Thank you for allowing me to join your page
Am 73 yr old male who has ridden motorcycles off/on, mostly off, since 1955
Like rides that are light(er), quick and nimble
Presently ride a Buell Ulysses that am convinced is trying to kill this breaking down body.
Have decided to get a sidecar rig, and know precisely nothing about them and there is nobody local who can advise me
Riding will be mostly on paved, secondary twisties but with occasional forays onto marked, dirt/gravel roads and a few longer trips that will include some considerable stretches on divided slab.
Would like to take my 70#/32KG retriever along in the tub + some camping gear. I pack light so any gear would be <50#/24KG. Any passenger would ride behind me on the bike and be <150#/68KG
In my life have seen about 5 sidecars outside of museums, touched 3, and Freedom Sidecars gave me my first ride about a month ago (Nice people and , in my opinion, they make a clever rig)
Some Questions to Start With (many more to follow):
Leaning towards a Sportster or a Bonnieville for the tug, because I like light(er) rides and can get parts + service withing 100miles. Are those sensible choices?
Will the ground clearance of the Sporty be an issue when on dirt/gravel roads? - Can it be increased?
If one travels light(er) is a brake on the sidecar necessary?
How are sidecar bakes articulated, is there a separate brake control for the side car or is the sidecar brake slaved to one of the brakes on the bike?
Thank you in advance
I think the Bonneville would be a good choice for your usage. We have fitted many of them with Velorex 562s and 563s and have gotten very positive feedback on the combos.
I would suggest using up to 100# ballast in the sidecar if you have a passenger riding on the bike and the dog in the car.. Best to have the passenger in the sidecar otherwise.
Ground clearance won't be an issue.
Some sidecar brakes are linked to the front or rear bike brake and some have a separate pedal. Some like them, some don't.
I am not pro sidecar brakes unless you have a doublewide rig or heavy loading. I've had several rigs with sidecar brakes and do not care to use them since you will usually not get a straight line stop without some steering correction anyway and traction efficiency varies due to loading, direction of travel and road surface.
Lonnie
Northwest Sidecars
We have built well over 1000 dual sport sidecar rigs, For off even light off road use, I would stay away front the Velorex with its plastic lower body and its "universal" mounts. I also would not run the Sportster due to its belt drive, again light off road and a belt are not good combination.
The Bonneville scrambler would be slightly better then then the standard Bonneville. On the lower end of the price spectrum the KLR is very popular. By far the most popular are the BMW GS bike, followed by V stroms. We build 15 different models of sidecars and can ship them out with proper bike specific NOT universal mounting hardware for you to do your own installation. We also have steering modifications for all of the bikes I have listed. When ever you convert to a sidecar you end up with heavy steering unless you reduce trail on the front of the bike which is done by moving the front wheel forward about 2 inches. As to a brake, I find that the people who say you do not need them either are selling sidecars where brakes are not an option or that they have a drum brake that is hard to make work properly so rather then recommending a brake, they do not recommend the brake. My feeling is that if the brake keeps you out of the emergency room even once is was worth all of the price. For a bike going even light off road, with a loaded sidecar coming down hill the sidecar is trying to push the front of the bike to the left. So you may find in a limited traction situation that you have to chose to use what little traction your front tire has to either steer or brake as there is not enough traction to do both. Not a choice I like to have to make. Brakes can be hooked up many different ways and it depends a lot on the bike as to what way works the best.
If want to assemble a sidecar rig for a bit less money, we have imported a container load of NOS Russian Sputnik sidecars http://www.dmcsidecars.com/sidecars/sputnik-sidecars/ and selling them for $2995 which includes proper bike specific NOT universal mounting hardware.
Jay G
DMC sidecars
www.dmcsidecars.com
866-638-1793
thanks all - keep them coming
Lonnie, not trying to hijack 99Savage's thread, but would you mind sharing why you prefer the Scrambler over the standard Bonneville?
Lonnie is not the one who said he prefers the Scrambler, I did, I only do so for light off road use as the pretty exhaust system is less likely to be dinged by gravel.
Jay G
DMC sidecars
www.dmcsidecars.com
866-638-1793
LOL. I'm hoping to learn to read sometime soon, Jay. Thanks for responding. Didn't know if you were going to tell me that they came with different gearing/sprockets or one was tuned for lower rpm torque or what. I've considered using one for a tug at some point in the future when I get rid of my double-wide Texas Twin/Twinstar/Gemini. Have a great weekend.
The Scrambler has a different crank 270 vs 360... suppose to have some more torque.
jaydmc:
Why do you find beltdrives problematic? The Ulysses is my first belt drive MC and so far it has made my life simpler, no more putzing with the chain, hose it off and go (Mind you I don't go mudding, just marked, local & county dirt & gravel roads)
On belt drive bikes with out an enclosed belt, it just takes one stone tossed onto the belt o ruin your entire day.
Jay G
DMC sidecars
www.dmcsidecars.com
866-638-1793
Re: belt drive bikes. On the 21st of this month, I'll celebrate the 20th anniversary of my 96 FLH being my favorite ride. Favorite that is until last April when I bought Lonnie's Dyna/Spalding rig. I've since put over 4000 miles on it so "favorite" is a shared thing now. Over 130K on the FLH now. We live on a gravel road and set a mile back from the Old Sunset Hwy, a concrete road that is in serious need of repair. From the Old Sunset Hwy, it's another two miles to SR 2 and good pavement. I've only replaced the belt on the FLH three times in 20 years, only one of those being because of damage caused by debris picked up on the road. And I've never been left stranded due to a rock in the belt. Sure, it only takes once. Sure, I've been lucky. But on the other hand, I believe it's not a big enough possibility to be a major concern. Just my opinion...
Second this... My -89 Softail at 70000 miles and still its stock belt! I changed the rear pulley once when I went to Europe as I wanted more speed on freeways (I should change it back now for the sidecar!!). I rode this thing for 5 years in Europe, 3 years in the UAE (heat!) and 2 years in HK/China and the belt is still here! I heard of some police dpt where they kept the stock one for over 120000 miles. Funny how the belt drives received the same type of comments as electronic ignitions or fuel injections did.
I have an 883 Sportster with a Velorex, when it was standard ride height I had no problems on back roads , crowned one lane dirt roads and bad driveways. I have had it together for 4 years now and love it. Last winter I lowered the sidecar 4.6" and the bike 2.5" and i have to be careful on a lot of the back roads and on the fourlane roads with stop lights. The heavy trucks crush the asphault and create high spots in the middle of the lanes and at the divider lines. See pictures below( as soon as I get the computer to cooperate)
