Hello all! Brand new here and might as well jump in with a silly question....
I've recently acquired a MZ Silver Star Gespann, it has a Velorex 562 sidecar, and I'm an excited fellow! I've already put a lot of km on it, and feeling like an "advanced beginner" at piloting a hack.
Here's the question : I ran into a close old friend, and of course I had to have him go for a little ride, only later did I think to myself....maybe that wasn't too smart putting a 275 lb passenger into the rig...my manual says the max load in the car is 247 lbs. We didn't go far or fast, and I feel quite certain that all is just fine but I couldn't stop thinking : What sort of things could happen with an overloaded sidecar?
So that's the question! What could I have done had I carried my stupidity further? I don't plan on overloading it in the future of course (sorry dave).
Thanks!
Eli
You have totally ruined the machine, give it to me and I will dispose it for you for free.
My Superelastic sidecar on my MZ would have scraped the floor in a fast lefty. (therefore I installed a PE sliding patch in the right front corner.) Every 3 month needed to bend the tubing and right swing arm straight. That was about it ... usually.
Made 7 household movements with it, so Jolly Roger 1 knew what was pulling load.
The Jawa rig with Velorex 562 and 15mm shaft saw more then once 150kg and more in tools and load until once I dismantled a gear motor...When I arrived home all shafts were looking out for to say hello to the asphalt...needed a new boat under bowl. The 15mm shaft never gave trouble even when we went through the worst horse tracks up in the mountains. The sidecar does not suffer much...
That MZ Silver star rig is based on a Yamaha engine if I remember right. Should give a long lasting work horse.
While the 350 Jawa and 250 MZ are 2 strokers ... well. The Jawa got shot 3 times in 29.000km... 29 horses plus the nut that connects handle bar and seat makes 30 horses. Perhaps one too many.
Sven
Usually the sidecar will only bottom out often and have a tendency to wallow in left turns if overloaded. Continued combination of overload and rough terrain has been known to cause slippage of the rear mount and bending of the front lower J-bar, or the clevis bolt.
Overloading of the trunk with hard or sharp edged objects can cause damage to the lower body shell.
Lonnie
Phelonius, I have dispatched my autopilot drone and the rig is headed your way. I used hi-tech satellite imagery to determine your exact location as of...right now! So don't move!
Eli
Peter Pan,
It's actually powered by one of the world's mightiest workhorses, the Rotax 4-valve single! That was the clincher. I love this motor. It sounds like a halftrack! Gallons of torque.
Lonnie,
Thanks! I was looking for "what are common failure points under heavy misuse", and " Continued combination of overload and rough terrain has been known to cause slippage of the rear mount and bending of the front lower J-bar, or the clevis bolt. " is exactly what I wanted to know!
Eli, then you have already ex factory, what I try to do with my Jawa "Jolly Roger 2 1/2" I put in a 450 Husquarna "Red Riding Hood" engine. (water cooled, 6 shifts, 48hp) But there are things further up on the priority list...
Again. I have the last word in the house...."Yes, Ma'am."
Good luck with the rig. Sound you have got a goody.
Sven
I owned one of these bikes (three times now the same bike) and found it to be a fun quite capable little bike, my main concern with loading the sidecar has more to do with the 15mm axle on the sidecar then it does with what the bike can do.
Jay G
DMC sidecars
www.dmcsidecars.com
866-638-1793
Hey Eli,
one point about the Velorex frame: the center support with a clamp often rotates on the frame, then although you have the tensioners set to the same length the whole rig sags and starts to pull ugly.
Therefore use an absolutely flat spot on the floor and when you do your measurements have the suspension preloaded to your normal riding condition. (I even made up a square in my machine shop with self levelling concrete just for this purpose, others I have watched doing this job even have ground to level "terrazo" floor)
I measure the shock absorber length at normal load and use ratched type lugguage spanners for to pretension the shock. then measure the frame height over the ground on all four frame corners when I do an intensive test ride series as you explain. The trick is in making a spreadsheet with all the data and their results...that way you get some dial in starting point for future fixes.
Sven
Or much easier in my case... hand it to my friend Fernando the Jawa importer...he has a lucky hand on adjusting the rig, while I seem to have 2 left hands.
Sven
