Hi folks, I'm still fairly new at running with a sidecar and could use some advice.
I'm 79, soon to be 80 and my wife passed away in March.
Learning how to live alone. The sidehack has helped a lot.
I just returned from a 3,200 mile ride from Helena, Montana to Minnesota and Wisconsin.
It was a great ride with a stop in Sturgis, the Black Hills etc.
The 2012 Honda Shadow 750cc Spirit was great, however, head winds and mountains repeatedly sent me in to fourth gear.
I am currently looking for a bike that will pull me and the sidecar to the East coast this fall, with a ride down to Florida, Texas and Colorado.
Anyone else running this kind of rig who has found ways to up the power or learned how to live with it?
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks
Lonnie Lonnquist
http://www.lonnielonnquistcomedy.com/
If you like the ergonomics and ride of your Shadow, an 1100cc model would do the trick.
Lonnie
Is there really any problem running in 4th gear? It was not all that long ago that bikes did not have a 5th gear. At times when I ran a GL1100 at altitude while also towing a trailer it was not uncommon for me to be running in 3rd gear. On my K1200LT again at altitude I found that I could not run 5th gear.
With that said a couple of things to keep in mind, your 562 was designed for a 350cc Jawa, as such it really should not be used on larger bike. Second thing to think about, The Velorex frame clamps seldom work well for mounting a sidecar, It would be best to go with a bike that you can get proper bike specific mounts for and lastly it would be best to go with a bike you can get triple tree's to lower the steering effort. Your Shadow meets all of these needs. The trip is for fun, you more then likely are retired, does it matter if at the end of the day you go as far as you wantd or if it took you an extra 20 minutes or if you spend a few extra days getting there? Slow down, enjoy the ride, 4th gear works fine. If you have the time, get off the freeway, secondary roads can be more fun with more to see and more of an adventure, the trip should not only be about the destination but also the journey.
One thing that can help at freeway speeds, remove or cut down the windshield of the sidecar if you have no passenger you are pushing a lot of wind with the stock windshield.
If you do go with a different bike we make bike specific mounts for a few hundred bikes however we will not sell them for larger bikes to go with the Velorex, safety must come first.
Jay G
DMC sidecars
www.dmcsidecars.com
866-638-1793
The 562 Cruiser isn't the same original 562 and 562E that was furnished with the 350/500 JAWA and CZ's as a Gespann rig. They look similar and attach the same but are made for the present Cruiser market
Some keep implying that no chassis improvements have been made to support heavier motorcycles safely.
Not so, they are misinformed.
Lonnie
Northwest Sidecars
No
No? No what Jim?
Not underpowered for the job. Mine has been serving me for almost 5 years now as my primary transportation.
I have a 1985 shadow 700cc with a Velorex 562E. Love it, I never use high (6th) and quite often run in 4th @ 50-55.
Thanks for all of your comments and suggestions. Meanwhile I ran a thousand mile trip through Northern Montana to the Fort Peck Dam.
I moved the 562 from my 1989 Kawasaki 454cc to the new Honda Shadow 750cc on March 15th. I have put 7,902 miles on in these four months, running about equally on 2 lane and Interstate. The Shadow carries the Velorex very well and I agree with Lonnie that the Shadow and the Velorex are a good fit. I taught AARP Drivers Safety for 18 years and was an instructor with Motorcycle Safety Foundation so safety has been uppermost in my mind in all of my years on bikes. My problem with the 750cc is there isn't enough head room. On the two laner in Northern Montana running 60 mph with a head wind and some rain, I was at full throttle to maintain that 60 mph. 70 mph speed limit and lots of RV's, pick ups and over-the-road long haul semis. I don't like running full throttle in those conditions, but I do like running in the wind and rain. I will keep looking for that 1100cc Shadow. Thanks again for the comments. As I used to say when my wife was here, "May your ride be long and may your love song never end."
Fortune, I have no direct experience a Honda rig, but I rode Hugh's 1100cc Yamaha VStar rig ~250 miles last weekend. No headwind or rain, but it powered thru the hilly portion of East Texas without fading on the hills. Jena was following on her Burgman rig and noticed how much better this 1100c pulled the hills over my former 883cc Sportster rig:
Lee
MB5+TW200+CRF250L+GTV300+INT650
XL883R w/Texas Ranger Sidecar
Zuma 50F + Burgman w/Texas Sidecar<Mrs. SwampFox
Great looking rigs. West Texas is one of my goals for a winter ride. Hopefully on an 1100cc rig.
Any updates on this thread?
Wondering if any mods were done to the Shadow 750 to up the ponies or did the op move up to the 1100 Shadow.
I have the same bike and chair that I would like to combine in the near future but after reading this I'm having second thoughts.
Maybe a move up to an 1100cc will be wise before ordering mounts and proceeding?
