I use soap jugs filled with water. The laundry soap my wife buys comes in handy two and a half gallon jugs that have a spigot built into them. Once cleaned out they make handy jugs for all sorts of things. Even drinky water if need be. I save most of them. They make wonderfull ballast jugs, and water is always easy to find so that if I get a passenger, I can just dump the water, haul the passenger or cargo, then refill the water jugs when the load is removed. Slick!
That pesky, fat a$$ed IRS agent that came around a while back. Haven't seen him since the first turn. For learning purposes only, I can tell you that there is a bit of a difference in steering once the IRS agent learns what flying the chair and elimination of ballast actually means. 🙂
I use a tool kit. Weighs about 80lbs. Might as well have something that you can use!!!
I haven't ever used ballast, other than a 10 lb tool kit in the trunk. The Dnepr sidecar is heavy enough!
Well now....
When I started out, I had a 5 gallon plastic soap jug full of water, but have since run out of room to carry it. Now I have a spare tire on the back of the Ural and in the trunk, let's see now.....
There is that 12'X12' plastic tarp and then there is that Aerostich Roadcrafter. Here is a Haynes manual for the R90/6 and Rick Jones' book on the electrical system. There is the tool box with all the tools I need for repairs...and then there is that scissor jack under the boxes for the torque wrenches, both ft/lbs and inch/lbs. Here is that box with a spare stator and rotor, with a spare diode board, fuses, a couple feet of 14 ga wire, butane soldering iron with solder and paste. A mint tin with spare fuses, squeeze connectors both male and female. Hey, look....there is that Twin Max for balancing the carbs! (Thought I had lost it) Here's the pack of spare cables for the clutch, throttles, brakes, tach and speedometer. Another mint tin with tubes of JB Weld and yet another tin with 5 minute epoxy. A roll of duct tape, voltage tester (sharp needle on that sucker!). Looky here! A box with the ingition advance unit and points that was taken off to install the Boyer ignition system along with two spare spark plugs still in the boxes. Sown in the bottom is an 8" and a 12" crescent, a set of water pump pliers. Here is a package of greases for splines, points cam post and another box with valve cover gaskets, oil pan gaskets and assorted O rings. Two rolls of towels, a box of latex gloves (don't remember putting them in there), a can of brake cleaner, a can of Honda Plastic cleaner, a can of ether (?) and a can of brake fluid. a pair of socks, a t-shirt (dirty) and finally a BMW rusty tire pump.
Had to leave out the 5 gallon can of water.....no room. Maybe if I rearrange the other stuff, I might be able to squeeze in a bag of lead shot down in the bottom. Do y'all think that a 20# bag of shot will be enough?
budamy
Use whatever ballast will make a given rig handle well for a given driver. It should be stable in right handers witin the feel of the driver. It needs to be stable in left handers too.
Some prefer a ligher sidecar than others...no big deal either way.
There IS NO great big deal in running no ballast.
Run what is best for you and have fun.
I bought my rig already set up with a 15 inches of lead (leed, not led) on my sidecar wheel which is a lot. I loaded most of my stuff behind the seat of the sidecar. As I learned to ride this quirky vehicle, I noticed that the front tire liked to wash out on left hand turns. This became a real issue in the winter. I tried several different front tires and air pressures for better traction. Then I figured out that enough of my cargo was outside the tipping line between the sidecar tire and the rear tire that the front was getting light on left hand turns. I mounted the 15 to 20 lb. tool box outside, between the sidecar body and my right foot and the problem diminished measurably. Sidecars have an ungodly amount of variables to sort out.I think that is half the adventure.
Originally written by Mark in Idaho on 7/12/2007 9:54 AM
I bought my rig already set up with a 15 inches of lead (leed, not led) on my sidecar wheel which is a lot. I loaded most of my stuff behind the seat of the sidecar. As I learned to ride this quirky vehicle, I noticed that the front tire liked to wash out on left hand turns. This became a real issue in the winter. I tried several different front tires and air pressures for better traction. Then I figured out that enough of my cargo was outside the tipping line between the sidecar tire and the rear tire that the front was getting light on left hand turns. I mounted the 15 to 20 lb. tool box outside, between the sidecar body and my right foot and the problem diminished measurably. Sidecars have an ungodly amount of variables to sort out.I think that is half the adventure.
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Mark,
15" of 'leed' is a lot of 'leed' but Mark I personally like to run more than most myself. Problem is that with more lead what you experienced can be the result in left handers. The front wheel will break traction easier than with less lead. Think of a car with two front wheels and only one of them steering and it starts to make sense. Excessive lead can also aggrivate a wobble if a rig has a tendancy to have one. It also will allow the sidecar wheel to come up easier in right handers. But...it will add stability in hard lefts once the front wheel traction is dealt with. Some rigs are pretty predictable in a controlled understeer position (front wheel sliding). A powerful rig with a lot of lead can over come the understeer by breaking traction at the rear under power. This is a touchy balance and takes practice to do. You can probably do it well on loose surface with your rig.
As far as this thread goes, related to ballst, I don't want anyone to get the impression that ballast shoudl be placed where Mark polaced his. Most rigs with few exceptions are adding ballast to stabilze th erig in right handers and the best placement is out near the sidecar wheel and typically behind it.
Mark when you wrote >>Sidecars have an ungodly amount of variables to sort out.I think that is half the adventure.<< you nailed it pretty well.
Claude,
The tool box is only the heaviest portion of what I carry. I mounted my scissors jack on the sidecar shock absorber post. I also carry a 12 volt air compressor, jumper cables, ground cloth, inner tube,and a small back pack for Search and Rescue behind the seat.
The lead was determined by the Dauntless sub frame that was on the bike when I bought it. I does not allow much adjustment for lead. As with all rigs I imagine, you learn the quirks and adapt your riding style. I've only had this rig about 3 years. It's my first,so I don't have anything to compare to. It's all good to me.
I have no doubt it is a fun rig. That is what all this is about anyhow.
Is there a mathamatical equasion to know how much ballest weight should be used? Like the sidecar's weight should be a third of the weight of the bike, or something along those lines?
I sometimes do bullet casting and have a few blocks of lead. 50 to 100 lbs worth makes a great difference on those right hand turns. Place on outboard side for best results. I would use no weight to practice flying car in a big parking lot.
Roy
The two thirds bike vs one third sidecar is a rule of thumb ratio ofttimes used. This can be ballast or passenger load with driver aboard.
It has been generally agreed that going lighter that a 75% bike to 25% hack is not practical for the average hacker.
A good test of rig stability is to turn the bars to the right, stand on the left foot peg or footboard and pull (rock) away from the sidecar.
If the sidecar wheel lifts easily (unloaded) you need ballast.
If the car wheel won't lift the wheel at all, you may have too much ballast.
Some prefer a rig that can fly the chair at times, while others never want that sucker to ever leave the ground.
Lonnie
Roy,What'll you sell me some of that lead for?
We many times make up bolt on ballast by melting lead into a piece of rectangulr tubing. This tubing can be bolted onto the sidecar frame with either good u bolts or welded on tabs.
If going this route be very very cautious. Lead and any water at all do not mix and can cause a violent spash to occur..fun meter reading is below zero if this happens.
Discarded wheel weights from a tire shop can many times be gotten pretty cheap.
