My Ultra w/Sidecar is a great package and I've gove almost 3000 miles on my 2008 Model. I should mention that I have the Champion reverse gear installed and it was worth every penny, but this past Saturday I managed to raise the sidecar off the ground while backing up into my driveway and almost flipped it onto it's side.
Without additional weight in the sidecar, it doesn't provide a lot weight to offset the tendancy to lean out when making a right hand turn, and most here should recognize how easy it is to do, even at very slow speeds. For some reason my brain didn't equate the dynamics of a backward right hand turn and a right turn moving forward. When I quickly relized my mistake and tried to slow down, the sidecar wheel hit the raised portion of the driveway and kicked the tire upward and added to the lean.
Eventually, the Ultra leaned to the left and a scraping noise started, just as it was about to roll to a stop. I put out my left foot and pushed to keep the bike from rolling over completely and it came to rest at a 45 degree angle. The 'bank angle sensor' shut the motor off and I had to reset that, but otherwise I could find no damage to the bike. After a thorough examination, the bike appears to have come to rest on the left floorboard mount, so the minor scraping damage is not visible from above. This is something that I am very grateful for, and I realize it could have been far worse.
I guess I'm sharing this to warn others to beware the dynamics of a motorcycle with sidecar when backing up. In a car, one often uses momentum to assist in moving a vehicle backwards, if there's a slope, rather than putting it into reverse. But this method could really backfire on a motorcycle w/sidecar, as I learned on Saturday.
Ride safe and keep the shiny side up.
Many URAL owners have discovered this phenomenon. Some have even dumped the rig.
Lonnie
Uralists call it making a turtle. I have read reports on at least three from the foil who recently learned the hard way that rigs are not light weights when they are on top of you. Torque is significant in reverse and the dynamics of the machine change rapidly with speed and any turn motion.
Now, if you have a Time Machine, as I do, then going backwards is no problem at all. You just hit the left-handed demodulator actuator, and then do a slight spiral as you accelerate through the time warp at just under mach one speed. Rub the right-sided muffler bearing case for luck and slow the throttle mechanizm to half-speed, and then............Wait, you didn't say you have a Time Machine, did you? Ahhhh, well, in that case forget the time warp stuff and just practice moving backwards with caution. And always, always, always remember to respect the Torque God when going at any speed in reverse. Otherwise, get used to looking like a turtle on your back as the neighbors laugh their heads off at you.
You are indeed fortunate. Learn well from what happened and be careful. Hot pipes and other stuff ain't fun to deal with when making like a turtle. 🙂
As a novice, I thank you passing on your experience and advise, as I haven't thought of this scenario ... and I often seek out parking spots sloping back to permit me to coast backward into the travel lane.
Lee
MB5+TW200+CRF250L+GTV300+INT650
XL883R w/Texas Ranger Sidecar
Zuma 50F + Burgman w/Texas Sidecar<Mrs. SwampFox
Just remember the recent commercials on television that show life comming at you quickly. When you "make like a turtle" you will find live coming at you quickly, for sure. Mirrors don't seem to help all that much in guaging the decent down a sloped area when in reverse. The trick is to always think out what you are doing, keep the speed down and limit the turns to the handlebars.
Good luck in learning and practice, practice, practice. 🙂
And you not even need to have a reverse gear to make that same experience.
Worse: a small stone and the handle bar may be kicked out of your hands because you ride against the self aligning forces...
A sudden kick on the sidecar wheel always is good for a bad surprise.
You may bet that Jolly Roger one and two taught me that although they lack(ed) the reverse.
Luckily they both were / are light weights, but anyhow the ankle may ache when you have to crush the sidecar down.
Regards
Sven
My mishap was fueled in part by my not wanting to use my Champion reverse to back into the driveway, which was a mistake.
Using the reverse gives some control to the speed, but using gravity to move the bike downhill and around a bend leaves you open to the "Turtle" effect. Because of the angle, while I was trying to slow the 1,000 pound beast down the sidecar wheel hit the raised driveway and kicked upward, making the effort to hold the bike upright all the more difficult.
I was also going slow enough to put my foot down and push back to hold the bike up as it slowed; but as noted, it's hard on the ankles. The floorboard tilted up and the scrapping was on the powder-coated frame, which held the bike upright at a 45 degree angle. There was no other damage, and I'll have that touched up to prevent rusting.
In a month I'll hit the anniversary of my first spill on my Sportster that hyper-extended my right shoulder, so it was very painfull for a week or so. Then three week's later I managed to fall again and fracture my left shoulder, completely blowing any confidance I had on two wheels. It took me nearly six weeks to get back to work and still had two more months of physical therapy, but I decided I had to keep riding and bought my Ultra with sidecar for stability right at the end of the year. The slight mishap on Saturday was much less severe, but brought back bad memories.
I'd consider a balast weight to mount on the sidecar frame, but Harley doesn't make them anymore.
Steve
