Adding brakes

If you install a hub with a disc brake rotor there may be enough room to fabricate and install a brake caliper bracket without changing fenders. I have used a small front GMA caliper in the past on some other sidecars. They were quite compact. The brake can then be linked or a separate master cylinder can be fitted.

FYI: I have never felt the need for a sidecar brake on any of the hundred or so Velorex sidecars that I have installed.

Lonnie
Northwest Sidecars

We always recomend a brake on a sidecar, if it keeps you out of an accident even once, it is worth all fo the effort. I have seen times with slick surfaces where you have to decied if you want to use your front wheel for braking or for steering as there is not enough traction to do both. What bike are we dealing with? We make a hub that will fit right onto a trailer axle which is what more then likley was done to up grade your wheel. It can be set up with either a 4 on 4 bolt pattern or 5 on 4.75 The hub takes a very small brembo brake rotor, we then use a small Brembo brake calipar. We CNC cut out a steel plate for the calipar that welds to the swing arm.
Jay G
DMC sidecars
www.dmcsidecars.com
jay@dmcsidecars.com
866-638-1793

The last 562 I had had the brake shoes installed and I uninstalled them! I agree with hack'n, no brake on the hack is better!

I'd put them on a Doublewide but not a single.

Lonnie

I can not see why any one would not want the extra control and shorter stopping distance that a brake provides. Set up right, I see no down side at all to a brake.

Jay G
DMC sidecars
www.dmcsidecars.com
866-638-1793

"Set it up right" is the magic phrase here. There are so many variables involved with a sidecar rig. Bike to car weight ratio. Track width of the combo. Type of brakes involved, whether hydraulic drum, disc or mechanical or maybe a combination of three different types. Linked or unlinked. Tire size and tread differences with different coefficients of braking traction. Sidecar wheel lead. Direction of travel.
A lot of irons in the fire here. Any of which can cause erratic stopping characteristics deviating from a straight line stop.
I've used non-linked brakes off road with some success with non factory combos. I prefer to save using my sidecar brake for extreme emergency stops where I won't care which direction the rig is facing
after it has stopped, say at the brink of a cliff.

If one likes them, use them, I have no dog in the fight for or against sidecar brakes and I don't sell them.

Lonnie
Northwest Sidecars

One issue, which is taught in the S/tep class (sidecar trike education prograhm www.esc.org) is that you can not out think your habbits. Which is to say, if you are only using the sidecar brake for an extreme emergency then chances are, when you do have an extreme emergency you will not be able to out think your habbits and as such, you will not use the brake. We teach (yes I am a certified instructor) in the prograhm as do they in the two wheel course always use all of your brakes all the time as if this is how you normaly work the brakes, it is also how you will use the brake in an emergency.

To not hook up a brake because it may be difficult to work out setting it up to work properly is a poor reason to not have a brake. We make brakes an option on some of our sidecars only in that some people do not get past looking at the price other wise we always recomend a brake. I will not say in every instance you can make the brake balance well as I have not seen every instance but usualy it is not a problem to do so as long as you are putting an apropriate sidecar on the bike for the size of the bike.

The statement "I have no dog in the fight for or against brakes, and I don't sell them" is in its self stating you "have a dog in the fight" If you do not sell them then of course you are not going to recomend brakes. To recomend brakes when you do not have brakes to sell would surely limit the number of sidecars you would sell.

Another thing to consider. Some states that do inspections and some insurance companies insist that if the sidecar has a brake. It must be hooked up and working.

So, I see no reason at all why a person would not want the extra control and shorter stoping distance that a brake on the sidecar provides.

Jay G
DMC sidecars
www.dmcsidecars.com
866-638-1793
jay@dmcsidecars.com

I stand uncorrected in my opinion. Extra control can be possible, but is not always probable without driver input. As I stated earlier: If you like them, use them. I opt not to.
If I have any clients desiring brakes I will send them to you as I have sent many others to you in the past for services and parts that I do not wish to install.

BTW: I am not aware of any US state or insurance company thathas a mandatory brake ruling on the books.

Lonnie (semi retired)
Northwest Sidecars

Several states in the east have inspections, Some of these, if you have a brake it must work. This also goes for lights, if they are there, they must work. Some of this I suspect is up to the inspector but it has come up. We have also had it come up with an insurance company. I however do not remember which one.
Jay G
DMC sidecars
www.dmcsidecars.com
866-638-1793

Interesting. Couple of different issues here. I can tell you that in my 30 plus years of riding mainly with sidecars on my bikes over half of that was without brakes on the sidecar. I'm not saying that was smart, just that I did. Then one day I encountered a situation that was put down as unavoidable because it involved a split second where because of a wasp between my eye and my sunglasses my attention was momentarily diverted to getting rid of the wasp.LOL This only took a couple seconds but when I looked up again traffic had stopped. On this occasion there was no place to go to avoid the stopped car ahead. This brings up the first issue. As someone who has spent a lot of their working life as a professional driver and having at one time been a motorcycle instructor I take driving and safety issues very seriously. One of the first things you learn is that you can't expect to use a braking or any other control in an emergency unless you use it all the time. I also spend time with all my motorcycles to practice braking to the point that I can have tires squealing at the limits of their traction without locking them up. I have done this since my first CL160 that had drum brakes that really worked. That said, I used every bit of braking I had, but as the officer that attended the accident said, "If you only had another couple of feet". I have had brakes on every sidecar since. This is my choice because not only does it hurt to hit things, I am not about to risk my grandchildren's safety (or my dog's for that matter) by not being able to stop quick enough. Another thing that can help here is looking as far ahead of yourself as possible while driving. I make it an issue to know what is happening ahead and I expect to be applying my brakes before the vehicle ahead even knows there is an issue.
I understand that there are still some older and some lighter designed sidecars out there that have drum brakes and they can be difficult to match up to a bike with a hydraulic brake system. You have to decide how much time and or money your passengers safety is worth. Nobody can do that for you.
Having played the expert witness in a couple of court cases involving motorcycles, and one pending involving a sidecar, I can tell you for absolute positive that anyone and I mean a n y o n e telling someone a brake is not necessary better start praying that the person is never involved in an accident that ends up in court. You can and probably will be held liable. I also know from experience that even if this was not the cause of the accident they will find a way to make a jury believe is was. Just some food for thought. You decide! Bob

Bob,
Your close call approximates my "Brink of a cliff" scenario. The difference being that I have the brake. Four to be exact and I choose to use all four in a dire emergency. Otherwise it's decellerate, downshift and front brakes to stop my current rig (for reasons stated earlier in this thread). Maybe I'm just lazy, but front pucks are a lot easier to change than rear ones.
With unbraked sidecar rigs I will normally use both front and rear bike brakes and tell my clients to do the same.

Cheers,

Lonnie

We always recomend a stopping system on a sidecar, if it keeps you out of any sort of incident even once, it is truly worth all fo the attempt. I have seen moments with smooth materials where you have to decied if you want to use your front side rim for stopping or for guiding as there is not enough footing to do both.

Maruti Swift

Jay, in August, I had an accident with my Goldwing 1500/ Champion Escort rig. The Escort had a brake but it wasn't hooked up, the previous owner told me that the caliper twisted on the mount, and he had unhooked it. In my panic situation I locked up the front wheel, Michelin Pilot Activ, tire was a very hard rubber compound, and poor traction. The rig just kept sliding forward and left, and I totaled it. Bent the forks, triple tree, and steering head on the frame. I have replaced the bike with a 94 GL1500, and am buying a used Hannigan 2+2. The current owner of the Hannigan has also told me that he has disconnected the brake. I have called Hannigan, and they have explaned how their brake system works with a seperate master cylinder hooked to the rear Honda brake with a cable. I won't ride without a sidecar brake again, and hope that I can contact you for some advice, if I can't get the brake operating properly.

Sorry to hear about your mishap, I hope you came out of it ok. Contact me for any advice you may need. I have ran a few GL1500's over the years as well as many other bikes.
Jay G
DMC sidecars
www.dmcsidecars.com
866-639-1793