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Getting a new rig

Sold my Bonneville / Velorex rig a few years ago, and thinking of maybe getting a Goldwing set up. My question is servicing the bike. With a set up that large, how easy is it to get the car on and off the bike to get service done? Anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks,
Geoff

HI Geoff, Having owned many GL rigs (and many other rigs as well) a lot of how taking the sidecar on and off depends on how the sidecar was installed. On your Bonneville rig, if it was set up with the Velorex "universal" mounts chances are it was a pain as chances are it never went back on the same way twice. In general, with proper bike specific mounts and with most brands of sidecars that sidecar comes on and off in about 10 minutes however as the GL is a heavy large bike the sidecar will also be heavy and large making it awkward to take on and off with out a proper stand for the sidecar. Much of the service can be done with the sidecar on, tire changes can be easier with a sidecar as you just jack up the rig, same goes for items like oil changes. About the only time I ever took the sidecar off for service is when I was doing a major service which only comes up about every 30,000 miles. I am doing a major service and some light restoration work right now for a customer with a GL1100 EML rig. I have it up on 3 jack stands as we just powder coated the wheels, replaced tires and brakes as well as wheel bearings. This week we will be doing a water pump and timing belts all with out taking the sidecar off.
Jay G
DMC sidecars
http://www.dmcsidecars.com
866-638-1793

Jay G DMC sidecars www.dmcsidecars.com 15616 Carbonado South Prairie RD Buckley WA 98321 866-638-1793 Hours Monday - Thursday 6-4:30

Thanks, Jay! That doesn't sound too bad. I'm thinking that maybe a nice older BMW R100 might do as well. Part of the fun is looking around before you buy - appreciate the guidance!

The R100 makes a nice rig, I had a /7 and my wife an R100S for several years, If you go the R100 route make sure that sub frames are used as the frame is not strong enough to clamp a sidecar to however, if you look at the total cost of building an running a rig, an oil head such as the R850R or any of the R1100s' may end up being a better rig for less money as they are so much less money to modify the steering. Another neat older type of bike I have ran and enjoyed are the Moto Guzzi's My wife has an Eldorado that works well as a sidecar bike.
Jay G
DMC sidecars
http://www.dmcsidecars.com
866-638-1793

Jay G DMC sidecars www.dmcsidecars.com 15616 Carbonado South Prairie RD Buckley WA 98321 866-638-1793 Hours Monday - Thursday 6-4:30

Hi Geoff
Here is a picture of the sub frame that Jay is talking about;
It is on a 1979 R80 that was upgraded to a R100S.
If you need more photos send me an email
don _ Rich @ Sbcglobal.net

Attached files

Thanks, Don. I had a subframe on my '05 Bonneville with the Velorex. Very stable rig. Is this the rig that you just sold?

Yes, going to a new home near the Hudson River, NY

This is not our sub frame! Here is a photo of our sub frames for the BMW /6 and /7. As you can see our sub frames tie both sides of the bike together and also move the lower rear mount aft and even from the ground with the lower front mount. In the photo is also one of our frame clamps that we use for the upper front. Just going with frame clamps tends to damage the frame. In the case of the Velorex type frame clamp shown in the earlier post stating that it was one of our clamps if you look at the clamp you will see that the cross bolts are taking the load and as such the bolt holes tend to stretch over time. In the case of our clamps the strap is folded over the block such that the cross bolts are not taking the load just keeping the clamp from spreading. With the Velorex type clamps the eye bolt comes to a point and goes into a dimple on the slipper. Our eye bolts the bottoms are flat and go into a machined flats spot in our much thicker slipper. The Velorex frame clamps tend to bend the slipper and tighten down to a single point on the frame often damaging the frame. The BMW frames are also known to fail next to the clamp. In the case of our sub frame you will see that the eye bolt on the clamp is extra long and passes through the sub frame anchoring the top of the sub frame such that the sub frame can not slip nor can the frame clamp slip.

I am also attaching a photo of our Triumph Bonneville sub frame. The triumph sub frame is much more about mount placement then making sure that the bikes frame does not fail as the Triumphs frame is much more robust then the BMW frame.
Jay G
DMC sidecars
866-638-1793
http://www.dmcsidecars.com

Attached files

Jay G DMC sidecars www.dmcsidecars.com 15616 Carbonado South Prairie RD Buckley WA 98321 866-638-1793 Hours Monday - Thursday 6-4:30

Sorry Jay, I did not mean to imply that the sub frame on My 1979 BMW was DMC's design.

I was just showing what a subframe looked like on a BMW R100.

My sub frame was designed and installed by Perry's sidecars in Fort Worth Texas.

I have not experienced any problems with it.

Jays certainly looks like a well thought out and designed sub Frame