Side Cars Whats It All About

[Guest122]

Side car Info, The Mrs doesnt like the idea of going on the back of the bike for the trip. she wants to know about sidecars, I know nothing about them ! As anyone got any info on the subject? Is it practical off road I still want to go to Mongolia & I don't want a Ural) or on an overland trip. I know they are wierd to ride, so what about the leaning ones? What about the price?
Any info would be good as I know little about them?

[peter-denmark]

Sidecars have lots of advantages.

More loading capacity.
Wider which makes dodging trucks more difficult.
Lots more stability in mud and sand.
More fun factor in some areas.
Less fun factor in other areas.

You can easily do it. No worries. It has been done before.

You learn driving it really quickly. Just go slow when turning in the start. Much more like driving a car and you will learn quickly. The guy who sell it to you should give you an instruction.

If you don't want and ural, then you either need to put one together yourself or find one that someone else made.

Ural are the only complete sidecar rigs sold today.

That said there are still a few sidecar producers in business. Watsonian squire in england is one. You simply buy a sidecar from them, probabaly with attatchments and stick it to a bike. Well if you are not a mechaincally inclined person you might want to find someone else to do it for you.

You will find much more info on advrider.com in the "hacks" section

[Guest122]

thanks Peter ! What about Trikes? Do these handle in the same way? Some say they are better than a sidecar. I dont mean those big VW powerd thigs either. The convertied smaller types.What ever they are called'
Good look with your trip, u lucky bugger

[peter-denmark]

I don't know alot about trikes, but I would think that a sidecar is more stabile. Sidecars look cooler as well (-:

hmmm, well. I would guess that it is also cheaper to outfit a bike with a sidecar than to make it into a trike. With the sidecar you also have the advantage that you can take them apart afterwards and sell them individually or keep one and sell the other. I think that a trike is a one way road for a bike...


As far as I know pretty many people do it with sidecars and they are happy with them. If you chose a know reliable bike like an older BMW and put on an ural sidecar (very popular combo since the ural sidecar is very strong and cheap as well) then you have a really good balance between price, reliability and usability.

Some people have "hacked" BMW 1150 gs adventures. KLRs are popular as well. Motoguzzis are good too.

It pretty much depends on your financial situation.


Well unfortunately I am on my way home now. Just need to sell the bike and then its back to work for half a year.

I am pretty seriously contemplating a 5-6 month trans russia, mongolia + stans tour myself next year.

I would either go with an Ural or a CJ750 though. The CJ750 can be had with a BMW transplant (r75/r65 engine) and they are pretty cheap as well.

Good luck, with it!

[Big Yellow Tractor]

Just a note,

The off-road (enduro / MX ) outfits I have seen are all fitted with a different set of forks. They have a cantilever arrangement and a rear type shock. I think they might be called "leading link" forks.

It might be worth investigating the reasons for this.

There is a bloke local to me who races an outfit. I'll try to get a pickie.

[Simon Kennedy]

Have a look at these sidecar travelers sites for a vicarious taste

Around The World Again - Motorcycle Escape

HUBERT TRIP

The North cape by Dnepr

Sidecar to Tibet

Sidecars are a funny experience. Tedious in the wet and cold - like bikes - but great in the sun. If you are not in a hurry, have good weather and the rider is in decent physical shape, then they would be a fun two person travel option.

More enthusiasts' sites:

http://www.sidecars.org.uk/
Google Image Result for http://www.sidecar.freeuk.com/gl12.jpg
Leading Links
The United Sidecar Association - Side Car Book Page
Sidecar.com Forum : Category / Forum listings
http://www.threewheels-uk.com/

Why not?

Simon

[Andrew2]

If you are going to be riding on any twin track dirt road then avoid the trike as your front wheel will be in the rough part of the track.The front suspension is called a leading link which basically turns you steering into a power steering setup as a normal front suspension on a sidecar is hard to turn.
In regards to the sidecar itself make sure that it has proper shock absorber suspension as this will be much better off road.Some units come out with rubber torsion bar suspension which is fine in the tar but not real good in the rough stuff.
Leading link front end.


A 1150 GS with Ural chair.


A mate is building his own for outback touring.


Similar to what I want to build for outback touring.


You can even take the mother in law for a ride.


Cheers
Andrew

[Andrew2]

Originally Posted by phtest

Side car Info, The Mrs doesnt like the idea of going on the back of the bike for the trip. she wants to know about sidecars, I know nothing about them ! As anyone got any info on the subject? Is it practical off road I still want to go to Mongolia & I don't want a Ural) or on an overland trip. I know they are wierd to ride, so what about the leaning ones? What about the price?
Any info would be good as I know little about them?

Hey mate,I did'nt notice that you were in Sydney.Just in case you did'nt know,there is a sidecar rally on the June long weekend at Strathmerton (90km west of Albury).We're heading down Friday lunchtime.If there's anything you need to know about sidecars or want to check out then this is the place to be.

Cheers
A2

[Andrew2]

[Guest122]

I like the set up Andrew, what side car 'make' is that? I will try and get down to the event.

[Andrew2]

I'll be there Saturday on one of these two.They'll have Andrew2 stickers on them.


Here's the thread for the outfit above.
Thruxton w/Hack pics - ADVrider

And here's the site
Hacks - ADVrider

[Bunkmuffin]

When I was a young ploiceman 34 years ago I rode all year long for the first two years on Harley Davidsons and in winter they were equipped with sidecars.
One has to be carefull while making right hand turns until one gets the hang of it. However we never had seats in our sidecars but put a bit of road salt in to get stability.
I can remember doing many funeral escorts and leapfrogging my buddy ripping down the curb lane with the side car high in the air to avoid hitting snow banks. The look on peoples faces was quite amusing.
Tha Harley would not tip over to the left if the sidecar came up because the fame and primary case would hit the ground first. And making left turns away from intersections was fun because you could open the throttle to the stop and rip around the corner smoking the rear tire. We had suicide shifters in those days. a lever on the left side of the tank and a foot clutch near the left foot rest.
Just yesterday I instructed a friend to drive his Ural with a side car.
Pieces of Russian crap though.

Get a German bike or Japanese bike with at least 750 cc engine. Afix a sidecar frame to it and get a sidecar box from Ural or Harley and attach it to the frame.
The Old style Harley sidecars were suspended with a leaf spring and they tended to rock longitudinally too much, but they are long with lots of leg room.
The Ural sidecar is roomier, more comfortable and has a trunk.
Put a second light on the sidecar. very helpfull.
Ok That's all I can think of for now except make sure that whatever you attach the sidecar to, there is a steering damper. You can not stop a speed wobble once it is started at highway speed.
And make sure the geometry is set up right.
You will have to play with the rig till it is right. Just like front end allignment on a car.

Good Hunting. Dig deep into those pockets.

Bunky