I was just on the phone trying to help some one who had purchased a sidecar from a company in the SE part of the country (I will not name) She had saved her money for 3 years to buy a sidecar for her Chi Wawa to be able to ride along. Her bike a 2016 Softail Slim in the olive paint. The company was suppose to make the sidecar, install it and get it right back to her. 7 months latter the owner of the company showed up at 9:00 PM on a Sunday with two friends demanding cash to get her bike back. She paid but said she knew at that moment she had thrown her money away. At 59 years old and 110 LBS she felt quite intimidated about how the sidecar was delivered. The sidecar was mounted to the bike using 4 solid steel bars that they heated and bent allowing no way to adjust anything on it. The paint quality was extremely poor and will need to be redone, she did say that the interior was nice. It has what looked like a used wheel on it with a tire that was dated coded to 2008 and the swing arm had bearings exposed to the weather, no seals at all. She say's that the bike is not ridable as it has a head shake so bad she can not hang on. She was hopping we could help her with a steering damper. As they did not modify the steering given her age and size it is all she can do to steer it now. Adding a damper would only make it even harder to steer. Not a lot I could do for her short of selling her a new chassis and mounts so I recommended she reduce the trail on the front end to lower the steering effort and told her where she could buy the triple tree's direct. Then when installing the tree's slightly over tighten the steering head bearings and while this will not cure the problem it might make it manageable. I am sure that the alignment is not correct and chances are the mounts are flexing. Also given the used wheel and old tire there is good chance that they are some what less then round and out of balance which will contribute to a head shake.
We have done this year 2 of the exact same year and even color bikes and will be test riding a third by the end of today. They always ride great with out a need for a damper.
As this was a cash deal there is not much short of going to court and suing then hoping to collect on a judgment that she can do. So I always recommend any time you buy a sidecar (of for that matter any high ticket item) PAY WITH A CREDIT CARD this gives you recourse. If they will not take a credit card, find another vender.
Jay G
DMC sidecars
866-638-1793
www.dmcsidecars.com
It amazing me how people get taking over. They have to do there homework and talk to other people about what they want done. They have to learn to read between the lines. One thing she it lucky to get her bike back. I know of a couple of people that never got there bike back or nothing. And there's two sides of the story and what you pay for. I know someone else went threw that and ended up ahead, took him years but it payed of for him. I wish her luck. And you have to find a good vendor, in my book if I have to worry about him taking a credit card that's a red flag. Reason is I guess you don't trust him enough to pay him cash or check do the job then you don't think he's going to do the job right in the first place.
This story while sad is really not amazing. Most folks are trusting and that's what guys like this take advantage of. Most sidecar folks are good people so if someone like this Lady has a question please take whatever time you can to steer them in the right direction.
Jay: It would be nice if we knew name of "dealer" so that other people would be warned off. If you don't want to post it, perhaps you can encourage the lady to do so.
Duncan
I have to run a fine line in forums between my business interests and also being a member of the USCA which I was long before I was in business having served on the board and also hosted the national rally once. As such I try not to "name names". It is a fine line. In this case it is not a dealer. It is the company that builds the sidecars (and no it is not Hannigan, they are a reputable company that no one should have an issue working with) The board took down a post where about 3 years ago I warned about a now bankrupt company (again no names were mentioned however now I can say it was Motovation engineering) that was taking deposits but not delivering sidecars, this kind of stung once the company did close down as many members lost money that they might not have lost had the warning be left up. The warning about the last company also pretty much said pay with a credit card just for this reason. At this time I could name 7 companies that are less then in my opinion ethical in the sidecar industry, none take credit cards and I suspect non carry insurance to protect the buyers of their products. For burnt customers of Motovation I did for a while give a hefty discount to any one who had a deposit but instead of a sidecar got a letter from the courts.
I have asked the person who purchased the sidecar to post here. There are often two sides to a story. In this story having one less person in the middle (me) telling it will come closer to her side of the story. She did tell me today in a follow up phone call that at one point some one showed up with her bike but no sidecar. At that point she was told that if she did not like the fact that they had $4500 of her money (at that time) was of no matter and if she did not like it that they would declare bankruptcy.
I would be quite happy if I never had a phone call from some one disappointed with sidecars purchased elsewhere looking for help. I of course will always continue to help when I can.
If a person where to poke around on this forum they could piece together what company it is. I have left enough "bread crumbs"
It would be even better if the owner of the company that built this sidecar posted his side of the story and better still if he made it right with the customer however this may not be possible as I suspect that any one who thinks that having non adjustable alignment is fine and having non sealed bearings exposed to the weather is fine and using a 12 year old tire is fine would not have a clue how to make it right.
Jay G
DMC sidecars
Another RED flag I can't believe some one would give them $4500 and there motorcycle, credit card or cash they have your motorcycle if you are not going to pay for. I just had some hauling company drop of a sidecar, they got payed when they came with a check. They did an excellent job that is why I gave them a check, more money in there pocket instead of the credit card processor. Nothing against credit cards but a lot of businesses around here are doing away from them to keep there cost down or the max they let you charge is $1000. if you are buying a new bike or car. Years ago you could buy a bike or car on a credit card, not to many places will do it any more.
Another reason for using a credit card. If a company or its owners do not have good credit, credit card processing companies will not work with them as they must have resources should a charge back happen. So, if a company is not taking credit cards it should be a red flag that they could possibly have credit issues as such could be a less then reliable vendor. Many people do not know this but a vender can negotiate the rate that they are charged to accept credit cars. So the fee's need not be all that bad.
Jay G
DMC sidecars
866-638-1793
Anything over 1% it crazy in my book. There are a lot of big wholesale companies that are do and are starting to charge a small fee for using the card. I could name a couple but I rather not. Keep and eye on your invoices and statements you might see a surprise one day. Just because a business don't take cards don't mean there no good. Look what happen in the last ten years with a couple of the big motorcycle wholesalers I sure you still deal with a couple of them and there credit is just about worthless all you have to talk to is there vendors. On my end the cards work for me.
