Well I bought the R1200C with the Butler sidecar. It is to be delivered today. Read the Sidecar Operator manuals on the Sidecarist. So I have a couple of questions
1st. Who do you insure it with? My bikes are with State Farm
2nd. Pointers for first ride?
Diane
Q 1 Most Ins Co will cover Sidecars
Q 2 Go SLOW. Find a empty parking lot. If you can find a Riding School it is money well spent.
Congratz Diane, beautiful rig!
Most insurance companies classify a sidecar as an "accessory" which often has a separate replacement/damage limit. Check with your agent, you may want to bump up the accessory coverage amount.
As for learning, start by reading (here's a link to the library of this site: http://www.sidecar.com/links3.asp). Then, as Richard said, ride slow. Add about 100 pounds to the sidecar as ballast while you learn (NOTE: Animals, including humans, make for poor ballast while learning!). Ballast is best placed towards the outside of the car and towards it's rear. Sandbags are cheap and do work, but any leaks and you'll be sealing with a sandy car. Water jugs are better, but again leaks can be trouble.
Find an empty parking lot and practice starting, riding straight, stopping and and wide turns left and right. Gradually build your speed, work up to panic straight-line stops and decreased turning radius. When you feel comfortable, start doing some figure-8's. Decrease the ballast by a small amount and do it all again.
You'll notice that the tighter and faster the right-hand turn, the lighter the car will feel. That's why you need the ballast. Less ballast will exaggerate the affect. Be aware that the car can get so light that it's wheel will actually leave the ground. This is called "Flying the Chair". This is an advanced skill so please don't try to do this intentionally until your skills warrant it. Understand that when your 3-wheel rig suddenly becomes a lop-sided 2-wheel rig, the handling characteristics change pretty drastically. It's important to get the feel of this in case it happens by mistake.
Left-hand turns will tend to lower the nose of your car. If these turns get too tight and/or too fast, the nose will actually scrape.
You will also begin to feel the "yaw" that the sidecar introduces to starts and stops. Learn to anticipate, even USE the yaw.
Take it slow and stay SAFE!!
Thanks. Will be practicing these weekend
Fellow Noob here...
Following OldSchool's advice, once you work your way down to zero ballast, practice riding both with and without ballast. That way you're not caught off guard when you ride solo to pick up a passenger, then suddenly your rig is 100-200 lbs heavier.
Beautiful rig..What the above old guys said. Accessory coverage is what you need to look into.
Just got it. Will be practicing this weekend. Thanks for the advice.
Beautiful rig Diane, hope to see you on the road one of these days! 😉
Long ride from Big Bend to the Piney Woods, but one of the country's top sidecar trainers is in Tyler (hey, it's still in Texas): Marcus Renfroe, at Pineywoods Riders Academy... 936-674-6767 Have Fun!
Thanks would love to go the Piney Woods training. But it would have to wait a few months. New job and all. I have some exercises setup for this weekend. Planing on taking it slow. But I am excited.
Nice rig!
Everything the guys said in this post.
Beautiful rig. There was 2 cruisers at the national here in Sturgis. Would love to see yours some place. Pineywoods is in Lufkin,not Tyler. Marcus has 1 sidecar class a month,nearly year around. His phone no at shop is 936-637-7555 cell 936-674-6767 Long way from Alpine,but well worth it if you can make it.
J.R.
Sec.
Tex rep
Thanks. Trying to figure out a time to go to the class.
