After a few months of researching, searching, and multiple second place bids on ebay, I bought my first rig Friday night. A 98 1100 Honda Shadow Aero with a California sidecar with all of 3400 miles on it that I found on cycletrader.com. I brought the milage over 4000 within the first 20 hours of owning it when I rode it home form San Diego. It was also my first 600 miles on a hack. It's everything I thought it would be! I got home and the kids love it. We're having a ball! I put two in the car and one on the back and we're off. Other than helmets, are there any laws regarding sidecars? It didn't come with a seat belt. I plan to get one but are they legally required? and would I need 2 belts if I am going to have 2 passengers? Is it ok to have two passengers in the car as long as I can squeeze their butts into the seat? I'm not anal about following rules or anything, I just want to know what they are. I've looked but have not found anything explaining the laws regarding sidecars in california or anywhere.
I also have a technical question. About 30 miles after picking up the rig, I decided it was too bouncy and loaded the car with 10 gallons of drinkng water which made a big difference. I was no longer afraid to go over 60mph. As I got more confidant and started going faster I found that I needed to keep left turning pressure on the handle bars to counter the wind resistance of the sidecar. When my arms started getting tired, I wrapped a bungie cord around the left fork tube and the frame to provide a bit of leftward pressure. It looked bad but it worked great. Is there anything available that might be a better looking alternative to my bungie cord? and is this normal or is something nor adjusted properly.
john jtcoppens@mac.com
well being a california guy i guess i should answer some of your questions, first off CA has very few laws about sidecars, seat belts are not required, but helmets are, your choice on how many people you can fit in it, and you don't even need a motorcycle license, to run with a sidecar.
as far as your steering problem, you can buy what the call a sterring damper, that helps with the pull but you also might want to check out the alightment of the rig.
fender
The easiest way to check on laws concerning the sidecar is to actually go to the DMV site in your own area, as the laws for one state are not always the same in another. Getting someone's advise on laws is risky at times, as sometimes people are not correct, even when they just know they are. Go to the real source for such info and you should be ok. I bet your DMV has an online site and will either answer questions via email or may have FAQs that will help. If you do not find specific answers, then it is likely there is no set rule or law. However, I'd suggest an email querry of the DMV in that case. I know from personal experience that the Texas fellows are easy to speak to via email and will answer just about anything.
The seat belt issue is usually a heated debate area at many sidecar sites. I have seen posts for either way, but the logic of not having one in a sidecar is a bit odd to me. I have not been able to find any flip over wrecks noted in which the use of a seatbelt would have caused death to the monkey. However, this is the most common reason given to steer away from such. I have seen posts on wrecks of different types in sidecars and my personal opinion is that the seatbelt is not a typical danger to anyone. It becomes a personal choice, as there is just not any scientific testing or actual proof to prove or disprove in an accident. If nothing else, it helps keep kiddos in place or even animals, in my opinion. Sidecars are just too few to warrant any government studies regarding seat belt installation, I suspect.
Good luck in learing to ride (drive) and getting all the bugs out as you do so. I am no expert and do not claim to be so, so I can't really answer the bungie cord question you posted. Maybe it is a simple alighnment or even a different tire inflation that is the answer.
Huey
just to keep things legal, here are califorina laws the ref. sidecars
Passengers: Equipment and Usage
27800. It is unlawful for a driver of a motorcycle or a motorized bicycle to carry any other person thereon, except on a seat securely fastened to the machine at the rear of the driver and provided with footrests, or in a sidecar attached to a motorcycle and designed for the purpose of carrying a passenger. Every passenger on a motorcycle or a motorized bicycle shall keep his feet on the footrests while such vehicle is in motion.
Amended Ch. 421, Stats. 1978. Effective January 1, 1979.
Service Brakes on All Wheels
26311. (a) Every motor vehicle shall be equipped with service brakes on all wheels, except as follows:
(1) Trucks and truck tractors manufactured before January 1, 1982, having three or more axles need not have brakes on the front wheels, except when such vehicles are equipped with at least two steerable axles, the wheels of one such axle need not be equipped with brakes.
(2) Any vehicle being towed in a driveaway-towaway operation.
(3) Any vehicle manufactured prior to 1930.
(4) Any two-axle truck tractor manufactured prior to 1964.
(5) Any sidecar attached to a motorcycle.
(6) Any motorcycle manufactured prior to 1966. Such motorcycle shall be equipped with brakes on at least one wheel.
(b) Any bus, truck, or truck tractor may be equipped with a manual or automatic means for reducing the braking effort on the front wheels. The manual means shall be used only when operating under adverse road conditions, such as wet, snowy, or icy roads.
(c) Vehicles and combinations of vehicles exempted in subdivisions (a) and (b) from the requirements of brakes on all wheels shall comply with the stopping distance requirements of Section 26454.
Amended Ch. 774, Stats. 1981. Effective January 1, 1982.
LICENSE REQUIREMENTS
California issues two different classes of license for two-wheel vehicle operation. The license classes are based on the following:
• ClassM1—You may operate any two-wheel motorcycle or motor-driven cycle and all vehicles listed under Class M2.
• ClassM2—You may operate any motorized bicycle, or moped, or any bicycle with an attached
motor.
• ClassC —You may operate a motorcycle with a sidecar attached or a three-wheel motorcycle.
fender
My only concern with a seatbelt, as I've mentioned during this discussion in the past, is that some states will rule that if a seatbelt is installed, even in a vehicle not normally requiring one, it must be in useable condition and it must be used. If you install one for the kids, make sure it's large enough to fit Mom or fat Uncle Fred.
John,
Regarding your pull to the right.
Ballast or passenger load, wind resistance and road camber (crown) will individually and in toto cause the rig to push to the right.
Minor tweaking of the mounts will correct this somewhat. A small increase in sidecar toe-in will help as will a small increase in the lean-out of the bike from the sidecar (maybe 1%+ on the lean-out).
Checking the sidecar tire for abnormal wear is a good indicator as to whether you have good alignment with the bike.
At best, the alignment of a sidecar rig is a compromise due to the different dynamic and static loadings that occur during normal driving. Look for neutral steering (hands on) when the rig is loaded with the normal or average working load, when on the type of road normally traveled. (Crowned roads or Superslab) Make this test driving at a constant road speed on a straight road.
Thanks all for the advise. i asked about the laws at the dmv when I registered the biked today and they told me to call the highway patrol. It looks like fender has provided a pretty complete run down of the rules but I will try to call CHP tomorrow just to make sure.
As for the steering issue, I have a steering dampener which seems to do a great job of limiting steering vibration. Everything works well in town and at lower highway speeds and the tires don't seem to be wearing excessively or unevenly. I still have a feeling that the problem has something to do with wind resistance at higher speeds. From what I understand, wind resistance increases proportional to the square of the velocity. So whereas at 40mph I feel little or no pull to the right from the sidecar, if I double my speed and go 80 mph (theoretically of course) the resistance would be increased by 4 times and become very noticeable. Especially after several hours of driving. So, has anyone has a similar experience? The rig handles great in town and at slower highway speeds, and I don't see myself doing another rushed 600 mile run again anytime soon so it's not a big deal right now. I just want to know that everything is running optimally and how to compensate for this in the future without looking like the hillbilly biker fixing the problem with a big rubberband.
john
Hey Claude,
You see what he called you???
Road crown and bank becomes a lot more noticable at higher speed. If its a 4 lane or more, try changing lanes to see if it changes the pull. US 72 in Limestone County and Lauderdale(Around Athens and Muscle Shoals Alabama) the road crown is so excessive that driving in the inside lane is a nightmare and the banks in some places are reversed.
I also found that adding weight smooths things out. Some purists roll their eyes, but it works for me. I use coated dive weights because they take up less room.
red have you tried using leadshot dive weights in tight mesh bags?
These can be easier to lay about the inside of the rig and are less likely to scratch paint. Plus when you heave one at some stupid person they'll know it, but it won't leave a mark like hard weights will. 🙂
Hi John -- Here is my take on the kids issue. I have a 2-year-old daughter whom we specifically built our F650GS/Sputnik rig for. (See February's issue of BMW Owners News!) We live in Idaho but had to look into this when traveling to the BMW MOA Rally in Spokane last year. The basic rule in Idaho is that kids have to wear a helmet, and there are no passenger age limits. However, Washington laws state that no passenger can be under 5 or 6 (something like that), the reason being that they must be restrained. After asking around a few agencies they basically agreed that if the child is restrained in the sidecar it would be OK. I think this would be the tightest of laws you will see about kids and motorcycles, and I haven't found any states that specifically address sidecars. For our setup, our daughter wears a helmet and her car seat latches onto two eye bolts behind the seat in the back, and then she is restrained by the car seat's 5-point harness. It's tall so it supports her head too. We have bumped into law enforcement folks in our travels and they haven't said anything about her age, so I would tend to think we're OK this way. With seat belts and helmets they should be good to go! --Lisa
Washington Law regarding: No passenger under 5 years old, applies to two wheeled motorcycles. There is no age limit for passengers enclosed in a sidecar designed to carry passengers. A helmet is required however, regardless of the age of the passenger(s). Common sense would suggest a car seat strapped down with a DOT seatbelt for little guys and a seat belt for older wigglers.
