Hi all - a lovely old lady I work with has offered me her late husband's motorcycle & sidecar rig. Of course, I said yes.
The upside: it's free
the downside: it's been sitting for a decade, she doesn't know anything about it, except it has siezed brakes.
I'll have to move it in a trailer, after figuring out how to unsieze the brakes.
Would a car trailer work - the kind you rent from uhaul to move your car?
Or, would a 6x12 utility trailer be better?
I'm thinking that I'll have to push it onto the trailer (with a friend's help) and so the ramps that come with the car trailer would be really useful.
But is the sidecar rig too narrow?
U-Haul car or utility trailer will work. You might get the track width of the sidecar rig to be sure the ramps or deck of your rental trailer is adequate width for support.
I've used an inexpensive cable puller jack to pull rigs onto a trailer when the wheels wouldn't turn.
Lonnie
thanks much for your reply - I was hoping to get an idea of how wide I could expect (prob. anything!) without having to make her go out to her garage w/a tape measure.
I'll probably get the utility trailer & I think it has a little drop gate which would make a sort of ramp anyway.
you mean like a come-along to crank the bike up into the trailer? that makes sense too.
I've purchased many bikes with seized brake calipers. If it's new enough to have disc brakes, just rap the caliper with a RUBBER Mallet. If it still has drums you may have to pull it apart, but can usually just rock it back and forth till it frees up. Either way, you'll want to take it apart before you ride it.
What kind of rig is it? A Ural is only about 4 feet wide, while my Valkyrie/Ural was 82 inches from edge to edge.
As far as U-Haul goes, a car trailer is nice but they may refuse to rent you one for the bike. I've used them a dozen times in the past, but 2 weeks ago I bought a boat lift (400 pounds of aluminum) and they refused to rent me a car trailer, saying they could only be used for cars or trucks, no exceptions. If you rent a trailer, be sure to measure the opening at the back. A U-haul 6X12 has a 5 foot 6 inch opening at the back.
What bike and sidecar are involved in this deal?
Lonnie
Originally written by Hack'n on 6/26/2008 6:40 PM
What bike and sidecar are involved in this deal?
Lonnie
It's a honda bike, and that's all she knows.
Originally written by SidecarMike on 6/26/2008 6:39 PM
I've purchased many bikes with seized brake calipers. If it's new enough to have disc brakes, just rap the caliper with a RUBBER Mallet. If it still has drums you may have to pull it apart, but can usually just rock it back and forth till it frees up. Either way, you'll want to take it apart before you ride it.
What kind of rig is it? A Ural is only about 4 feet wide, while my Valkyrie/Ural was 82 inches from edge to edge.
As far as U-Haul goes, a car trailer is nice but they may refuse to rent you one for the bike. I've used them a dozen times in the past, but 2 weeks ago I bought a boat lift (400 pounds of aluminum) and they refused to rent me a car trailer, saying they could only be used for cars or trucks, no exceptions. If you rent a trailer, be sure to measure the opening at the back. A U-haul 6X12 has a 5 foot 6 inch opening at the back.
I'll probably tell Uhaul that I'm going to move a car. I've had to deal with that type of stuff before too.
I once had to retrieve my rig in the back country on a steep one lane dirt road. I had a 12' X 7' flat bed trailer with a built in ramp. The hardest part was backing down the road to the bike. Once there, I lowered the ramp and backed the trailer down to the rear wheel. Yes, the bike was facing down hill. I rigged a come-along to the bike and then to the trailer. I then hooked some ratchet tie-down straps to the handlebars to do my steering while I ran the come-along. The come-along should pull the rig just fine, even if the wheels don't turn. The come-along is now part of my every day tool kit.
HI;Forgot to look where you live but a snowmobile trailer would work goodthey have flat floor 8'X10 is pretty comnmon and would fit about any rig!They usually tilt and are full with with a come-along should be able to drag it up onto trailer!Only problem they have slightly higher deck height.In our country they are pretty common.Good Luck!
I use a 4x8 tilting trailer from Harbor Freight to move my riding mower and M/C and hack. Real easy to ride/push things onto it. Other times I put the sides back on it and haul "other things".
When I was driving my small fleet of Dneprs, I got myself a 'Dnepr recovery rig'. Basically a tilting snowmobile trailer and a come-along. It is an all aluminum trailer, 6' wide, two low profile, wide tires. It works very well, although is somewhat lacking in places to put the tie-down hooks. If the rig in question has frozen brakes, it sounds like a common Goldwing problem from sitting for a few years. Frozen calipers, and gummed up carbs (Well, the carbs don't stop it from rolling....).
I don't know if it's a goldwing or not (although I wouldn't be suprised...) but I had a '74 CB 350 which locked up it's calipers often enough. Hopefully I can move them out of place fairly easily...
hopefully pick it up next weekend...
last option pull out the pads. Had to do that with my 1960 Willies. It was like pulling a cat out of a sack. 4 black stripes. Here it would bee 3.
Sven
getting it this saturday. going to hire a towtruck/flatbed to come get it, figuring that after I buy straps, come-alongs, rent a truck and trailer, etc, the towtruck guy with his gadgets can get it faster, easier and cheaper than I can.
I'm sure I'll have a ton of questions after getting the beast.
Good solution Dave, since the tow bill will be your only investment in the sidecar rig to date.
No sweat, no grease, no manicure. Win, Win deal.
Now the fun begins.
Lonnie
Northwest Sidecars
