I'm so new to sidecars that I don't even have one yet. I'm looking to get into a side car for my wife. She loves to ride with me, but a couple hours in the saddle causes her a couple days of pain. I love to travel long distance, but she can't, so we don't. I'm looking at a sidecar as a possible solution to this. Want I would like to find would be a removeable side car since my 94 Goldwing is my primary transportation. Since I just found this forum, I'm just starting my search. I look forward to chatting with, and learning from all of you on the site.
Ride Safe,
Rich
Your Gold Wing is a bike that does well with a dedicated sidecar but due to the necessary modifications to make it an easy handling sidecar tug will negate it's use as an on again/off again sidecar rig.
Sub frame mounts needed to attach a sidecar will interfere with ground clearance needed for a solo bike to turn safely and steering mods to make it steer easily without excessive effort will also cause it to no longer be used as a solo bike.
A secondary rig for sidecar use may be a better way to go.
Lonnie
Thank You Lonnie, I start scanning some of the threads, and came up with another solution. Set the Wing up as a dedicated Hack, and invest in a smaller bike for my daily rider. I think I have a lot of learning to do.
Ride safe,
Rich
With our mounting system the sidecar can come on and off an does not cause any problems at all with cornering. The GL1500 is a heavy bike and should have a heavy sidecar, as such removing the sidecar while it does only take 10-15 minutes is not all that fun to do. Also when ever you add a sidecar you end up with heavy steering. If you are going to take the sidecar on and off then you will not want to modify the steering. If I were doing this, I would make your GL1500 the best sidecar bike you can, then if you feel a need to ride with out a sidecar for your daily riding, pick up a smaller light bike as your two wheel bike. I have put many a mile on a GL1500 both with and with out a sidecar. They make great sidecar bikes.
The sidecar you go with must be strong, usually most companies including mine make a longer frame for the sidecar for use on the GL1500/1800. Our least expensive sidecar the Kenna in the long frame version with the bike specific mounts runs $4095.
If you are buying used, check with me before you buy the sidecar to make sure it is going to be safe, If buying new as there are a few companies around doing less then quality work, make sure that they take charge cards as this gives you some protection if you are not happy with the results. If they will not take a charge card, do not deal with them. If buying used we may be able to help with mounts. We also offer triple tree's to lower the steering effort.
We always recommend taking a sidecar class but as none are offered in California, this may not be an option for you. If you can not take a class the book "Driving a sidecar outfit" by David Hough has a lot of good information and will answer questions you do not even know to ask. We sell this book for $34.95
If you have any specific questions I would be glad to answer either via the phone at 866-638-1793 or via email 866-638-1793
Jay G
DMC sidecars
866-638-1793
Welcome Rich!
Lot of good people on this site. The vendors are very helpful and freely offer great advice based on years of experiance.
My rig is built with a GL1100 tug which has plenty of power to handle my double-wide sidecar. I modified the steering and it drives like a dream compared to the wrestling match it was before the new tripple tree. So yes, my Goldwing is dedicated to hacking now. And for the most part, is my daily rider! I've named it "The Grocery Getter" 😉 I do have other bikes for when I need 2-wheeled theropy.
Welcome and best of luck to you as you enter the slightly off-center world of sidecars!
