To all you experienced riders, I would like to know the advantages of lowering the subframe and sidecar. Is it worth the extra money to have this done? Will the rig handle better at speed and cornering? Or is it strictly aesthetics?
Thanks in advance
Lower and wider will add stability to most any vehicle. When the mass is lowered it lowers the center of gravity so you have more weight being tranferred laterally in a turn rather than 'up and over' the roll centers. Face it a Corvetter will do better on a road course than a CJ5 Jeep.
Keep in mind that ground clearance is also a consideration. If you run off road or on rougher terrain you don't want to be bottoming out.
Suspension travel is also something to consider. A stiffly suspensded sidecar can be run lower than one with a mushy suspension.
Frankly many sidecars sit far higher than they need to. Some border on ridiculous.
Do you have a specific bike and sidecar in mind?
I don't have a specific bike as of yet, going to be a Harley or metric V-Twin, cruiser type. 1200-1500 cc. Going to build this spring.
Sidecars would be Liberty, Trans-Moto 602, Champion Legend, Motorvation Spyder, Texas Standard. Something that looks a little old school to go along with the lines of the cruiser, leaning towards the Legend and Liberty.
I see that some companies lower subframes 4" and I was originaly wondering how that translated to handling of the rig.
Liberty sidecars are harley specific in looks and design and work very well. I am not aware of any of them being lowered.
Dauntless has been lowering Ural sidecars for appearance. We have done the same along with some other modifications and it does help handling some.
The sidecar we are about to release called the Freedom Cruiser can have it's ride height adjusted from low to high easily.(see yahoo site link below).
Lots of options out there dog pound and any of the ones you mentioned will look good and work well on a harley..plus soem others of course 🙂
Claude
Most of the lowered sidecars I see are from Eastern Europe and China. These rigs start higher then most for use in ruts and mud as a year round form of transportation. My sputnick started high enough to hang a storage box and gas tank under the sidecar, and still have more clearance then most western rigs. I don't think I'd worry about height on any of the rigs you mentioned.
Originally written by dog pound on 3/12/2007 4:34 PM
To all you experienced riders, I would like to know the advantages of lowering the subframe and sidecar. Is it worth the extra money to have this done? Will the rig handle better at speed and cornering? Or is it strictly aesthetics?
Thanks in advance
Ideally you want the sidecar to set level both front to back and side to side. Depending on the bike you choose, it may be necessary to lower it some to get it to attach properly. Sometimes it's not as big a problem as you might think. To get my old Dnepr to ride level on my Valkyrie, I only had to replace the original 19 inch wheel with an 18" and a low profile tire. The Ural that I now have rides level on that same Valkyrie without altering anything.
Originally written by dog pound on 3/12/2007 4:34 PM
To all you experienced riders, I would like to know the advantages of lowering the subframe and sidecar. Is it worth the extra money to have this done? Will the rig handle better at speed and cornering? Or is it strictly aesthetics?
Thanks in advance
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Ideally you want the sidecar to set level both front to back and side to side. Depending on the bike you choose, it may be necessary to lower it some to get it to attach properly. Sometimes it's not as big a problem as you might think. To get my old Dnepr to ride level on my Valkyrie, I only had to replace the original 19 inch wheel with an 18" and a low profile tire. The Ural that I now have rides level on that same Valkyrie without altering anything.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Mike,
I think the original question was more inline with whether a lowered sidecar would help the handling of the rig rather than how a sidecar had to be setup. With proper mopunts and subframe the tire etc should not have to be changed to lower a sidecar as far as setup goes. You are right of course in saying the sidecar frame shoudl be level side to side as close as possible. I say as close as possible as soem sidecars vary in how close the wheel will be perpendicluar to the sidecar frame due to manufaturing variations.
Front to rear stance of sidecars is more of an aestetics thing ,within reason of course.
Originally written by claude #3563 on 3/16/2007 3:58 AM
Originally written by dog pound on 3/12/2007 4:34 PM
To all you experienced riders, I would like to know the advantages of lowering the subframe and sidecar. Is it worth the extra money to have this done? Will the rig handle better at speed and cornering? Or is it strictly aesthetics?
Thanks in advance>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Ideally you want the sidecar to set level both front to back and side to side. Depending on the bike you choose, it may be necessary to lower it some to get it to attach properly. Sometimes it's not as big a problem as you might think. To get my old Dnepr to ride level on my Valkyrie, I only had to replace the original 19 inch wheel with an 18" and a low profile tire. The Ural that I now have rides level on that same Valkyrie without altering anything.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Mike,
I think the original question was more inline with whether a lowered sidecar would help the handling of the rig rather than how a sidecar had to be setup.
Front to rear stance of sidecars is more of an aestetics thing ,within reason of course.
You didn't ride in mine when the nose was nearly touching the ground. Barb said she felt like she was going to be pitched forward at stops.
I interpreted the original question as "Is it neccessary or is it esthetic?". I felt it's both.
BTW The ice is starting to break up on the lake. :0)
Mike wrote:
>>You didn't ride in mine when the nose was nearly touching the ground. Barb said she felt like she was going to be pitched forward at stops.
I interpreted the original question as "Is it neccessary or is it esthetic?". I felt it's both.
BTW The ice is starting to break up on the lake. :0)<<
LOL...I do remember it before you leveled the sidecar side to side though.
Lake? We can't see the lake here as right now we are getting snow that you must have sent this way..thanks buddy! 8" and counting 🙂
Claude
Originally written by claude #3563 on 3/16/2007 9:34 PM
Lake? We can't see the lake here as right now we are getting snow that you must have sent this way..thanks buddy! 8" and counting 🙂
Claude
Yup, that's from me, and you're welcome to it. We had about 2 feet before it stopped. Only about an inch left today. I stopped by Gust's today. He was out polishing his rig.
You guys on the Northern tier have all the fun!
I'm over here in the high desert in Boise having to put up with 70 degree temps and a mild SW breeze. Heh, Heh.
Lonnie
We lower many of the Ural sidecars we install as they look sharp lowered.
We have sub frames for many different bikes and are developing new billet triple tree's for many bikes. Bikes we have developed triple tree's so far this year include The Kawasaki 900cc, 1600cc, and 2000cc Vulcans. We will have them for the Shadow 750 and Moto Guzzi EV's in the next week or so.
Jay Giese
Dauntless Motors Corporation
www.dauntlessmotors.com
866-638-1793
