Hello all,
I'll answer the poll question first, I am 45. I'd been away from bikes for some time and have been riding for the past year or so "getting my skills back" in hopes of buying a hack next summer to use with my son. He's eight and every time we see a sidecar rig, he goes bananas. There is a Ural dealer near me and I have looked at them a couple of times but had no intention of buying a rig until next year. Sometimes fate intervenes... I got a call from a friend who is a Harley guy telling me there is a sweet rig at the local dealership, taken in on trade. It is a 2000 Wide Glide with a big bore kit and matching (two tone blue and silver) Champion Daytona sidecar. The rig was put together when the bike was brand new and has a grand total of 8700 miles on it. There is not a scratch on it, the fiberglass of the car is perfect, even the convertible top and zip out windows of the rig look new. The asking price was significantly less than a new Ural rig, so I bought it. I drove it on a test drive and have been "around the neighborhood" but haven't ventured out on real roads yet. It isn't that challenging to drive, but I keep reading about the chair coming up on right handers and I am a little spooked. I'd like to take some kind of course, but I live in the middle of nowhere (far northern Wisconsin) and can't find anything close. The rig has an optima battery in the "trunk" as well as two 40# bags of sand that I added as I wanted a little weight to drive around before even thinking about a passenger. It is hard to tell about people on the net so let me say, I am all about safety. I always wear a helmet, boots, leathers, gloves and don't do anything stupid. Is a sidecar rig something that one can drive well with only practice, or should I keep looking for a good training course and trailer to it? Also, if you tell me to get some training, I'd appreciate recommendations as to where.
Thanks,
TFM
First welcome to the world of sidecaring. It is best to get some schooling and then practice, practice. But if there are no schools you can not find one near you it can be done on your own, I did. I said I did it but it was some free books that I down load from here and me. Follow the link below to them.
http://www.sidecar.com/links3.asp
I'll agree that is is easy to be spooked by all the warnings. I was in the same situation with no formal training available. Read the books, do the exercises and learn what YOUR rig does in turns, figure 8's. Every rig is sort of the same but they handle differently depending on the weight of the car and power of the tug. Use ballast until you feel you don't need it and have fun, just don't get over confident until you learn the quirks of that extra third wheel. Your son is going to love it and you for it.
Leave the battery and ballast in the trunk even with your 8 year old aboard. The Wideglide has plenty of power and the rig is just more stable with the extra ballast to keep it on all three wheels.
With him aboard you are probably still around the 2/3rds bike weight to 1/3rd sidecar weight that is considered in the industry to be a good practical weight ratio for an all around road outfit.
Lonnie
I'm doing all the reading and ordered "Driving a Sidecar Outfit" yesterday. I bought the rig yesterday as well. If it wasn't pouring down rain in northern Wisconsin today, I might just be in the back parking lot of the Wal Mart practicing figure 8's right now. The sense I am getting is that a 45 year old guy can probably teach himself to drive a rig without undue risk if he doesn't do anything stupid and learns what the limitations of his particular rig are. That is the answer I was looking for, but if anybody wants to jump in and recommend a training course, feel free... Willing to travel!
TFM
I searched the Evergreen Site and found this but there is no classes scheduled and it's the advanced class which probably would be OK for you anyway. Often classes get formed when there is a student interested and you can't beat the price.
http://www.esc.org/step_national_schedule.php
MATC Motorcycle Program
2125 Commercial Ave
Madison, WI 53704
Jan Rothamer 608-246-5257
8:00 a.m. Room B-035
Student must provide own rig.
Course fee: $30 for WI residents
Yopu should have a pretty stable outfit from what you described. Do some practice in a parking lot and read all you can. Yes, I know sometimes reading the stuff thta gets posted on these discussion sites can create some uneasy feeling but you will find that with a little practice and some common sense you will be fine. Sidecar operation seems very weird at first but after getting more seat time thing swill begin to come natural.
Joyce,
Thanks.
I will give them a ring in Madison on Monday. Madison is a big city compared to where I live (with all due apologies to real cities!). If you look at a map of Wisconsin, there is a huge green area in the northern half of the state. That big, empty place on the map is where I live... heck, I have to drive almost an hour south before I get to the first divided highway, it's all two lane up here. It is great if you are a rider (or a fisherman, hunter, kayaker or snowmobiler) but a pain when you need something only a city can offer. Madison probably means The University of Wisconsin and that means 4 hours south... Probably worth it. Will look into it.
Thanks again,
Claude,
I know your part of the country well. I lived in Clearfield for many years before moving to Wisconsin. There are some truly incredible drives to be had right in your back yard if you stay off of I-80. I think central Pennsylvania is one of the most beautiful places on earth and regret having to move. Northern Wisconsin is similiar, just no hills and more lakes if that makes any sense.
TFM
TheFatMan - 9/11/2010 5:11 PM Joyce, Thanks. I will give them a ring in Madison on Monday. Madison is a big city compared to where I live (with all due apologies to real cities!). If you look at a map of Wisconsin, there is a huge green area in the northern half of the state. That big, empty place on the map is where I live... heck, I have to drive almost an hour south before I get to the first divided highway, it's all two lane up here. It is great if you are a rider (or a fisherman, hunter, kayaker or snowmobiler) but a pain when you need something only a city can offer. Madison probably means The University of Wisconsin and that means 4 hours south... Probably worth it. Will look into it. Thanks again, Claude, I know your part of the country well. I lived in Clearfield for many years before moving to Wisconsin. There are some truly incredible drives to be had right in your back yard if you stay off of I-80. I think central Pennsylvania is one of the most beautiful places on earth and regret having to move. Northern Wisconsin is similiar, just no hills and more lakes if that makes any sense. TFM
I may have a better solution. Steve Krings, the Ural dealer in Phillips used to teach sidecar riding in Milwaukee. Give him a try, you might get some one on one closer to home.
Hi thefatman,welcome to the sport of sidecaring.I've only been driving a rig for about 3years,56 yrs old,have put 55k on it in 3years,enjoyed every mile.Been to a couple usca rallies, one in Washington on the Columbia river, the other in Eureka Arkansas.
When I first started driving my rig, I was a little uneasy about right turns for almost a year,had to learn myself to proud to ask for help.What helped me when I just starting was when the sidecar lifted in a right turn I could always slightly pull in on the hand brake, and it brought the sidecar down quick.
Ride safe ride long.
Another opinion from a less seasoned hacker here.
I bought my 2004 Goldwing with Hannigan hack this past summer. The Hannigan might be heavier and lower than your Daytona, I don't know. I rode it home 4 hours solo, and the next day the wife and I went on a week of near home, daily riding, burning nearly a tank of gas out of it every day. The next day we left for a 3,400 mile, 13 state trip that included 2 "Ride for Kids" rides. I had read everything I could here, plus I found some on line info and I took it easy riding, no horse play and I have never came close to flying the chair, nor do I care to. Everyone on here has ALOT more time and experience with hacks, but this was mine. I've owned it since about the middle of July and have put about 6K miles on it I'd say. We can NOT stop for gas, groceries or anything without people coming up to talk. Everybody likes a hack. People took out picture going down the highway all the time on our 13 state trip. One young girl driving just about hit us trying to take a pic on her cell phone. These things are attention getters for sure and TONS of fun.
TheFatMan - 9/11/2010 10:22 AM
Hello all,
I'll answer the poll question first, I am 45. I'd been away from bikes for some time and have been riding for the past year or so "getting my skills back" in hopes of buying a hack next summer to use with my son. He's eight and every time we see a sidecar rig, he goes bananas. There is a Ural dealer near me and I have looked at them a couple of times but had no intention of buying a rig until next year. Sometimes fate intervenes... I got a call from a friend who is a Harley guy telling me there is a sweet rig at the local dealership, taken in on trade. It is a 2000 Wide Glide with a big bore kit and matching (two tone blue and silver) Champion Daytona sidecar. The rig was put together when the bike was brand new and has a grand total of 8700 miles on it. There is not a scratch on it, the fiberglass of the car is perfect, even the convertible top and zip out windows of the rig look new. The asking price was significantly less than a new Ural rig, so I bought it. I drove it on a test drive and have been "around the neighborhood" but haven't ventured out on real roads yet. It isn't that challenging to drive, but I keep reading about the chair coming up on right handers and I am a little spooked. I'd like to take some kind of course, but I live in the middle of nowhere (far northern Wisconsin) and can't find anything close. The rig has an optima battery in the "trunk" as well as two 40# bags of sand that I added as I wanted a little weight to drive around before even thinking about a passenger. It is hard to tell about people on the net so let me say, I am all about safety. I always wear a helmet, boots, leathers, gloves and don't do anything stupid. Is a sidecar rig something that one can drive well with only practice, or should I keep looking for a good training course and trailer to it? Also, if you tell me to get some training, I'd appreciate recommendations as to where.
Thanks,
TFM
I am a conservative and analytical rider (engineer by profession), and I had all of the same concerns and more. I shipped my Kawasaki Vulcan 1700 to Hannigan Motorsports back in the spring and then flew up there to pick it up after our Astro GT sidecar was installed. I read everything that I could get my hands on before my wife and I went to pick up the rig. Dave Hannigan sat me down for a talk, which was basically a review of what I had read, then took me for a short ride with me sitting on the pillion and the sidecar empty. He demonstrated how the sidecar would start to lift under those conditions in a right hand turn. He then had me ride a couple miles down the highway and return by myself (i.e. with the car empty). There were two things that I had to adjust to right away. (1) the rig is WIDE - I was so used to riding in the middle of the lane that the sidecar was almost dropping off the shoulder of the road - I had to really concentrate on staying to the left the first couple of hours. (2) the first time I downshifted to slow down I wasn't ready for the push to the left. Again, at the beginning you need to realize that the car will drag back on acceleration and push forward on deceleration. The thing that Dave stressed was to stay at the posted speed limit in turns, especially right handers, until I was very comfortable with the handling characteristics of the rig. Staying at the posted speed limit (or below) in turns will keep you safe in a rig that is proportionally balanced in weight between the bike and the car. A very small car on a very big bike would be a problem as far as handling goes. Anyway, after the short class we departed Murray KY on a 1,000 mile ride home which we completed with no problems. Virtually all of the trip was on interstate highways. Just take things slow and easy and keep your head in the game until you get more experience with the rig and you will be fine.
Excellent,
Thank You all. Will plan on posting a progress report some time in the near future and see if I can add a few photos.
Tim
