Afternoon Boys, I just rode my 89 soft tail with a Velorex 562 side car on it 11 miles home from the shop. They attached the side car and set it up.
First question, at 25 mph when I take my hands off the handle bars, the front end shakes. Is this a normal thing?

 

Second question,
How much harder are they to turn with the side car on??

 

As far as the shake goes, mine doesn't, but I think some do, hence the steering damper.

Currently I'm looking at raking our sidecar. It is a strong arm steering change for sure. Apparently raking / extending aids in steering. But as you rode it, you felt it. Try riding with it a little faster, it gets worse...

I've been on the interstate doing 80 mph, and she was a bear for sure.

Ride safe - Welcome to the forums.

H

 

Thanks for the reply FLHXHS .
I'll check into the rake and the steering damper you are talking bout. I'll get used to the steering.

 

No problem Hobbles,

Whats funny is the steering damper will make it tougher to steer, but the raking makes it easier. I'd try for the raking first, I've heard it's the mod to do.

Have a good one.

H

 

Maybe it's the camera angle, but it looks like the camber is way off, bike and sidecar leaning towards each other. If that's off, they may have gotten the sidecar toe in wrong, too. Usually that's going to be near zero. Does it ride straight or try to pull to one side? If it pulls (on a road that isn't crowned much), it's probably out of alignment. I've ridden sidecar rigs that just about took two hands to keep from wiggling, not unusual. What you really need is a steering stabilizer. The front end shouldn't shake on a smooth road, but when you get on a banked road it will pull downhill, and potholes and bumps will lift or drop the sidecar, which tilts the bike and makes it want to turn a little, so on a bumpy road, the constant angle change can make it wiggle a lot. A steering damper can just about eliminate this, though on really bumpy roads, it's going to wiggle some, just the nature of the beast.

That Velorex is small and lightweight; putting at least 50 lbs of sandbag or some kind of weight in it will also help stabilize it. I bet that's really easy to fly (lift the car wheel off the road) on right hand turns. Be real careful on curves at highway speeds till you get used to it, that car can lift high and quickly just on moderate curves when you have some speed on, especially with a relatively heavy bike and lightweight car, lean your body into curves even if you could hold yourself upright to keep that sidecar down. You'd think left turns would be ok, but that asymmetrical wheel geometry puts a G-load to the front right side, and I've seen videos of sidecars doing a front flip to the right in a hard left turn. Once it starts, there's almost nothing you can do to stop it, either, the back wheel is up and the front brake would make it worse. When the car lifts either way, you want to lean as far opposite the tilt direction as you can. When you get used to it, it can be fun to "fly" your passenger (monkey, in sidecar speak) on right turns.

Here's the damper on my '96 Electra Glide, a factory sidecar rig that's made this way. There are sidecar damper kits with clamp on ends available, might take some research to find one that fit your combination. It would make a difference. Putting on a trike triple tree and forks that extend the front end rake would make steering easier, but that's pricey. You might find this thread interesting:
https://www.hdforums.com/forum/hacke...adventure.html




Just for fun, a photo of me acting a lot younger than my then 68 years, 3 winters ago on my Ural that I should find a new owner for. It has a screw **** damper, like a lot of bikes had in the 60's and you'd look like a drunk driver without tightening it down some on this rig - it's a Russian factory made sidecar rig, pretty much an old BMW copy.

 

Imold
I seen that also, it is on a lil angel but it don't look right to me either.
I thinkin bout a steering damper, but like FLHXHS said,, it might make it harder to steer. , and YEP !! it comes up easy. Even at 20 mph in a right hand turn, It got my attention.
I bought 2 50 pound bags of sand at Tractor supply and put the bags in 2 burlap sacks. I will try one in for my next ride,, and that was going to be question four.
A neighbor and I are going to make a different bracket this Saturday for the front strut. I'm wondering if I got the right setup for it..
Thanks for the help / input. I need all I can get now. I'm 71 y/o and want it as close to being right as I can get it.

 

Steering damper is needed, you will not notice it making it harder to steer Yes a wobble at low speed just as you is normal. That does not mean you can't get it out but at what cost. first try a steering dampener. Second keep one hand on the bars at all times.
Universal mounts were used on yours you can adjust it your self if you need more information just ask.
I have a 563 minor differences compared to a 562.

 

Thanks smitty901 , Do you and / or any body else have pictures of there setup I can see and print out to take with me Saturday? That would really help me get it right and done. I think I want to ride it for a month before I have it painted. ((or at least a week or 2))
Thanks all,,,,,,,,,,

What Steering damper do y'all recommend?

 

Yes I do. take a picture of yours looking down . Hard to see but it looks like you rear lower mount is to far forward.
When I switched the 563 to a 750 Street need to make a mount so the rear lower would go back farther . There are a lot of Steering dampers on the market most are easy to mount an adjustable one maybe worth the extra cost to you.
I will post some good links for you soon I have to dig them up. Please don't cut or weld anything until you do some more home work.
Hard to tell where bike is sitting but it looks like the bike leans to the car. It should have about a 1-3 degree lean away with no rider on the bike. The idea being once ride gets on it is back to zero.
Sidecar wheel should be about 12 inches ahead of bike rear wheel center to center. When you do work on the adjustments and mounts remover the shell from the farme. Only 4 bolt easy to do It takes time but you can do this. It will make things a lot easier.

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