One of the problems encountered in purchasing a used sidecar that needs to be considered if you are choosing to do so is the mounts. If the sidecar you find at an excellent price is no longer in production then fabricating mounts may be the only option or if you wish to spend a lot of time you might find mounts that can be adapted. If the car is still in production then you may have to purchase different mounts to put it on your bike. Either way the mounts you find may easily add as much as $1000 to the overall cost.
The Cozy and the Texas Ranger both weigh in at around 160 pounds . The Ural car is solid steel and weighs about 200 as does my Hannigan Classic.
The Bonnie isn't really designed to haul a sidecar so the lighter weight car can be desirable in easing the load on your engine. You might want to change the rear sprocket to a sprocket with a few more teeth. It'll slow your top speed slightly but add more pulling power. If you are serious about using the bike only around town then the speed loss might be acceptable.
I live in Texas and the distances traveled along with speed of prevailing traffic means that I often use a lot of the abilities of my personal rig as traffic here often travels in excess of the posted limits which (on the Interstates) is 70 mph. My speedometer is becoming real friendly with speeds of 80 to 90 mph. My 1100 V Twin still has extra power left at those speeds but this is not to be expected of most smaller bikes.
Putting a car on a bike adds to the usefulness and fun but doesn't help the resale a bit usually. Recently a beautiful matched rig with a Motorvation car, custom matching upholstery and extras was broken up by the owner to sell on Ebay after listing it here and on Ebay with no serious offers. The Bike and car sold separately in short order but at a tremendous loss in investment. If you have no intent to sell your rig then this may not be a problem.
Any rig will attract attention regardless of make or model. Sidecars are unusual and you'll hear many comments and compliments as well as meet a lot of nice people along the way. I don't think there is such a thing as a "cookie cutter" sidecar rig simply because so many combinations can be created. All riders customize their bikes as do all rig owners. You won't see any two alike. However, we all buy and operate our rigs for ourselves rather than to amuse the general public so this really isn't a consideration in building a sidecar rig.
Many sidecars are mounted to larger displacement bikes. Harleys are popular as are the ubiquitous Goldwings. This does not reflect upon the other choices that can be used as tugs. It's simply that the larger bikes have more power available in a wider power band. Stressing the engine at higher revolutions speeds wear and smaller engines tend to run at higher revolutions. Most V Twin engined cruisers actually don't turn high revs and have redlines comfortably under 4000rpm. My Harley redlined at 3500 and that was over 100mph. My current bike has no tachometer on it but I'm sure it probably doesn't turn a lot faster than that.
There are options that are desirable for highway cruisers and as previously mentioned some of the lower end cars don't offer these. Some of the features mentioned concerning the Ural will never affect you unless you go off road which, frankly, most sidecarists never do.
No one has yet mentioned reverse gears. Reverse gear is only available on certain bikes, most notably the Harley big twins (optional) and the Goldwings. On the Ural it's standard but the Ural is, frankly, designed for Russian roads which are not like those we in the US are used to and the reverse can help get the bike out of ruts and other road hazards (mud, ditches, ice and snow, etc.). Generally speaking, the reverse really isn't that much of a selling point except on bikes that weigh around 900 pounds. There aren't many places that can't be easily gotten into or out of by paying attention to how you park even without a reverse gear. Reverse isn't an issue.
Originally written by Pat Huey on 8/7/2008 7:13 AM
Best I recall, 4.9" was the clearance from ground, but not every Ural is the exact same.
Ground clearance is not the same as COG. The lower the major center of mass weight on a motorcycle the more stable it becomes in relation to handling. The higher the COG the more responsive it becomes as it becomes more "flickable", to borrow a term from Sport bike riders. High performance bikes have higher COG which makes them easier to quickly lean into turns and generally be more responsive to steering input. This same feature works against sidecar rigs as they become less stable and more likely to fly in sharp turns.
http://www.theincredibells.com/kirt/MOTORCYCLES/URAL/1-3Resources/UralOnNewswatch12.wmv
If this posts and you can download, then it is an interesting video of a news piect and discusses gas mileage of a Ural as well as other points of interest. Not so sure I believe in the 40MPG quoted without a goodly grain of salt to take with it, but it was what the fellow claimed, and who am I to argue with him on it? For not being a piece created by IMZ for photo ops and such, it is a pretty well done video interview.
Me, I'd never try to run with four people on the machine as the norm. Not that you can't do it safely, but just too risky when things happen and too easy to lose a lot of family members if such did transpire (I can see the headlines being that the family who rides together, dies together if they happened to get hit by a cager or such). My experience with a person in the hack and just one on the pillion seat made me a believer that I am just not safe to pilot the machine when loaded in that manner. An inexperienced person on the pillion seat can really change the dynamics of the vehicle very quickly when they do something that off-sets the load and such. Still, someone else may have a completely different take on it and be just as safe as can be in riding in that manner. Me, I tried such, but decided I'll not do it again if I have the option to do so. It took much more power in my arms and took me being much more altert to work with three people riding, so working with four in the manner he had the rig loaded would be even all the more difficult for me as the norm. More power to him for doing it, but I'd have to opt out, myself.
Hi Beth,
I have about 3500 miles on my second sidecar, a mid-1960's Spirit of America attached to a 1977 Yamaha XS650 twin. 650's used to be big bikes, but now are kind of small, but with 50 hp, it seems to work just fine. I've been across four States, and home, and hauled my son all around my home county, and just yesterday took a big load of donations to Goodwill.
Yes, I love sidecars! My bike gets about 45-50 mpg at around 60 mph. On the freeway, I keep it between 60 and 65, and the brakes are fine, and the engine, with the stock gearing, seems strong and pulls hills well.
As far as "driving" a combination, I see no problem. Mainly it's a matter of using the different dynamics, not brute strength.
I think test-riding is a great idea, but bear in mind that you can set your own rig up to suit you, and the seat height, handlebars and controls can all be altered to make it comfortable for you on your own combo.
Oh, and it's *so* nice to be able to carry enough luggage! That alone would be worth it, but it's also fun to see all the smiles and the waves from pretty much anyone who sees the bike---sidecars are like having a brand new puppy--people just love 'em!
Whatever you decide, the main thing is to just enjoy!
Originally written by Uncle Ernie on 8/8/2008 10:45 PM
I have to say, I have seen pictures of what Claude can do with a Cozy and it's spectacular. I'm supposed to have called him by now, but there's a part of me that doesn't want to know how much...
I think you'd be surprised at the prices of the cozy cars. They're quite reasonable.
As regards gas mileage: no matter what your mileage is now it will decrease. The only real question is "how much?" The answer can be anywhere between 10 and 20%.
I get between 36 and 38 mpg with a 200 pound car and 1100cc bike. It varies depending on load or empty and stop and go or highway travel.
As is often said, "Your mileage may vary."
Beth,
I just wanted to say Hi and Welcome. I won't give my opinion on any thing having to do with personal likes or dislikes on tugs and hacks...Go with what makes YOU happy. If You like your rig and your happy thats ALL that maters. As for being 5'4"...so is my wife and she handles a 98 HD Road King and does it like a pro(and she loves her Ride...she smiles alot). Good luck in you endevors into the sidecar world and again WELCOME. Ed.
Lyn sez:
"My Harley redlined at 3500 and that was over 100mph."
Which model was that, Lyn?
All of my Harleys for the last 62 years were just pulling hard at that engine speed. The redline was between 5400 and 5800rpm.
Lonnie
Originally written by Hack'n on 8/10/2008 6:33 PM
Lyn sez:
"My Harley redlined at 3500 and that was over 100mph."
Which model was that, Lyn?
All of my Harleys for the last 62 years were just pulling hard at that engine speed. The redline was between 5400 and 5800rpm.Lonnie
That was a 1985 FLTCH Evo with the full tour package and frame mount fairing and if I recall correctly 3800 was just below the red area on the Tach and just ahead of the aerodynamic fairing causing the front end to lift at 103mph. It might have gone higher easily as I never had the bike quite up to redline because by then the front end was skipping. I might mis-recall that number as this was 20 years ago and I sold the bike 15 years ago but I'm pretty sure that the red line was lower than 5000.
i do about 80 rigs a year and the possibilities are endless,although the rules of weight balance are very important.too light a sidecar on a big bike is scary to ride and can have negative impact on your longevity.too big a car on a small bike makes for a frustrating ride as it is working to death to keep highway speeds.the v-star rig i sold Lyn was a good match with reasonable power and was relitively smooth,my new rig,pulling a much larger car, is conciderably different than the v-star was. although more powerfull(1700cc),it is a pushrod motor with a lower redline,and not as smooth.at 70 indicated,it is running at 2400 rpm,but doesn't really smooth out until 3000,so 4th gear is used alot under 60 mph .the milage has been a surprise at about 34-38,so i can't complain there.
also wanted to say,some of may favorite combo's have been the v-star/classics,a victory92 sport with a super sport any of the 1200 c BMW's with the classic and the 600 cc sportbike we did for Frank Hubbard a few years back,many of you have probally seen it at RDV or the national rally,deffinatly proof a bike doesn't have to be big to be a proficient rig.
http://s119.photobucket.com/albums/o133/mtgent/Suzuki%20Volusia%20Rig/
If this downloads, it should be some pics of an '02 Suzuki with Dnepr hack for sale. It was just posted for sale at Russian Iron site. For $6,000 even, it doesn't seem badly priced. It is in FL. I don't know the owner. His phone and email are: 239-282-9466 valkaholic@hotmail.com.
You can always contact him for more info on what the rig has included with it. He also discusses any problems with the rig.
Me, I like the coffee can-style lights on such a rig, instead of the straight-off-the-bus-style that are on this one. I like the retro look of lights, but that is just my opinion as to style and taste.
Should anyone be looking for such a used rig, this was just one I saw and thought it needed a good home. I know absolutely nothing of the owner or the rig. I just thought it looked like a nice rig for the money.
Originally written by vs1100star2002 on 8/11/2008 10:36 PM
also wanted to say,some of may favorite combo's have been the v-star/classics,a victory92 sport with a super sport any of the 1200 c BMW's with the classic and the 600 cc sportbike we did for Frank Hubbard a few years back,many of you have probally seen it at RDV or the national rally,deffinatly proof a bike doesn't have to be big to be a proficient rig.
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David,
There was an article in Hack'd magazine about Frank's rig (ZX600/Hannigan)soon after you all got it was on the road. Nice rig no doubt.
Since you have seen it there has been a leading link added as well as a stiffer rear shock(which it was crying for). I rode it again at the recent RON DEE VOO V and it is like night and day from what it was before.
Frank and I plan to ride down to the Hack'd Reunion together again this year....BEEEEEEEEE THEREEEE 🙂
As far a favorite stock bikes to hook a sidecar too.
Japanese Cruisers: VSTARS(any model)
BMWs: Early K Bikes
BANG FOR THE BUCK: V Max or Suzuki Bandit
i put in my vacation time for Hack'd,so barring any unfoseen problems Joni and i intend to be there.
Beth - we could be twins. Your thread could have easily been written by me with the exception of riding for 10 years. I too am scheduled to take a 3 day Sidecar course on Aug 22-24 in NC. I hope to see a report from you once you have completed it.
