Hi Everyone,
I finally convinced my wife that we need a sidecar and I got a great condition used Velorex 562. The problem I have is attaching the "universal" mounts to my frame to my 1995 Honda Shadow American Classic Edition (ACE). It seems that all the places I am supposed to put the eye bolt joints, there is no room/area to attach. I know I can't put a hole in the frame, but what about the plates of metal welded to the frame? Anyway, if someone has a ACE and a Velorex, that would be great or know of a good shop in ABQ that installs (Accessory Pit in ABQ quoted $900, which is too high right now for me to pay), I would appreciate it.
Thanks and I hope to see you all on the road!
first thing you do is scrap the 'universal mounts'
They will never work or tighten properly.
You will have to convince yourself..and the wife. that you need proper mounts to be satisfied...and safe.
Contact Jay, at ...
http://www.dauntlessmotors.com/
He has proper mounts for your rig , to safely and securely mount it.
Bob,
Thanks for the input and advice. I called Jay and unfortunately they don't have any mounts for my particular bike and he noted that he doesn't feel the Velorex is a safe sidecar for that big of a bike. I can understand his concern but I have weighted the frame with additional ballast and I am assuming that it will just require me to be extra cautious and slow on turns as the driver, which I am willing to do. Nonetheless, I just wanted you to know I got some feedback from Jay. Still would like some input on how to make the Velorex work unless everyone thinks it is a serious safety issue (but my chances of getting another sidecar are slim).
Thanks
Originally written by nowuries on 5/8/2006 11:35 AM
Bob,
Thanks for the input and advice. I called Jay and unfortunately they don't have any mounts for my particular bike and he noted that he doesn't feel the Velorex is a safe sidecar for that big of a bike. I can understand his concern but I have weighted the frame with additional ballast and I am assuming that it will just require me to be extra cautious and slow on turns as the driver, which I am willing to do. Nonetheless, I just wanted you to know I got some feedback from Jay. Still would like some input on how to make the Velorex work unless everyone thinks it is a serious safety issue (but my chances of getting another sidecar are slim).Thanks
Nicee to hear you are checking up. always good to be safe.
You can add ballast to the VX, but a limited amount. the axle on older models are not big enough to stand up to added weight and heavy bikes.You can add a larger axle to it as an upgrade.[if it doesnt have it already]
make sure you stick with the 1/3 rule...SC with ballast and no passenger should weigh 1/3 of the bike and rider weight, for safe handling on turns and manouvers.
I.E., if the bike weighs 600 plus your weight maybe 175 for a total of 775 pounds, the SC should have a weight of 258 pounds with ballast.
seeing as the VX has an empty weight of 154 pounds, you will need quite a bit of ballast to bring it up to safe level.
riding slow wont help in an emergency situation, like a deer or junk on the road...OOOPS!!
This isnt meant to curb your enthusiasm...just have you make a safe install for many miles of enjoyment!
I also have a 95 1100 ACE but with a California Companion GT sidecar. There are pictures of my mounts here in my album called Mounts. Might help at least give you some ideas if you can figure out what you are looking at.
Dax,
E-mail me at nwsidecar@aol.com and I will send pix of the mounting positions and mounts for an American Classic/562 HD combo. This particular one was setup for a customer from Southern CA who spent considerable time touring the States with it.
The price mentioned by your shop in ABQ is not that far off if they are going to install a proper upgraded suspension along with the sidecar installation. Otherwise, their price is quite high in my opinion.
The pre (late) 2004 sidecar will need better suspension and either permanent ballast or a full size passenger for any kind of handling.
Bolt on suspension upgrades are available from us or others.
Lonnie Cook
Northwest Sidecar
YOU GUYS ROCK!! I really appreciate all the advice and help to get a very enthusiastic hack'er on the road... after many, many weeks of practice in parking lots throughout Albuquerque of course. Keep the advice coming!
I e-mailed you some pic of my set up Now I do have the 565 car that is a bit more in #. I hope they help. If I very get it down how to put pic on this site I will lol
Richard,
Make sure your digital pix are under 200 KB and follow the instructions in the albums section.
There are other ways, but that is the easiest.
Good Luck
Thanks for everyone's help! Update: I, and a good friend, found 4 good points of connection, but some modification had to happen. I called Velorex and got a special eyebolt that goes in the rear main stay (and frame). I had a great local welder reinforce the upper frame gusset on the right side with an 1/8in thick plate and cromoly welds, and he helped to position the eyebolt, drill the hole, weld the inside of the hole and finish it up. Works great. I then took an idea from a Harley rig to use the lower front crossmember with one of the provided Velorex "universal" clamps, and that worked good after some adjustments. Lastly, I drilled a larger hole into the lower rear frame connection area where a hole was but no accessory. Don't know what the hole was for, but it worked fine for the eyebolt! So, I got my four points of connection. Then I upgraded the suspension thanks to advice from Lonnie at NW Sidecar and Doug Bingeman at Sidestrider. Finally, I had my local welder guy, Gene at Welding Services, Albuquerque, NM., extend one of the support arms since it was too short to reach the upper front frame connector. He cut the support, placed the ends inside a steel tube with a 2 in overlap and that extended the support the 6 inches I needed. PHEW!!! Now I am just adjusting the toe-in and lean-out to get the rig riding right, then I will start modifying the body to accomodate my wife and dog... more to come. Thanks again for those who provided advice, I appreciate it!
