Just curious to every ones opinion on sidecar brakes. Some guys say you gotta have it, others say don't need with duel disk upfront. Then I have heard of guys having separate sidecar brake, with separate pedal instead of being plumbed to the bikes rear brake. Also would you set the sidecar up with no brake , then add and adjust brake after the sidecar handles well without. That way you would know if you had a problem due to the brake. This is all fairly new to me and am trying to gather as much info as I can so I do thing the right way the first time. Thanks in advance for all you input and advice.
Paul
Paul,
There's a Search function on this forum
. I suggest you use that because there have been MANY discussions regarding sidecar brakes, yes, no or maybe. There are strong opinions and merely interested opinions on both sides. Several of us have one rig with a sidecar brake and one without and experience no issue with switching between them. In the end, you're going to have to make the decision for yourself.
A
Thanks for the info, I will have to get into the search bar and do some poking around.
Paul
I find that usually the companies that tell you that you do not need a brake, often do not have a clue how to make a brake let alone make it work right with the bike. Or, people that do not have a brake often will tell you that you do not need a brake. Human nature is what ever you did, was right and as such often they will try and defend a point. Sadly the reason they may not have a brake is simply financial. My feeling is that you may not "need" a brake up until the one time you do. If a brake keeps you out of the emergency room even once, it was really cheap.
As to how to hook up the brake, many years ago we would hook the brake up on its own pedal so that you could use it to steer or bias the brake by how hard you step on the pedal. My views on this have evolved since I started teaching the sidecar trike education programs (S/tep) classes. One thing that is taught in the S/tep class as well as the regular two wheeled motorcycle class is always use all your brakes all the time as you can not out think your habits, so if you are only using the sidecar brake for right hand turns and a deer jumps out in front of you, when you need all of your brakes you will not engage sidecar brake. So we like to tie the sidecar brake onto the other brakes on the bike so you can not chose not to use the sidecar brake if you are using all of the brakes the bike has. How to hook up the brake really depends on what is most practical for the bike in question. Arguments can be made as to any number of ways you can hook up the brake. There is usually a case where had you hooked it up differently that it might in that one instance have worked out better. My feeling is go with practical. Any sidecar brake is going to be better then no sidecar brake when you need to stop fast and if you try and hook up the brake in a less then practical way, it may not happen at all or work well.
If you are running a dual sport bike a sidecar brake is even more important. Down hill, loaded sidecar, loose terrain. The sidecar is trying to push the front of the bike to the left. You may find that with out a brake on the sidecar you need to chose to use the limited traction that the front tire offers to steer, or to slow down. Not both. Been there, done that, never again.
As to dual disks up front, I feel it makes little difference. If a single disk has the power to lock up the wheel even with the sidecar, a dual disk on the front is not going to stop you much faster. It might lock up the front wheel ever so slightly quicker. But traction is still the limiting factor as to how far it takes to stop. What a dual disk will do is cool down faster as it has more surface area to disperse the heat energy gained by stopping the wheel as such you can stop repeatedly quicker then with a single disk. Important on the race track, might be important for some in the real world but I suspect for most of us we do not push our bikes hard enough to matter. I do however like hooking up a sidecar brake to a the front of a bike with a dual disk more then to a bike with a single disk only in that the dual disk brake master cylinder will have a greater capacity as such adding an additional brake you will have a firmer feel to it as it is adding overall less of a demand on the capacity percentage wise then the master for a single disk brake.
One of the few times that we will not hook up a sidecar brake, if we are installing a sidecar made by another company (often Velorex which we seldom do, will only do by trashing their "universal" mounts and only do so on smaller bikes) if the brake on the sidecar is a small mechanical drum brake and the bike has hydraulic brakes as most do now. Getting the sidecar brake to work and be of real world value may cost more then it is worth to most to do. If a person in this instance wants a brake on the sidecar we suggest a different sidecar one with a modern brake.
Jay G
DMC sidecars
15616 Carbonado South Prairie RD
Buckley WA
98321
Hours Monday - Thursday 6-4:30
866-638-1793
www.dmcsidecars.com
Thanks for the great info.
Paul
