Someone on another site was looking for comments about a particular sidecar and bike combination and he got me to thinking that this might be great information for folks thinking about certain sidecars or combinations. It doesn't even have to be about your present outfit. Just write about one you know.
I'll start it out with my present rig, a 1998 Valkyrie and Dnepr sidecar.
Good:
Very smooth and very quiet. I ride about 30 miles of Interstate to work every day at 65-75 miles per hour. In addition, I like to ride down to see my grandchildren 200 miles away. I make it to the kids in three hours comfortably, and it's equally as comfortable around town. The Valk makes the trips an absolute pleasure. Even my boss comments that I always come to work happy if I'm on the rig. The steel bodied sidecar is virtually bulletproof. It withstood an unprovoked
40 mph attack of a Rabid minivan with barely a scratch. I was able to ride away from a broadside hit to the sidecar.
Bad:
Them six little carbs get real hungry at highway speeds, about 25 to 28 mpg is normal. The shape of the bike also causes a lot of wind to draft up from under the windshield. Even more when the sidecar is mounted. My wife would like the sidecar to be wider than it is, my son complains his knees rub the underside of the car and wants me to upholster the interior.
Would I buy/build another just like it if it got stolen? Absolutely!
Now it's your turn.
Mines a '99 Bandit / '88 Hannigan sidecar rig, obviously. 🙂
I'm gonna be a little more general about whats good and bad, read between the lines if you want a more objective opinion.
Pro's:
1: It's a different sort of vehicle.
2: It's an outlet for day to day frustrations.
3: It's got it's own peculiar charactor, much like it's owner.
4: It goes like stink, comparatively speaking, when i want it to.
5: It makes getting up in the morning and going into work, bearable. Even has a coffee cup holder for that occasional morning zombie state.
6: It allows me to practice and hone my design and mechanical skills.
7: Working on it during winter, keeps me sane during those months.
8: It can loaf around town in 5th gear, or snarl in 2nd, dependant on the circumstance and need for instant acceleration.
9: The speeds i enjoy with the sidecar with spirited cruising isn't far beyond the speed limits/average speed, vs the same enjoyment that used to come with 'supercruising' at much higher speeds with the bike as a solo. A lot kinder on the wallet in fines reductions, easier to get away with leniency when/if you are caught on the higher side of the speed limit, and just as enjoyable.
Cons:
1. The project never really is done, issit?
2. Parts are expensive. Just looking at it and thinking of mods, is expensive in the long run.
3. To save on gas costs, i need to drive my GMC Safari with a 4.3 litre motor in it to work a few times a week. I get to work faster and in a more direct route in the van, to boot 🙂
4. From the start, a mis-matched rig, being made to work. I would have gotten a smaller, more agile sidecar, if such a good bargain didn't show up in the form of this sidecar first. A lot of the mismatch has been overcome with rig modifications, but there is a cost in time, money, and brainpower involved.
5. You can't be an introvert.
The rig that is together and running right now is our old 79 Yamaha XS1100 / Motorvation Formula II.
Pros :
1) Don't have that much invested in it and it is relaible.
2) Pretty much a rat bike, don't have to be concerned about scratching the paint of getting it dirty.
3) It's paid for
4) Handles well for what it is and gets decent tire milage if driven sensibly.
Cons:
1) Gas milage stinks if it is run hard.
2) Looks like a rat bike.
3) Wish sidecar had a flip top on it.
4) Needs a solinoid my screwdriver is almost burnt up
Won't write any more in case it is listening
I'm afraid my rig experience is limited to BMW/Steib combos, but...
I have fairly extensive experience with the R67/2 and Spezial (TR500). I can't begin to say enough good things about the comfort and terrific handling (possibly because the bike is so low?). It can cruise 55-60 mph forever, and is so much fun in turns and sweepers- even right-handers as you can easily slide over to sit on the SC. Two words sum it all up quite well; Ya. Hoo.
The cons; like all pre-'69 Beemers, the carbs don't stay adjusted for long, there isn't an oil filter so I have to change oil a lot, and don't complain to ME about parts prices.
Others; the LS is just flat out too small/light for anything but a 250 (despite what Vech says). It is the equivalent of the English garden goat-cart or those home made scale but rideable trains that the occasional hobbyist builds in his back yard to entertain the little neighborhood kids.
The ARE lovely to look at and make tremendous coffeetables.
My present rig is a Bitsa Beemer/Steib S500. Bitsa this and bitsa that (also called a /2 Conversion); '65 frame, '77 1000cc engine, '82 "snowflake" mag wheels, disk front brake, solo seat, European (low) bars. The S500 is a '53 (used to have a TR500 on it) that I restored, foolishly thinking I would save some money over new. I've had several major projects over the years and have dicovered I have a genetic learning block. I block out what I've learned from the past and so I seemed doomed to repeat it. I highly recommend younger folks keep detailed journals of their mechanical experiences.
Anyway, the pros; very maneouverable. Sometimes I rent this rig out to small farmers to pull stumps out of land they are clearing. It just doesn't seem to notice it has a sidecar on it. Cruises any freeway speed I care to go (don't really know what top end is- I get too nervous). Classic good looks, nice weight. Sometimes a little too stable as it's actually hard to get the sidecar up. I would never admit that over at SCT :^))
Cons; the bike took me 4 years (including gathering parts) to put together. It turns out most of the work had to be farmed out so I ended up having California BMW conduct the orchestra. This bike ended up on the BMWMOA magazine cover with the HL "DEEP POCKETS CONVERSION". I honestly think until the fairly recent new line-up, this was the most expensive BMW in the world. Ghastly. Apalling. I inherited some money and didn't really care. The front disk offsets the wheel enough that I can only put a 3.50-18 tire in there. That's fine with me, it's the perfect size. Except that no one makes a 3.50-18 anymore. Finally found one made in Russia from a Ural dealer. From reading this forum I get the feeling that someone is making a /2 front end w dual disks that I have to suppose you can buy tires for. If this tire lasts 20 years, I should be OK. The sidecar is not as capacious as the TR500 and is harder to get in and out of. But I've always wanted the look of the S500. My wife has enough room to hold Rosie, so everyone is happy (especially Rosie). For maybe $200, I could have gotten a new sidecar and saved myself a lot of time and bending over. On the other hand, this town is blessed with one of the best stripers I've seen... so I got to put my own little twist in there just to irritate the hidebound traditionalists.
A note to understand my perspective; I am a technological idiot. Almost all of my experience is with old cars and bikes. The one exception is a '90 GB500, which I love. However, I abhor the new cars with their Startrek Enterprise interiors and bikes with ABS, GPS, heated whatevers, etc. that weigh too much and are too tall.
Good: cheap, simple, great look, rugged, great off-road capability, reverse gear, bargain price, cheap parts.
Bad: slow (but who cares?)
2005 H-D Ultra Classic with new H-D TLE Ultra sidecar.
Pros:
Perfict match, style, weight etc. for the bike.
Should handle well once I get it set up right. (I'll talk about that in a seperate post)
Size is great for a child or small adult. ( I bought it for my daughter who is 7 y/o)
Comes complete with steering damper, proportioned hydraulic brake, headset, intercom, and radio controls as well as its own 80 watt amp and speakers.
Seat, interior padding quite comfortable.
Locking trunk.
Plenty of power at all speeds, even with stock gearing.
Very stable.
Mount is rock solid.
All bike mods come with the sidecar (New R lower fairing, shorter brake pedal, hydraulic hardware etc.)
Cons:
A little cramped for large adult (I'm 5'9" 160 lbs.and can fit OK, but anyone much larger would probably be cramped)
Most H-D dealers have very little experience setting them up. Whoever did the final test drive on my rig obviously didn't have much first-hand experience in what a rig should feel like. I'm going to have to fine tune the set-up myself.
$$$$. Rig as described above, new, a little over 30K.
Well, my '74 R90/6 BMW with the Ural sidecar is my first hack. For the first 6K miles before I finally got it rigged, it ate up tires faster than I could replace them....every trip I took, I had to replace one or two tires. Now, I can get ~4K out of the rear and many more onthe front and on the car.
I've put almost 27K on that rig in 2 1/2 years, with trips from south Louisiana to northern NM,WV,Kansas,Arizona and Mexico with the latest ride to Creed, CO a couple of weeks ago.
Pro: It doesn't have a leading link front end, but the triple clamps put on by Perry's Cycle in Fort Worth makes it easy to stear with no problems or pull at all speeds from city streets to 70 mph. I'm getting 33 mpg fuel burn, and with the 6.5 gal tank, I have a decent range. The sidecar is large enough for the average bear, 6'3" have leg room problems. (Even with the 250 lb passenger, it still doesn't pull to the side.) Aster I finally got the car brake worked out, it doesn't pull on hard braking too much. I don't cruise in the OMG range, usually 60 or so, but I can put in 400-500 mile days without shoulder, arm or hand pains. It looks classic with the spare on the back of the car and is, to me, very pleasing to look at.
Cons: Too darn much room to carry "stuff"! When I take a trip, I carry about 3 times the stuff I need: clothes,tents,sleeping bags,Kermit chair,extra helmet,complete tool kit including torque wrench and scissor jack, 2 gal gas can,torp,spare parts including all cables, rotor,stator,points,fuel and oil filters, oil,diode boards,tire patch kit,etc,etc. I couldn't fly that car if I tried.(I don't try) And on the long trips, I usually have to find a place to buy a rear tire along the way. But Perry put on a rear that will (he says) give at least 4500 miles.
On the way back from Creed, CO last week, I limped into Fort Worth with a BALD tire that had only 2300 on it, bought two weeks earlier. The other thing is that my other bike, a BMW R1100RS that I put over 78K on all over the country is now sitting in the carport gathering dust.
Other than that, I found that getting help setting it up right and "twicking" the setup turns a monster into a well behaved friend that makes my trips emjoyable and memorable. But it did take me over 6K to tame that beast and at least 7 tires.
budamy
Bud, if you had been on the Titanic, that page in history would have been dramatically different.
Darn....
I forgot to mention other things I carry. There is the small cooking stove,coffee pot,2-3 lbs cajun coffee,cream, sugar and cups, small set of jumper cables, tire pump,ohm meter, rain gear,couple quarts of oil and gaskets, and other assorted parts and pieces including two carb rebuild kits.
On the trip to Mexico, I used the rotor to replace the one that gave up the ghost. On the last trip, I replace the throttle cables so maybe I am not carrying too much useless "stuff"? I guess that is needed for a 31 year old motorcycle putting in some hard mileage
Oh well, just goes to show me that being anal about breakdowns isn't always a disadvantage?
It's all fun!
budamy
