classic bike guys here in the USA and they both said that they would avoid a bike with the sidecar on the left. What gives? Are they difficult to resell? The market for sidecars is small in general so it's really hard to tell if it makes any difference if it's on the left or right on a 65 year old bike.

Click to expand...

From memory the Dusting sidecar is fully reversible. If you want it on the right all you need do is disassemble the chassis and rebuild it on the other side, then move the sidecar body onto the base frame. You might have trouble with rusty bolts. My first bike was a 500cc Indian with sidecar and it was built the same way as the Dusting. If you are used to riding with the sidecar on the right, I would reverse it. In Australia, the sidecar is on the left and care must be taken on left hand corners or the sidecar wheel lifts. You become used to compensating for it. Same on right hand corners - the rear wheel of the bike can lift if you get really silly. For me to ride a sidecar in America would be very dangerous.
The sort of bike you are looking at is a lot of fun. We had them as kids, and a friend of mine regularly up-ended his. He took another mate in the sidecar, and where that mate lived there was a Y shaped intersection. The rider lined up the corner at fairly high speed and the passenger climbed out on the left to keep the wheel down. Then the rider chucked the bike into a screaming right hand U turn and his passenger did a few somersalts up the road.

'Also, he doesn't have titles for these and doesn't even know if they turn over. He thinks they do but got irritated when I asked him to check for me.'

Unless they have been pulled apart and left in the rain, it is unlikely that they wouldn't turn over. Are you going to buy them without viewing them ? It sounds as though the guy is not some kid who doesn't know what he is doing.

acotrel said:

'Also, he doesn't have titles for these and doesn't even know if they turn over. He thinks they do but got irritated when I asked him to check for me.'

Unless they have been pulled apart and left in the rain, it is unlikely that they wouldn't turn over. Are you going to buy them without viewing them ? It sounds as though the guy is not some kid who doesn't know what he is doing.

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Well, I was planning on driving up there to look at them and buy them. However, it would be a two day trip and I don't have the time. I also don't have a trailer that would be suitable for a bike and sidecar. (Which is why I've been trying to get pictures from the seller.) Pictures can be misleading though. Just a couple weeks ago I drove a few hours to look at a Norton for sale that looked better in pics but upon closer inspection needed a lot more work. It was still a good bike but the sellers price was too high for the work needing done.

So, I have sent the seller of these two AJS's multiple emails since the weekend telling him that I will take them but he is like Keyser Söze..... he's gone. His phone has gone straight to VM for 2 days. Oh well.

A few days ago he posted somewhere in Nth America that these were for sale. With the Matchy OC ?
Seems to have stirred up some interest.

That pic I posted is off his photobucket page, where other bikes n stuff is listed too.
I'd suspect he would have paid a lot for these...

acotrel said:

From memory the Dusting sidecar is fully reversible. If you want it on the right all you need do is disassemble the chassis and rebuild it on the other side, then move the sidecar body onto the base frame.

Click to expand...

The chassis is fully reversible ?
You won't end up with the canoe facing backwards, or the kickstarter inaccesible ?!

Rohan said:

A few days ago he posted somewhere in Nth America that these were for sale. With the Matchy OC ?
Seems to have stirred up some interest.

That pic I posted is off his photobucket page, where other bikes n stuff is listed too.
I'd suspect he would have paid a lot for these...

Click to expand...

Well I've offered him his asking price but as I said he's dropped off the face of the planet. Hopefully he turns up soon.

He's probably swamped with folks clamouring for the same thing - keep trying....

Rohan said:

He's probably swamped with folks clamouring for the same thing - keep trying....

Click to expand...

Honestly, I doubt it. He has had these list on various sites for almost 5 years. I think he lists them and then decides not to sell. The most recent ad he placed was from March 18 on Craigslist. Everything else is older. He never posts his phone number either so he's not getting calls from lots of people.