True, but I was at a dealership. Most of our customer cars were relatively new.
I have been thinking a lot about whether it makes sense to tow a sidecar rig by the front wheel of the tug, with all three wheels on the ground...
Or by the frame that connects the tug to the chair, with all three wheels on the ground...
Or by the frame, but with the front wheel of the tug hoisted off the ground...
Towing by the front wheel seems the natural way to do it, except the load is off-center, and the forks are the weakest part of the rig. Still, they are strong enough to take 70% of the load under heavy braking, so maybe they are strong enough.
Hauling by the frame seems better balanced and more rugged. But if the tug's front wheel is on the ground it may 'crab' or go into oscillation. A steering damper seems necessary. But with all three wheels on the ground the load on the tow bar and the trailer hitch are minimized.
Hauling by the frame with the tug's front wheel off the ground obviates the steering issues, but if the rig has 'trail' it will no longer ride level. Still, if the tilt is small it may not matter that much. On the other hand the tow bar and the trailer hitch are now supporting a fair amount of weight. The tow bar will have to be beefier, but not outrageously so.
The setup I find most attractive (or least objectionable) is towing from the frame with the front wheel on the ground and with an add-on steering damper. But I can't say I'm all that comfortable with the design. Anybody ever seen this setup? Any idea how well it would work?
I'm in the process of putting together a tow bar set-up that will attach at the top of the lower legs to lessen some of the stress when pulling. I would think pulling by the side car frame would play havoc with the front wheel if that puppy flopped to the side jmo but i don't have mine up and running so this could be a waste of time, but what the hell. Mike
I suspect that much of the towing issues actually depend more upon the distance towed than the method used in towing. Crabbing could indeed be an issue of tire wear potential, but not necessarily so for pulling a hack out of a mud bog or even a short distance tow. A corretly built tow bar will take the stress of the pulling with little problems, I believe. Any side sway or oscilliation seems unlikely to me, but what one views as a potential problem is not always a reality, anyway. I can push and pull on my rig when it is hooked up and I don't seem to get any notable sway that would be induced by the wind or such with the sidecar in tow. The weight of the rig is something to consider, but I don't believe that the weight is all on the tow bar and hitch when the thing is in a normal position behind my truck. I guess there may actually be some differences from one sidecar design to another (Brand to another). For short tows, I suspect the tow bar I have will work pretty well. For longer ones, the one attached at the front forks would probably work even better. With both types shown, it is easy enough to have both manufactured and decide for yourself as to what works best in the different situations. Mine has a lot of weight to it, but the front fork one could easily be built to be even lighter that the one shown by Bill. As much as I like myown tow bar setup, I have no qualms at making one to fit the front forks. Indian Bill claims his front fork tow bar has worked well at speeds of 70 MPH or more. His video on YouTube sort of backs him up in what he says. Few people will likely even attempt to build a tow bar anyway, as they probably have trailer options where they don't need such. It is nice to see different opinions as to how to improve them or even different ideas as to how to build one. All of the suggestions or ideas are good to ponder over. Wish I had not sold off my welder or I'd be out in the garage working on some of these ideas.
I just completed a 500+ tow of my rig behind my 2004 Toyota Sienna. I made the set up using all Harbor Freight towing parts. I spent about $80 (with coupons) on the components. No welding was necessary. I wired the lights using the brake lights on the bike and sidecar as the turn signals and brake light even though I don't think I had to because the Sienna's lights are clearly visible. I made an offset hitch that was 15" left of center to keep the rig centered on the van. The tow bar pivots so it is extremely easy to connect and disconnect. Just roll the rig up to the hitch, drop the bar on the ball. It takes about 10 minutes to attach the tow bar to the bike. I disconnected the bike's chain for the tow.
I was going up to 80 mph and it was smooth as silk. There was no indication of any tire scrubbing.
The only downside: I can't back it up because of the two pivot points: the ball and the steering head. I tried locking the forks, but it just wouldn't work. The limitation turned out to be a non-issue. I parked in the truck section of rest stops on the interstates and gas stations were also no problem.
The bike is a 1974 Suzuki GT550 2 stroke. The sidecar is an Inder Rocket with a brake. Even though I ordered it with a brake, I essentially had to build the brake system by myself.
This is just a point of information...
I have an ancient [maybe 20 years old] video of production in the URAL factory. They move bikes around in long trains, all attached at the front wheel.
A friend used to pull his Harley rig with a tow bar similar to this one. I dought that any pictures still survive. J.R.
