I am curious to hear any experiences anyone can provide in regards to Motorvation Sidecars in Sibley, Iowa. My parents ordered a sidecar from them in July '13 and were told to expect that it would take four months. At this point it has been almost a year and Motorvation still will not give them an expected date of completion. Besides one story about the guy and his daughter getting in a wreck in Edmonton, everything I can find written about this company on the internet is positive. Anyone here have any insight that might be helpful? At this point my parents are worried they will be out several thousand dollars and get nothing in return.
DynaDiver13,
I also ordered a sidecar from Motorvation in July '13 and was also given a four month estimate for delivery. I received my sidecar in February. Starting some time in Nov '13, I believe, I talked to Mary, the owner of Motorvation at least every couple of weeks or so.
From what I can remember, the company that did their fiberglass molding work stopped doing business and Motorvation had to find a new supplier, relocate their molds and work with the new company until they could produce what they expected. Also Mary lost her painter who had worked for Motorvation for some 25 years I believe she said. They do have a new painter whose work she seems to be very pleased with. The weather in IA has also been a major factor in Motorvation getting their parts delivered in a timely manner. Several of my parts were sitting less than a day's drive from Sibley, but nothing was moving due to iced over roads and workers were having trouble getting in to work from their rural homes.
I ordered a Spyder and I understand that the factory usually works on five units at a time. I know that they keep a kind of "progress board" (my term, not Mary's) and they should be able to tell you about where your parent's sidecar is in the production process. They never did give me an actual delivery date until one day they called and said that my unit was within two weeks of being shipped. Interestingly that was in late December and I didn't get the sidecar until February. If your parents ordered a Spyder, it should be very near complete. If they ordered another type sidecar, Motorvation may be trying to catch up from their many production-slowing problems.
I never had any concerns about delivery, but it does seem that five months beyond an estimated delivery date with no indication of delivery could cause some. Maybe Mary could at least tell you or your parents where in production their car is at present.
In 2005 I was piloting an 1100 Yam with homade sidecar across the country from ill noise to washing done state. I stopped in Sibley to buy a shock for the sidecar. The one they sold me fixed my wallowing problems so well that the next day I was going more than 100 mph across S. Dakota before I had a severe attack of common sense.
But back to Iowa.
I was given a guided tour of the sidecar factory and was very impressed by the quality control and engineering of things. I believe they are one of the best sidecar makers in the US.
I'm a newbie. Could you please help me. I can't figure out how to post a new thread.
Thanks
Jim,
Click on "Sidecar.com Forum" at the top, pick an appropriate Forum topic, click on "New Thread" box. I think that will work. Also you could just click on "New Thread" at the top of this Forum if you want to post in the "General Discussion" Forum. Also, "New Thread" box at bottom of this thread will open a new thread in the "General Discussion Forum.
Hi Todd:
They may be slow but they are always honest and reliable. I have a Formula that I bought used and delivered to them. They installed it on a newly purchased K1100. They didn't call and didn't call to tell me my rig was done. I called and Mary answered and told me that my original body was the right color for her Harley so they made me a new body and painted it to match my BMW. They mounted it and we have ridden it 50k+ with no problems. When I call I always have to set aside a half an hour to visit with Mary. She likes to visit - a lot. Be patient. It has been a rough winter in the midwest. Any stories you have heard about shipping problems are probably not made up.
We live 40 miles from Sibley in Sioux Falls, SD before our retiring to the Black Hills of South Dakota. We have lived much of our life experiencing the winters in the area. It's not pretty!!!
Will Short
North Central Director - USCA
I got a call from my dad later the same day that I posted the original message. Apparently someone saw the post and contacted Motorvation, because he received a call from Mary, the owner. Both he and I were impressed at this. After that call he felt more reassured and it sounds like their sidecar has been started, but is still in the production process. Thanks to everyone who offered some insight.
