Ballast?

'03 FXDL with Velorex 563 Tour sidecar, 65# ballast behind seat.
'83 GL1100 with Velorex 700 Cruiser sidecar, 65# attached to outer sidecar frame.
'98 HD FLHRCI with TLE sidecar, 65# behind seat plus factory weight bolted to sidecar spring perch.

Lonnie
Northwest Sidecar

95 lbs. Lab named Rusty.

Ditch, the thought of getting my german shepherd pup, Loco, in the SC scares me almost as much as right hand turns!

Lonnie, I've been running with no ballast 'cause I thought most experienced riders rode that way. I'll try some weight, maybe steel plate that'll lay low behind the seat.

Your help is appreciated.

Don

That pup will take over the hack in a hurry if given a chance. I haven't seen a dog yet that wasn't a potential sidecar dog. Just make sure you have a good harness with a short enough leash so it can't jump out of the car if he/she gets excited.

At 74+ with a bad back, shoulders, elbows and one sheet metal wrist I like to have just enough ballast in the empty car so I can just lean a bit and don't have to try to "Hang off" or do other gymnastics to stay on the road.
If my Bride of 46 years (130#) is aboard then we're really solidly on 3 wheels.

Lonnie

I use a 46 pound weight bolted on the outer frame of my HD sidecar. It's a replica of the 45 pound cast iron ones that HD used to sell. Mine is 1/4" steel plate filled with lead. It's more than enough set out so far.

The slower you ride, the less ballast you need.

My rig has pretty good balance so I realy dont need the ballas, but when I cary my normal load it is about 300# with my scooter on board . Buy the way it is 65" wide

actually, most 'seasoned' SC drivers use ballast..it's the newbies who try without it.
with that said, my K100/motorvation FII rig need no ballast. it is a fairly heavy SC, and my track width is 60". with overall width of the rig 82 ". no leaning required on turns, with or without a passenger, including my 2 dogs.
of course, I have the usual 'stuff' in the trunk...tool box with tools, scissors jack, small compressor, SC convertible top, jumper cables,rain gear [for 2]rig cover. might add up to 20 pounds or so.

Have 02 Suzuki Intruder with Champion Escort sidecar. When running empty I put three 25lb bags of shot in it. Also carry various tools, covers, etc. in trunk. Egor

I run car batteries in all of my sidecar rigs. Behind the seat of the sidecar. I suppose thats a solid 40 lbs of ballast there. But its USEFULL ballast. Car batteries cost less than motorcyle batteries and work VASTLY better. I have jump started many cars and pick up trucks off of my sidecar in the wintertime.

I ride a Honda Shadow 1100 with a Velorex 565. I started with a 5 gallon water jug but that was a pain but having the wheel come up two times when I was not ready I add 50# of bird shot. It was under the set till about a mouth ago when I put it in two 2” PVC pipes and hung them under the car.

Here's a picture of the ballast on my HD sidecar. It weighs 46# and seems to work quite well.

Guys, I appreciate the info. The pics really helped out a lot. I think I'll try to fab something using your ideas.

The rig runs ok empty. No wobble at low speeds, and smooth up to 60-65. 75 is as fast as I've taken her. I'll be back at the high school this weekend practicing my turns a little better prepared.

Thanks from East Texas,

Don

Originally written by gnm109 on 6/5/2007 1:27 PM

Here's a picture of the ballast on my HD sidecar. It weighs 46# and seems to work quite well.

Can you give me the demintions of the weight? That is exactly wanted to put on my TLE.

Originally written by joejcr on 6/5/2007 6:22 PM

Originally written by gnm109 on 6/5/2007 1:27 PM

Here's a picture of the ballast on my HD sidecar. It weighs 46# and seems to work quite well.

Can you give me the demintions of the weight? That is exactly wanted to put on my TLE.

Hi,

It's made of 1/4" steel plate and welded only on the inside to give a cleaner appearance. It's patterned roughly after the former cast-iron weight that HD used to sell.

It's 12-1/2" long, 3" high, 3" wide at the top and 3-1/2" on the bottom. It has a plate of 1/4" steel that is welded across the bottom center. That is about 4" wide to cover the area where the four bolts go through and 3-1/2" across to cover the bottom. The ends are also 1/4" plate to cover the area. The empty shell weighs about 6 pounds.

I also tack-welded four 1" nuts inside the unit, one on each corner. These are used to lock the filler lead in place after it cooled.

After it was welded, we turned it over and leveled it on the ground. We used lead which was bead-blasted clean and cut into small pieces. The unit was heated with a roofer's propane torch and filled with the small pieces. When the lead melted, we put more lead in until the level of lead was close to the edge. It was then allowed to cool. This method is far safer than heating the lead in a pot and pouring it. There is no pouring, the lead merely melts in place. Because the lead was first cleaned of outside impurities, there was no slag at all when it melted. I suspect that the lead that I used was alloyed with antimony as most commercial lead is, since the resultant weight is very hard. I used some antique theater curtain weights that were given to me many years ago but you could just as easily get about 40 # of fish weights - although, you would have to remove the brass hooks when the lead melts if you go that route.

The usual safety and comfort precautions apply: face shield, gloves, long trousers, long sleeves, 6 pack of Budweiser, potato chips, etc.

The result is a very neat weight that came in at 45 pounds, only one pound less than the original style HD 46 pound cast iron weight.

After all was done, it was necessary to drill four 1/2" holes down through the top and through the bottom center plate. The pattern for these was the top spring plate that holds the right spring onto the sidecar frame. These holes clear some longer 7/16" bolts to hold the weight in place over the spring.

The older TLE's, had leaf springs and since 1998 they have had single leaf springs. This design should work with either style. I later decided to add a spacer under the weight to lift the weight clear of the springs. It probably wasn't necessary but I didn't want the springs to slap the bottom on the weight. The spacer was 1/2" steel plate but could just as easily have been aluminum.

In the alternative, if you could find an OEM Harley weight that would also be good. Harley used to make two other accessories for the sidecars that they no longer produce. One was a reverse unit for the earlier sidecars. it had a ring gear that mounted on the brake drum (pre-1998) and a mount for a starter motor and a relay. The lead-acid battery went in the back of the sidecar in the trunk with your $400 leather jacket. LOL.

Harley also used to make a parking brake unit for the sidecar. Apparently the weight, reverse and parking brake didn't sell well so they have been dropped.

I hope this helps.

gnm109