Hi there- you may want to review this thread, this fellow had success with his raked triple tree on his FLHXI: http://hdforums.com/forum/hacked-triked-and-trailering/318494-raked-triple-tree-test-ride.html
Beth
I called Steerite to ask them a Question about the degree change I would need to make on my rig and they REFUSED to give me the information, so I don't think they are so great at answering your questions! That's OK, I'll figure it out! But I must say, I'm not to impressed by them!!!
Hi BroBob. I am aware of the conversation that took place and with which bike is used with which particular sidecar. If we feel that it is an undesirable/unrecommended setup, we can choose whether or not to supply parts for that bike/rig. We have had numerous bikes come to our shop that have not been setup up right. And I mean that the subframes, or lack thereof and the welding/fabrication that has taken place is not up to road worthy/safety standards. Now are we to just ignore these problems and do an alignment and send them on their way so they can have something fail later on down the road?? Of course not, we will recommend that it gets fixed/upgraded/replaced, whatever it needs to get it to a safe and reliable standard, nothing exotic, just safe. Velorex sidecars were put on 350 Jawa motorcycles, that is what they are built for, the axle size is fine for them, the mount size is as well. You could put one on a KLR650, not too heavy, not to much hp, probably still end up bending the axle on a bumpy gravel road. I have seen Velorex's on GOLDWINGS with bent axles, broken mounts, spokes pulling out of the rim and a shock that died about 20 minutes after it was uncrated. We never 'tell' people what not to do, but we will 'strongly recommend', with years of experience to back it up and A LOT of very successful rigs built, to not do something. That recommendation isn't because we don't want to help, it is simply because whatever you are considering or are presently doing isn't a good idea. Vmax's are not recommended to be mounted to a Velorex. As for not telling the degrees or how they are built......If everybody knew that, it would have been done a long time ago. We are the originators of the modified triple trees (except for the first Harley adjustable tree, but that is rare, old and doesn't apply), Leading Legs, and the ball joint relocation on the BMW's (Leverite). We have been copied by way of other companies with billet trees, so-called Leading Legs (stolen name used without permission), but none can offer the experience, originality, knowledge and ability to change the degrees as we see fit for each particular rig, even if it is on the same bike, we can alter the trail reduction for specific riding styles, try that with billet trees. They are not highway robbery.... the $300 rear tire on a new motorcycle is highway robbery. You will continue replacing them, as well as the other 2 tires more frequently, struggle with the steering and not be able to ride as comfortably for as long until the steering is modified. They pay for themselves. I just want to set the record straight, this is not intended to be sarcastic or otherwise in any sense. Ask around, you want one, you buy one, you put it on, you enjoy the rest of your riding days with ease. If one wishes to try and make their own, best of luck to them, I hope they are tooled up and have cutting jigs, pinch clamp sleeves, know how to weld very well, and are an expert when it comes to steering geometry, because there is A LOT of math involved. Take care, all the best.
I think that you are under estimating The Velorex Sidecar! I have been using it for 12 years on 3 different motorcycles without a problem, and every bike has been larger than 350 cc! The first bike was a 1981 Yamaha 650 Twin, then a 1976 HondaMatic 750, and now with a 1990 Yamaha VMax for the past 6 years. I keep an eye on things and have nothing bad to say about the Velorex for the price.
I can understand you not wanting to give out your information, but I had to respond when someone said that you would answer any and all questions! As far as being able to do this myself and figuring it out, and having the equipment to do it, that's not a problem! I've been welding and machining and making and fixing anything metal for almost 30 years. I presently have a unique outrigger wheel mounted on the left side of the Motorcycle set up at a specific height and angle that has prooven to be an excellent unit that only comes into play when going around a right hand turn when the sidecar wheel comes up it then goes down onto this wheel thus steering the unit around the corner without loss of control.
My sidecar is also a "HYBRID"! I constructed a "Dry Cell" HHO generator which is mounted in between the Motorcycle and the Sidecar, which is injecting Oxygen and Hydrogen gas directly into the individual intake manifolds on the VMax enhancing combustion and increasing gas mileage by 17%.
I always love a challenge and this Triple Tree modification is just another challenge for me that I believe anyone with the capability and equipment and knowledge is capable of. So Good Luck to you in your business, your going to need it in this economy!!
Regards,
BM
We have been doing this for 40 years. The economy isn't an issue as much in Canada as it is stateside and we are willing to answer any and all questions that people have. Will we tell them how to make it on their own? No, we wouldn't be in business otherwise. Please understand that. I applaud you in your work with the dry cell, sounds like you have stuff figured out. From a business standpoint and more importantly a liability standpoint, understand that we do not recommend that some sidecars go on some bikes. That is all, people can install what they wish but when it comes to having our product on something that contributes to the bikes handling, if you were involved in an accident due to a failure of something mechanical, that bike will be picked apart and analyzed and be no fault of ours, yet we would get dragged in to it because of something that broke that wasn't even to do with us.
Now back to the main topic of this thread. Have a good day.
Kindly,
Brock
Hello Brock,
Speaking of "I just want to set the record straight," one might add the Early Velorex 562 and 700 models had the skinny 15mm axle, non adjustable shock and were built for the 350/500 Jawa bikes. The 2004 and up Cruiser and Tour models are for larger bikes.
The current Velorex models have been upgraded quite a bit from the 562, 562E and 700 standards to accomodate middle weight cruisers which are a large size of days motorcycle market.
I agree that they are way too light of a unit for the big Hondas,, Harleys and other touring baggers and big cruisers but they are no longer "Built just for 350s".
(I hope, you finally got the shop wiring and TIG setup working better than when we did my '08 FXDL show & display rig.) It did handle great though. With a 563T Velorex and a Troyka.
Lonnie
Hi Lonnie, Agreed they have improved but a 12 year old Velorex should still fall in to they 'old' style Velorex if I'm not mistaken. As for the Tig set up, ya, it's great now. Too much pre heating those trees to get the temp up. It was a liquid cooled Miller Syncro-wave. That is gone and a new Lincoln 325A Inverter, 3 speed liquid cooled machine takes place, it's been great, more concentrated bead, less arc wandering and faster. Thanks for the input 🙂
-Brock
Just read this and I'd like to throw my 25 cents in. I'm just getting into sidecars and contacted Side Effects for info. Even tho I've not yet bought a thing from them, they've been absolutely fantastic in answering e-mails (Thnx Taryn!) & Brock has phoned me several times on his own nickel offering me outstanding advice. They simply couldn't be more helpful or professional! I'll be buying the Steerite triple trees from them for my GL1100 sometime soon (when the wife will least complain :^) , and possibly some mount parts for the used Caifornia Friendship II I just bought yesterday - Brock gave me excellent tips on what to look for on buying a used one and even what a fair price for one would be. Pretty decent of him for a guy that sells new ones don't you think! They're top notch in my books, and with their combined experience, I'm thinking people that should be listened to!
It's always great to hear the positivie experiences people have with vendors as well as the negative ones.
Thanks Daryl, got your pics today, talk to you soon.
-Brock
