Sidecar mounts for Nomad

We make mounts for the Nomad but not to for use with the 562. This is way to light of a sidecar for a bike as heavy and powerfull as yours. If you decied to go with a stronger sidecar or if you deciede to go with a lighter bike we would be glad to help you with mounting hardware.
Jay Giese
Dauntless Motors Corporation
www.dauntlessmotors.com

This Velorex was mount on a FLHTCUI much more heavier than my bike and he never had problems!

Sure he never had problems, That does not mean it was a good match up. Just because you can mount a 100HP out board on a small row boat and get a way with it for a while does not make it a good idea. Same holds true for a motorcycle with a sidecar. There is a reason we offer axle up grades and other companies offer wheel up grades and suspention up grades for the Velorex. There simply is not much of a saftey margin on a bike as large as yours and they are known to bend or brake axles, pull spokes from the hubs and have mounts slip on the frame. The Velorex is a great sidecar for small bike but not for heavy bikes.
Jay Giese
Dauntless Motors Corporation

Michel,
Honestly, what Jay is saying is good advice. Over the years we who have been around this stuff have seen it over and over again where someone put togehter a mis matched rig. Typically it is a large tourer with a Velorex or maybe a Spirit Eagle. It is too bad as these are nice sidecars when mounted to a machine that is more copmpatable with them.
The story usually goes like this: Sidecar is mounted...owner runs it a while...sidecar is then sold...owner has little good to say about sidecars.
The 2nd story goes like this: Sidecar is mounted...owner runs it a while...owner gets into a turn too fast...sidecar comes up quickly(right hander)...rig runs across centerline....rig crashes...owner has nothing good to say about sidecars except they are death traps and dangerous.
The third story does not allow the owner to bad mouth sidecars.

So, can the combination be made to work? With concern of sounding like I am contradicting myself...Yes.. but with ballast(added weight), a wide stance, upgraded axle,beefier suspension and much trial and error. These steps are typically not taken or some are and some are not. The result is a lot of time and probably money gets spent and the end result is still not as good as it would have been if a matched setup was decided upon to begin with.
I did build up a Velorex one time into a pretty good road burner. It was mounted on an XS1100 yamaha. It had different mounting struts, a torsion bar suspension, modified swingarm, Car spindle with 13" car tire, different fender and a braced up sidecar frame. Overkill? No doubt but it did handle.
Many feel that the rule of thumb is to have a sidecar that weighs about a third of the bike's weight when road ready. This is not cast in stone but is a good starting point. The Velorex 562 weighs, I think, 154 pounds.
Ural sidecars have the nostalgic appearance to go well with a Nomad or the vintage looking bikes and can be found at a good price. They weigh over 200 pounds. Just an example.
Don't want to overstate this information but by the same token would feel guilty if nothing was said.

I already have ballast (weight) added in the sidecar and i'm changing the wheel and fender for a FLH fender with the HD 16 inches spoke wheel.For sure the axle will be change to fit the wheel. And i do with the money i have, i'm not as rich as many of you are...And i don't like at all the Ural look! I want my sidecar to look like a Harley one for third of the price, i don't have more money than that. And i don't want to put more weight to the bike cause with its 65HP ,its already enough weight, me 205 lbs, my wife 255 lbs and my son 107 lbs... If i continue to add weigh, i will need a Chevy 350 in.cu. to install on my bike....

Sounds like you are on the right track with the ballast etc. You may want to keep an eye on the sidecar suspension as the rig may want to heel over pretty hard in left handers due to the weight and soft springing. Also the lower rear mount on the sidecar frame tends to slip on many of th eVelorex rigs. Once it is set it can be marked so any movement can be seen easily. Some folks pin them or weld them into place.
Yes, it can be made to work. And it CAN be made to work without spending an arm and a leg too if you are handly and willing to work with things yourself. When on the road be careful and practice practice practice. ADownload Hal's books off this site for free if you have not already done so..good info there.
Claude, who has not received a pay check in seven weeks himself

What kind of shock or spring can i put there instead of the stock one?

Before I converted mine over to a torsion bar suspension I had found a shock in a pile of parts at the local Harley Shop that was able to be made to fit. I have no idea what it was off of though. I also had tried a rubber bumper stop on the stock shock that worked pretty good. This was the kind that goes over the shaft of the shock. They are less than 10 bucks.(see stockcarproducts.com).
Maybe some others will have better solutions than these but I used what was availble and the costs were almost zero.

Michel;
I too found myself in a situation similar to yours. I was totally undecided on which sidecar to buy. I spent countless hours on ebay seaching and looking at the various models and was tempted to buy the velorex because of the attractive price but the weight scared me away as I am mounting to a 1440 cc indian. I considered the ural and in fact took a ural rig for a ride. Was a blast but not as confortable as my low rider. Its difficult to find out enough information to make a decision based on the technical fit of these sidecars unless you come here first before you buy. And yes you will get the sales pitch from people who are in the bussiness and trying to sell you their product but the fact of the matter is they are the most knowledgeable. I purchased a harley rig because I liked its appearance and it was heavy enough, my challenge now is how to adapt it to my bike and as sure as I am I will succeed I am sure you will too. Ridin two wheels is much easier to get started in but I think havin a nice sidecar rig is well worth the effort. Good Luck John

ps From what I have read Ridin 3 people on a rig can be dangerous.

John,
Three people on/in a hack rig is fine if you put the heaviest passenger in the sidecar. I've seen where two heavyweights on the bike and one small child in the boat has tipped over on a slow reverse camber righthand turn. Nothing was hurt but egos and some road rash on the bike fairing, but it can happen.
A bit of common sense and a smattering of the principles of physics can definitely be a plus when Sidehacking.

Find a good way to mount the TLE to your single down tube yet?

Lonnie

My wife doesn't want to sit in the sidecar, for sure, she's 255 lbs!

Not yet lonnie. Looks like it will be a fabrication job. I wondered about using one of the clamp sections as the connection and the other with a dummy pipe. My concern is that it wont be centered on the clamp as designed and there may not be enough adjustment. Any ideas would be appreciated. I seem to have read the thing on the dangers of three people somewhere, but what you said makes total sense. thanks

>>My wife doesn't want to sit in the sidecar, for sure, she's 255 lbs!<<
Yes you will havre a challenge getting this rig to handle safely at any speed at all.

In doing some simple math in light of the 1/3 weight rule we have a bike that is said to weigh 743 pounds (I guessed the model as being a 2004 1500 Nomad ??)Keep in mind the 1/3 weight rule is not castr in stone but maybe this will give you an idea on what you are up against.
A driver at 205 pounds and a passenger on the rear of the bike at 255 pounds for a total of 1203 pounds on the bike side.
Then we have a Velorex sidecar at 154 pounds and a passenger at 107 pounds for a total of 261 pounds. You said you had added ballast but not how much.
Anyhow from the above if we consider the 1/3 weight rule for a roughly 1200 pound total bike weight the sidecar should tip the scales at around 400 pounds. Your sidecar with passenger weighs approx 260 pounds. 400 minus 260 = 140 POUNDS OF BALLAST.
Without the passenger in the sidecar the rig would be pretty scary to drive.
Without the sidecar passenger and the ballast in the sidecar you may not even be able to sit still and keep the sidecar wheel on the ground.
Reversing the passengers and keeping ballast would be okay.
With you on the bike and no passenegers OR BALLAST the rig would be 945 (bike side) and 154 (sidecar side) ..Not good. If the 140 pounds of ballast were added to the hack as mentioned above it would be 945 bike and 294 sidecar...not bad as far as weight distribution goes.
Remember the stock Velorex was designed for a 350 Jawa. THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THAT AND THE NOMAD.
Not trying to be difficult here only trying to show how much a machne can vary as weight is placed differently on that machine.

"Remember the stock Velorex was designed for a 350 Jawa".

Claude,
The original 562 was designed for the Jawa Models as a replacement for the 560. Also used on the larger Jawa/CZ and MZ 500 Gespann.
The new 562 Cruisers, although still a light sidecar, have a vastly improved suspension with longer swing-arm with releveraged shock mounting for stability, adjustable shock, 25% larger axle at 20mm, and a wider wheel.
If I stand on the step plate of a new 562C (I weigh 190#) the suspension only settles 1/2" with the shock in the softest setting. With the 562 Standard with non adjustable shock, the suspension would sag to half it's travel or more. These new cars are a lot more stable than the original 562 Standard or 562E models of the '70s, '80s and '90s.
The new 562 Cruiser has been upgraded to suit the prevailing cruiser market. But still too light for the full dress late Ultras, GLs and such.
The 700 Cruiser model has been similarly upgraded and the new 565 Tour is quite a bit larger and heavier with a Harley sized 130x16" tire on a wide rim and a redesigned three tube frame.

Lonnie