I would imagine sand bags? I'm reading about 75 pounds to practice with.
30 kg weight plate flat on the floor of the luggage area behind the seat. P
Lead bars in a box
Bags of sand works well but put them into an outer bag. Double bag it.
Lead shot works better but is more costly.
Permanent ballast bolted securely to the sidecar frame is best.
Put ballast out as close to or behind the sidecar wheel as possible. DO NOT place ballst in the nose of the sidecar.
If you are mounting a sidecar to a GS be very careful in left hand turns.
My rig came with a 50lb bag of drainage stones. It was bulky and messy so I switched to two 25lb bags of lead shot ($60) - very compact.
I'm using Walmart car trash holders (the kind that fasten to the back of the seat), filling them with about 15-20 pounds of lead wheel weights (free)and taping them completely with duct tape. One under the seat, one on the seat, and one in the trunk under the 20 pound tool kit.
For learning purposes: You're unsure of what ballast weight will work best for you. One of the least expensive ways to find out before investing in permanent ballast is to use plastic one gallon milk jugs.
Fill them with dry sand, fill again with water to compact the sand, cap and duct tape them and place them in the back of the sidecar behind the seat.
They will weigh 18# to 20# each and are easily inserted or taken out without back strain and are soft enough so is no possibility of fracturing fiberglass or denting a steel body if they happen to slide or shift during a turn or bump.
After you find out what weight you want you can make an educated choice for your permanent ballast.
Lonnie
Northwest Sidecars
All good ideas.
I have updated my profile and signature as well to reflect that the rig is BMW R90/6 with Velorex sidecar.
A lot of great information on this forum, I have downloaded about 140 pages from posts here and now have a couple of books as well.
As I mentioned in earlier post, I am due for a total knee replacement next week, so I will have plenty of time to read and just wish I could ride..So maybe in three to four months I can take my first trial run,
Oh, BTW, I found a very large empty parking lot nearby!
I am sure I will have more questions later, maybe some others newbies lurking on the forum will benefit as well.
Originally written by claude #3563 on 7/9/2007 6:48 AM
Bags of sand works well but put them into an outer bag. Double bag it.
Lead shot works better but is more costly.
Permanent ballast bolted securely to the sidecar frame is best.
Put ballast out as close to or behind the sidecar wheel as possible. DO NOT place ballst in the nose of the sidecar.
If you are mounting a sidecar to a GS be very careful in left hand turns.
Claude, It will be a 75 BMW R90/6 with Velorex, I have downloaded the manuel on your signature line, I have finished reading it the first time.. great resource material.
I have joined and mailed in my dues for membership USC group as well.
camping gear does the job......
mp in az
Originally written by Norwood on 7/9/2007 9:28 PM
Claude, It will be a 75 BMW R90/6 with Velorex, I have downloaded the manuel on your signature line, I have finished reading it the first time.. great resource material.
I have joined and mailed in my dues for membership USC group as well.
................................................................
Sounds liek you are on the right track my friend. Reseach is important and there is a tom of info here.Joining the USCA is certainly a good idea. Lots of great folks and a really nice magazine.
I would also suggest that you check out Hackd.com and subscribe to the magazine 'For and About Sidecarists'. Chris Dodson and her late Husband Jim had built this into a life long labor of love and since Jim's passing Chris has dedicated herself to carrying on with the tradition.
Also there is good info at SCT home of the Internet Sidecar Owners Klub. See link below in my signature. We are all in thsi together and you will find many of the same folks involved in all of the above.
Sidecarists are great folks and I am sure you will fit in easily.
Best wishes on your operation too.
One more question....does that large parking lot you found have any poles in it? Just kidding .
For the first month, I used a couple of bags of wood pellets, when my monkey was absent. I reduced that to one bag the second month. Nowadays, I use nothing but the weight of the rain gear, jack and tools - about 30 pounds or so. I ride more often without monkey, and ensure that I slow down for cornering - no problems... I found when I ditched the ballast, I rode more defensively which is a good thing.
Well, I've waited long enough. Had to jump in finally- I use 78#s of Archie most of the time. Sometimes 60-80#s of grandkid or other kids. Once in a great while nothing more than the stuff that normally rides in the trunk...
I found that just swapping out the hack for a mini-cooper for a while does ok... though I had to get used to less room than I had in the hack =)
You can get tire weights at major tire stores, also put a ad in the paper for lead bird shot, it's illegal to use and there lots of it still around, usually comes in 10# and 25# bags and you can get it cheap.
