Non-Ural driveshaft sidecar
Hi everyone! My main question here is, is it possible to add a driveshaft to a non-powered sidecar? If so, how in the world would I accomplish this and does anyone know of a shop in the U.S. that could do it? I have been able to finally do some longer trips on my 2001 Honda Shadow 1100VT Sabre W/Champion Escort sidecar. I love the large size of this sidecar since I have it so my Great Dane can ride with me, but can only handle about 300 miles a day before I'm exhausted lugging that side anchor around. I would eventually like to move up to a larger motorcycle as well so I can better handle the highways, and have the power to comfortably ride no matter the hilly terrain. Currently I max out at 70 going uphill, and am also constantly having to go full throttle to keep up my speed on rides in the mountains. A buddy of mine has a Ural and having a powered sidecar is wonderful, but the Urals just aren't big enough for what I want in both size and in power. If adding a driveshaft to my current sidecar is not possible, does anyone know of another sidecar out there that is powered? Lastly, is it possible to add any motorcycle (with some conversions) to a powered sidecar? Please know that I'm no mechanic, and also still new into the sidecar world, so please forgive me if any of the above is dumb, or out of the question. I have to ask, and figured someone here could help me out. Thanks in advance for your responses!
Why do you want to add shaft to sidecar?
GL1500 will be lot more comfortable for any and long ride.
Sidecar ads a lot of weight and air resistance to the bike. 70 uphill is probably most you can do anyway. Take it easy and smell the roses.
"have the power to comfortably ride no matter the hilly terrain. " - will never happen.
What is "Ural having a powered sidecar" is so wonderful?
from my minimal knowledge adding a shaft will help alleviate the massive right pulling due to the drag the sidecar produces. Having power to that outside tire should help a great deal. Am I wrong in thinking that? A GL1500 does look like a nice bike to pull my sidecar, and will look into that for my next upgrade. I simply want to get a setup somehow to where I can do 300 or more miles in a day and not feel like I've been in the ring with a prize fighter afterwards. I want the longer rides to be as much fun as the around town rides.
First, unless it is a Ural from the 1990's the sidecar wheel is only driven when engaged and as it has no differential it does not steer all that well when engaged so is only used off road. A full time driven sidecar wheel does help with "Yaw" when accelerating but not with the pull. Pull will always happened on acceleration however if you sidecars is properly aligned there should be a sweet spot where there is no pull. Many sidecars offer an electric trim option, Many of the sidecars we build offer this option. I would start by fixing the alignment on your rig. Your next rig add electric trim. We do offer a driven sidecar wheel on some BMW's that is full time, expensive and allows you to go where you more then likely would not want to take such a nice expensive bike. As the BMW GS has so much more power, tire and ground clearance we have found off road that other then really long steep hill climbs or very slow rock crawling we can go pretty much ever where with single wheel drive that you can do with sidecar wheel drive but with a simpler lighter cheaper rig.
Your 1100 if aligned correctly should have no power issues unless you are at high altitude in which case you never have enough power but can always shift down.
I have attached alignment instructions.
Jay G
DMC sidecars
866-638-1793
www.dmcsidecars.com
70MPH uphill with an 1100 Shadow seems pretty good. You may be able to squeeze a couple of more MPH by dropping a gear.
The "Massive pulling to the right" is definitely a misalignment problem. At a constant speed you will have neutral steering with proper alignment, unless an outside factor such as a strong headwind is present. Even then the whole rig will slow down and there may be a slight pull to the right from the sidecars' wind resistance.
Lonnie
NWSC
I have to agree with the others about the rig needing adjustment on the alignment. I've only had experience with three different rigs, Moto Guzzi/Ural, Kawasaki 1300/Vetter, and now a Goldwing/Escort. With all of them on the straight away's I could maintain a straight course with two fingers of one hand on the bars. It did take both hands when turning or if there was a strong side wind. The Guzze & Kawasaki did not have the front end EZ-Steer installed so turning did require more effort. My Escort rig with the Goldwing does have EZ-Steer installed and makes a huge difference in steering effort. Also, on the Goldwing I have the electric lean adjustment makes things easier with different loads. For me the one negative thing about having the EZ-Steer is that the bike should not be ridden solo anymore. When I had the Guzzi & Kawasaki rigs I removed the sidecar about half the time and rode solo.
I have a 2013 Ural Patrol with two wheel drive. There is no differential, so both wheels turn at the same speed, making it impossible to steer around a corner with out one of the wheels skidding. The two wheel drive is only used off road on dirt, sand, gravel or in the snow, where it can slip, or massive tire wear happens. If you could have an axel made for on road use it would have to have a differential just like your car or truck. I agree with the others that most of your problem is in the set up of your rig, the sidecar tow in, and bike lean away from the sidecar will eliminate the pull to the right. Steering will still be heavy unless get modified triple trees, such as EZ-Steer. Good luck with it.
Well I greatly appreciate everyone's input. Looks like I'll be trying to adjust the alignment on my bike. I only have about 2,500 miles with a sidecar so far so still in the learning process. Everyone ride safe, and have a great day!
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