About to buy a Spyder Sight Unsceen

Go for it!
The Spyder would be a great match for your W650.
Motorvation has a world class product and their technical assistance is top notch.

Lonnie
Northwest Sidecars

What Lonnie said. It should be a great match. I've met some of the folks from Motorvation. I don't think you'll be dissapointed.

Who is going to assemble it? The devil is in the details...

You won't go wrong with Motorvation. Mary and staff are top shelf folks and their reputation for caring about their customers and having great customer service is as good as any and better than many.
I am quite sure if you are mounting the sidecar yourself and if they have done this combination before you will be walked through the process with little concern on your end. Either way you will not be left in the dark after th esale by any means.
Go for it 🙂

Like they all say go for it, I have a Spyder, I love it, I picked mine up on the way to Sturgis 2 yrs. ago, left PA. on 2 wheels, came back on 3, spent 2 nights in Sibley while they attached it, sent my tent and all my gear to Motorvation by fed-x, Mary and everyone at Motorvation are great people to deal with, customer service is the best, the only option I got on mine was a "Brookland" wind screen, they color matched the paint, and I paid about $5300.00 so $4000.00 don't sound too bad, good luck, Doc.

I've owned two of them (both on Harleys) and they're good sidecars. A little tight for a larger person to get in and out of but just right for anyone under 5'10" and 175 lbs or less. The car is not too heavy and once aligned properly, they handle very neutral. Good choice if this fits your criteria for passengers.

I have a Spyder on a Harley Ultra. It is a little light for the full dresser so I am pulling it off and putting it on a smaller Harley FXR. should be a great match for you bike. I would suggest a full windshield as opposed to the Brooklands Screen they also have. The brooklands looks cool but is useless for deflecting any wind.

If you plan on mounting it yourself do not push the mounting "sliders" in until they bottom. (It's the way you set the width of the sidecar track, how far the car is away from the bike,) They will sieze and be hell to get back out.

I wanted the car closer to the bike than the mounts would allow and pushed them in tooooo far. Hours to get them back out. Ended up cutting several inches off the length to get the distance I wanted. Sounds complicated but not if you were staring at the pieces. Just a note.

They built me a sub-frame and it went on perfectly. I like their product and their service.

Best of luck.
Sam

One thing about stability. sebjones stated a stability issue with the spyder on his Dresser but also stated he wanted it tucked in tight to the bike. Remember ...Wider is more stable than narrower.

Thanks for all the replies .... and all positive about the product and service. When does that ever happen?

I'll keep the width issue in mind. I'll need room between the car and the bike if I want to continue to use the kick start .... so that may diminish the desire to scoot them closer together.

Both my wife and I are 'medium sized characters'. We are also the likely passengers in the car - then maybe a dog or a child to be named later. We are fortunaute to both be ablebodied as well so I am optimistic that egress will be managable.

It is kinda looking like I just need to take a deep breath and write a check to Mary.

I just looked at the sidecar forun and noticed your question about the Spyder. I have the highest regards for Mary and her staff at Motorvation.
Last year my son and I installed a Spyder on my Valkyrie. It too, was a "sight unseen" proposition.
Although the Spyder is light for the Valk, weight and a wider stance made a very good rig, I'm happy with it. Go for it.

Solo, in looking at your tiny avitar picture, it appears that your Spyder is black. Is it painted or is that the gelcoat black? If it is the gelcoat, how does that finish look?

By the way, I ordered one a few days ago. To keep cost down, I opted for the black gelcoat. They said it should be ready in 2 to 3 months.

Merry Christmas to me!

Have we talked about this off-line? (I had this conversation with SOMEbody...) I have a W also. I need detailed pix of the set=up; where and how it mounts. I've had a lust for the Spyder for 25 years, or so.
I'm very curious about whether or not you'll need a sub-frame.

Yes Uncle Ernie, we have exchanged a few e-mails about sidecars and debated the merits of many of them.

Motorvation has never set up the W 650 with a car. So, we are going to have to work our way through this. I will be attempting to do this long distance (I am down in Raleigh).

Righ now I have no idea how the exhaust system my interfer up front, but those down tubes seem like a good and acessible place to mount. In the upper back, if it can squeeze in, perhaps the tube that runs behind the black cover (covers the electronics or the air filters, can't remember right now) with the "W 650" on it will work. That might interfer with the kick start though. I saw a picture of a Velorex mounted to the W650 and it looked like it was mounted to the shock mount.

The lower rear will be a challange. The exhaust runs right in front of the frame and the frame tube - engine clearance is very small. One thought I had last night was using the center stand mount. Do people do that? The centerstand could be removed since it should not be needed (or do people still use the centerstand on sidecar rigs for maintenance?). The mounts for it seem quite stout. Perhaps next time you are looking at your W, take a moment and look at the centerstand mount and see what you think.

Dan,
Drop me an eMail and I'll send you pix of two W650's with Velorex cars for some ideas.
The mount positions are a bit different on each so maybe one will work for you.

Lonnie
Northwest Sidecars
nwsidecar@aol.com

Thanks Lonnie. I sent you an e-mail. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Maybe I can put these months of waiting to good use contemplating ways to mount the Spyder.