The camber of my Velorex 562 S/C appears to be out of alignment but the bike seems fine. I noticed when inspecting it last night the clevis pin rattled in the mount. I removed the safety wire and removed the bolt to see the threads stripped. BUT, the clamp mount also seems to wobble when I drove it and turn very hard. I read in the installation manual, Step #2 Lean-out adjustment, to adjust camber of the S/C tire you adjust the UPPER Clevis Adjusting Bolts: "If the lean-out is not correct, remove the Nuts and Bolts from the Clevis Adjusting Bolts at the upper ends of the front and rear Struts, then turn the Clevis Adjusting Bolts Inward to lessen lean-out, and outward to increase lean out." I need to address the bolt/clamp issue first. Thoughts?
Pictures below.
Tom
I see 2 potential swing points in the view of the clamp assembly mounting.
Is this clamp used with, or instead of the OEM sliding clamp assembly?
Lonnie
Lonnie-this is the original clamp assembly, as far as I know. I bought the bike w/ S/C attached. In the 'Rear Upper/Lower Looking Aft' photo I am referring to the lower clamp that attaches to the S/C tube frame on the left.
Picture is worth...
Tom
I see lots of problems with this. First, you check lean out at the rear wheel, not the front as with the handle bars even slightly turned it will look completely different. Next, every thing needs to be checked with your weight on the bike. You must have no play in any of the mounting points! Nor should you have any noticeable flex at any of the mounting points. You should be able to shake the bike vigorously and have the sidecar move exactly the same. Next issues are with how it is attached. In general "universal" type mounts seldom work well and as such should be avoided when possible. Looking at photo's your lower rear mount on the sidecar side is set up such that the clamp is trying to resist a twisting motion and as such, odds are great that it will slip in time. I can not see how it attaches on the bike side in the photo's but I suspect that it is also trying to resist a twisting motion. Velorex's concept of having a clamp with an eye bolt going to a clevis on a strut that then has another clevis going to an eye bolt to another clamp is poor engineering at best. You have 4 potential slipping points on the lower rear mount alone. There should be no slipping points. Upper rear mount is attached well at the sidecar however it could stand to be a lot higher on the bike frame for better triangulation. Again I can not tell how the upper rear mount attaches to the bike. If it is a frame clamp it should be installed such that it can not rotate. Our mount here picks up both of the two bolts just above this mount. I can not tell how the front mounts are attached but it would appear that you have way to much wheel lead on this bike caused by the need to place the front lower mount in correctly as the only adjustment Velorex has for wheel lead is clamp placement. Your upper struts are also up side down. The threaded part should be down so that water does not over time run down the threads and cause them to rust in place. Here is a link showing a better way to mount a Velorex sidecar http://www.dmcsidecars.com/the-result-of-improper-sidecar-mounting-and-the-proper-fix/ Attached you will also find alignment instructions as well as photo's of what our mounts look like.
Jay G
DMC sidecars
www.dmcsidecars.com
866-638-1793
I saw some more photo's on your other post. The front lower mount is done wrong for many reasons, First it is trying to resist a twisting motion. Chances are it will slip over time, next it is clamped to a part of the frame of the bike that is slightly curved and as such does not hold as well as it could. It also sets your wheel lead which is to great. You should have 10-15% of the wheel base of the bike for wheel lead and last when ever possible the lower mounts should be equal distance off of the ground. When one is higher then the other when you change your lean out setting you also change your toe setting. In your case the more you lean the bike out the more toe in you have. If the rear where higher then the front the more you lean it to the left the less toe in you would have.
The way you have every thing it may work but it would work much better if set up more ridged with the proper amount of wheel lead.
Jay G
DMC sidecars
www.dmcsidecars.com
866-638-1793
Jay-thanks for your input. I have a better understanding.
Tom
I replaced the bolt, nut, and cotter pin in the Right Rear Lower mount and checked the mount; it was fine. The original bolt was bent, stripped, and worn but now that I replaced the bolt and nut, the S/C is solid as a rock.
Special thanks to Lonnie Cook.
Tom
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This is another way of installing the lower mount on the sidecar to prevent it from rolling on the frame. I know you have the universal frame clamp in place of the lower Velores mount but same principal
Doug,
Can you explain how the clamp is attached so it does not rotate?
Thanks.
Tom
