Why my Zundapp did'nt work at Waltham abbey....sheared drive

[Enigma]

I did not state the R75 and the KS750 are the same, they are very similar. You are right that the largest components are different. But others are not. The brakes are interchangable. Both use a Noris generator. And it is a fact that close to 70% of the parts of the KS750 and the R75 are interchangable. In the end they both do the same job.

After digging a bit I realized that there are some interesting details on the history of the KS750/R75. In august 1942 it was decided that after BMW reached a production number of 20.200 units they were to end the production of R75's and manufacture KS750's. The sidecar chosen was the BMW 286/1 as it was simpler to manufature. Together Zundapp and BMW were to manufacture 20.00 units yearly. Before BMW reached the 20.200 units their factory in Eisenach was so badly damaged that production ceased. This was new to me as I have lived in a belief that these designs were to be merged.

I have a KS600 myself and I would prefer a gearbox without chains. The chains I will have to live with and they are a part ot it. As everything of this age some of the charm is a lot of small obstacles one has to deal with. Keeping a KS600 on the road was a monumental task untill the aftermarket made a lot of the major parts available (1980's). Now all you have to do is to order the parts you need from Aichner. And it is even cheaper to buy the steel panniers that were so hard to get hold of earlier.

The drive shaft that snapped of has the function of a torsion bar. A bit unusual that it snapped of but these machines. If you take a look on the teeth on the gear it is quite worn/damaged. If you get too much slack between the gearbox and the kardan it will bring a lot of tension on the rod.

[Paulkd]

Well after much anticipation the drive shaft arrived today!

I'm very very pleased with the quality, look at the contrast with the finish (parkerized I think) on the new part from Aichner in Germany, and the rough machine marks on the old one from god knows where?