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Chair and bike selection
Quote from Guest on June 18, 2012, 11:02 amI'm a sidecar noob so please forgive any obvious questions or protocol transgressions. Is this even in the right forum? 🙂
I'm looking for a sidecar for some long (multi week) touring with my lady friend.
Nothing adventuresome, just pavement and a little gravel.It should be able to (and have enough space to) haul us and a reasonable amount of stuff (clothes, camping gear, etc...) at highway speeds. I figure with toolkit and all our personal stuff it would be 100 to 150lbs.
I want something with a classic look.For the chair:
I like the look of the Watsonian GP's but I believe they are fiberglass so then you can't bolt on any external storage?
Maybe the wider GP700 would be appropriate then but I don't like the wide look as much as the slimmer regular GP.
I've thought about a Ural (or ural like) chair. It doesn't look as classic but then it's all steel so you can bolt stuff in various places.For the bike:
I really like the look of the Triumph Bonnevilles, I'm just not sure if they are large enough for long travel comfort or have the capacity to haul us + side car + 150lbs of stuff.
Would the Bonnie be sufficient?
Any suggestions for a different bike that keeps the classic look?Your opinions are much appreciated.
I'm a sidecar noob so please forgive any obvious questions or protocol transgressions. Is this even in the right forum? 🙂
I'm looking for a sidecar for some long (multi week) touring with my lady friend.
Nothing adventuresome, just pavement and a little gravel.
It should be able to (and have enough space to) haul us and a reasonable amount of stuff (clothes, camping gear, etc...) at highway speeds. I figure with toolkit and all our personal stuff it would be 100 to 150lbs.
I want something with a classic look.
For the chair:
I like the look of the Watsonian GP's but I believe they are fiberglass so then you can't bolt on any external storage?
Maybe the wider GP700 would be appropriate then but I don't like the wide look as much as the slimmer regular GP.
I've thought about a Ural (or ural like) chair. It doesn't look as classic but then it's all steel so you can bolt stuff in various places.
For the bike:
I really like the look of the Triumph Bonnevilles, I'm just not sure if they are large enough for long travel comfort or have the capacity to haul us + side car + 150lbs of stuff.
Would the Bonnie be sufficient?
Any suggestions for a different bike that keeps the classic look?
Your opinions are much appreciated.
Quote from jaydmc on June 18, 2012, 11:59 amWe build a lot of sidecars for the Bonneville. We make a version of our M72D sidecar that sits a bit lower to look sharp on these bikes. The sidecar comes with 100% bolt on bike specific mounts. We also make new from billet triple tree's to lower the steering effort as a sidecar bike. While the sidecar is hand laid fiberglass bolting things to it is not a problem at all. We offer front and rear racks as well as fuell canisters and people have also bolted other items to the body. If you do not have the bike yet and you are in the USA you can buy the bike from a dealer local to us. They will deliver the bike to us. We install the sidecar and ship you the bike. We can often do this for not much more money then the price to crate and ship just the sidecar. Or some people will fly in and either ride the bike home if they have ridden sidecar before or we can deliver the bike to the training range for you to take a sidecar class before you ride it home.
The Bonneville will have enough power most of the time. High altitude or a heavy head wind and you will want more power however that is even the case with much more powerfull bikes. 99% of the time you will have pleanty of power. The other 1% you will just go a bit slower in a lower gear.
We have a wait right now of about 5 weeks on sidecars. We are also a Watsonian dealer and can order one in for you. They take about 4 months to get.
Jay G
DMC sidecars
www.dmcsidecars.com
866-638-1793
We build a lot of sidecars for the Bonneville. We make a version of our M72D sidecar that sits a bit lower to look sharp on these bikes. The sidecar comes with 100% bolt on bike specific mounts. We also make new from billet triple tree's to lower the steering effort as a sidecar bike. While the sidecar is hand laid fiberglass bolting things to it is not a problem at all. We offer front and rear racks as well as fuell canisters and people have also bolted other items to the body. If you do not have the bike yet and you are in the USA you can buy the bike from a dealer local to us. They will deliver the bike to us. We install the sidecar and ship you the bike. We can often do this for not much more money then the price to crate and ship just the sidecar. Or some people will fly in and either ride the bike home if they have ridden sidecar before or we can deliver the bike to the training range for you to take a sidecar class before you ride it home.
The Bonneville will have enough power most of the time. High altitude or a heavy head wind and you will want more power however that is even the case with much more powerfull bikes. 99% of the time you will have pleanty of power. The other 1% you will just go a bit slower in a lower gear.
We have a wait right now of about 5 weeks on sidecars. We are also a Watsonian dealer and can order one in for you. They take about 4 months to get.
Jay G
DMC sidecars
http://www.dmcsidecars.com
866-638-1793