I am ready to put together a new rig as I sold my Ural recently. Was wondering if the Texas sidecar is a better quality, or same quality rig as Velorex? I've only be able to research this online and have never gotten a chance to see either in the "flesh" so to speak. I am leaning toward the Texas as I like the styling a litte better.
My plan is to put the Texas standard sidecar on a Suzuki Boulevard S83 (formely call Intruder 1400). As the Texas standard weighs about 140 lbs. and the S83 weighs 535 lbs, I am wondering if the car/bike might be a little miss-matched (hack too light). Any help from experienced folks would be appreciated.
Jerry
At 140 pounds it will be on the light side. Call Texas Sidecar and Trike and talk to Bob Darden. He is a good guy and has a lot of experience in mounting his sidecars. Mounting it farther away from the bike and adding some ballast will help.
The new 562 Cruisers weigh about 20# more and have more accessories included. Both cars are well built. Texas is in gel coat, Velorex is well painted (both are black).
Velorexs ship from Tampa, FL and crating is included in the price so freight expense would be considerably less.
Also I would check on lead time if you are in any kind of a rush. Our Velorexs are usually available and in stock this time of year (we have 6 in stock and three in transit). No build/lag time involved.
Lonnie Cook
Northwest Sidecar
nwsidecar@aol.com
The velorex has a spoke wheel that matched my wheels. Good paint and does come with a few more extras then the texas. see Bob Wark at thewarkshop. he sells both. They would be shippped out of Tampa Florida. Bob has many years of x-per tees. Iam thinking that the Texas has a little stouter frame.
Another sidecar to look at is our Kenna at only $2495.
Jay Giese
Dauntless Motors Corporation
www.mysidecar.com
866-638-1793
I have looked at the Keena and it indeed is a really nice looking car.... however I have a dog (labrador) that travels with me often. The Keena looks like it would be hard for a dog to get into..... no step like the Texas or Ural (which I previously owned).
Hey Keys- I had the same concern for Archie when I went from the Ural car to the Liberty. That he would have trouble getting in over the taller side after being used to the bit of a door opening on the Ural. Took him about two rides to be completely at ease with the new routine. I'd be willing to bet your pooch will do the same...
My Rosie is 7 years old now and she is beginning to have to "think" about jumping up into my SUV, so I am just starting to think ahead when she is 9 or 10 the little step will help. Also the step will help when she really gets old and I have to help her with her rear end. I had to do that with my 2 previous labs when they got into my truck.... they would put their front paws on the running board and then wait for me to boost them by lifting their rear legs up...... tough getting old!
During the past two days I spoke to two very experienced sidecar installers that told me I would be more satisfied with the Texas due to the heavier construction of the frame as compared to the Velorex. One guy told me that he would'nt sell me a Velorex for my S83 (1400cc) because the frame was too light for that much torque. I will not go into names here as both individuals sell both brands of sidecars.
I guess you get what you pay for...as the Texas car is quite a bit more than the Velorex.
Well, let me tell you about my little Tootsie!
She’s a Havanese, about 18lbs. [2-4lbs over weight] they are a Cuban circus dog, but scared to death to rider in a car or a rig, however they are smarter than any other dog known to man, an example would be her reading abilities! I put her dog food can upside down on the floor ….she rolled over on her back to read it!!!!
I had a Lab "POPO" who would walk to the back of my pickup and whine to have me lift him (60#) up into the pickup bed to go with me. When we returned he would whine to have me lift him back out.
One day the lady next door said to me: "POPO sure has you trained well".
Do you know that he will just walk up to the 6" fence between our back yards and jump right over it?
Shortly after he learned that if he was going with me he would jump into the bed himself. I would drop the tailgate though. His age then was about 7 years.
Lonnie
I think in all fairness to Velorex it should be pointed out that they have added quite a bit of frame bracing in the last year or so, as well as a new beefier swingarm, and larger diameter axle. I'm very impressed with the new Velorex chassis. I'd install one on the Intruder 1400 any time. BUT, as with most of the Velorex installs I do. I do push for an automotive battery to be installed in the trunk for ballast. Car batteries are cheaper than bike batteries anyway.
NOt to take anything away from the Texas sidecar at all. I'm sure they make a great product. Just no need to run down the Velorex product. Their new frames are great.
Lunatic makes some great points. I have not had the opprotunity to see the new Velorex in person yet but am anxious to do so. The older ones which are so common have gotten a bad rap , not due to what they are, but due to so many being mountd on either the wrong bike(too large a bike) or mounted wrong period. We have seen mounts slip from being placed in a position that encouraged then to rotate around frame tube. We have seen many of the lower rear sidecar frame mounts rotate due to this too even though many folks feel it is a bad design by velorex in this place (me too). I began to work on one yesterday that someone had the mounts tightened so tight that even though the little 'shim' was put in place for the frame clamp it still dimpled the motorcycle frame . Most of the above is not the fault of the velorex but is brought on by a bad installation. I would not be surprised that the above types of things will be seen with the new velorexs as well even though the sidecar has been beefed up.
We have done a lot of Velorex upgrades with every thing from suspension/ spindle/wheel modifications, to torsion bar suspension conversions, plating the frame and adding swaybars. The older ones can be made to work and work well.
No..I was not one of the ones who knocked the velorex and do not know who they were. I have however seen quite a few mismatched rigs and heard people condemn the velorex for their own lack of wisdom in installing them. Too bad..they are a neat little sidecar if done right.
I really feel the sidecar is too light for the bike mentioned in stock form.
It's probably not terribly relevant to you, but if you'd like to see a California hack on my Intruder 1400, there are a couple of pictures in my album. (think it's labeled something like Ron and Luke's Rig). Also, if it would be of any help, I could take some pics of how Kurt Liebhaber attached it. As many here know, Kurt's a real perfectionist.
Ron
People I did not get the feeling that the installer I spoke to was "knocking" the Velorex. He was just giving me his expert opinion based on the bike I purchased and what he figured would suit me best. This guy is a very respected expert (on these forums) and sells several brands of sidecars, including Velorex.
Each sidecar brand has it pluse and minus points based on the bike it will be installed on and of course the budget of the owner. One of the reasons that I decided on the Texas was the fact the Suzuki S83 (Intruder 1400) is supposed to be difficut to install a car on, Texas already had a subframe built for this bike sitting on their shelf. Also I like the styling of the Texas little better than the Velorex.... which is a purely subjective individual opinion.
Some of the negetive points regarding the Texas is.... it is more $$, they charge extra for shipping, and you have to wait for the car to be built. No waiting for a Velorex.
