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[QUOTE=Papa Zook;699554]Smitty, I had been approach by Jack at Velorex USA to add Velorex sidecars to my line. I liked the look and the owner's reviews I had read were very positive, but because the price was so much lower than all of the big brands, it made me wrongly assume the quality must be inferior to the name brands.
After a local customer came to me and shared his research and insisted I order a Velorex 653 for him, I found out it is not inferior. It is impressive, so much so I signed on as a dealer and have purchased four 653s in the last three weeks. Two are sold and installed and their owners are very happy with them. The 653 has the larger, heavier frame and is not at all too light for any bike, including touring bikes.
After networking with some long time sidecar enthusiasts, one of whom hosts a national sidecar rally on his ranch and owns a Velorex sidecar, and having installed two of them. I can attest to these being a solid car.[/QUOTE]
I knew going in about what level a velorex 563 was . I had someone that knows sidecars explain it to me. The 563 is not as much a cheap sidecar as it is a lower cost sidecar.
There are many better ones with better features and also twice the cost. Velorex has a cheap shock but it works, the windshield is not the best but many will take it off anyway.
But it works. The canopy works. The trunk lock is a darn joke but can be improved. The universal mount system is anything but. However you can work with it after some education.
Or have a pro do the mount. The Tire that comes on is cheap , You will change that anyway latter. The body and frame are solid.
So figure with changes I made I have $4,000 in the Velorex 563 On the bike and using it. Compare that to my high end Hannigan twin classic , $15,000 on the bike riding done right.
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i have found the vel is a good chair especially for the price...but just as a word of caution, i have also found the lower rear mount is about as useless as teats on a bull.. even if you weld the clamp to the frame because of the configuration of the joint it still has a tendency to move and so is not as good as a pipe in a pipe imo the pic of the frame on the guzzi bike are stock the other two we made better
its a bit of work but i have seen too many stock ones come in with the bike and chair leaning in about 8 inches closer together than should be... and if someones life is a stake and my name is on it... it does NOT leave till its safe enough for anyone to ride!!
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[Quote]..but just as a word of caution, I have also found the lower rear mount is about as useless as teats on a bull.. even if you weld the clamp to the frame because of the configuration of the joint it still has a tendency to move and so is not as good as a pipe in a pipe imo the pic of the frame on the guzzi bike are stock the other two we made better
its a bit of work but i have seen too many stock ones come in with the bike and chair leaning in about 8 inches closer together than should be... and if someones life is a stake and my name is on it... it does NOT leave till its safe enough for anyone to ride!![/Quote]
The first one I installed wanted to shift and I spent several days riding, moving and re-adjusting all the mounting points. I found that is very important to get the car's rear wheel as far back and close to inline with bike's rear wheel as possible. Not necessarily completely inline but within 8 or 10 inches. Being that the Velorex supplies a "universal" mounting kit & hardware, rather than a model specific mounting kit like say the Hannigan's mounting kits, paying close attention to the location, angle and relation of each mounting point in relation to one another is key.
The torque forces that occur when the car's wheel is too far forward in relation to the bike's rear wheel, will try to twist the clamp mounts on the car's frame during a hard turn and cause the effect you describe. I noticed in my testing that this occurs when making a hard left turn and applies a great deal of lateral force on that frame clamp in turns, causing it to rotate. As I'm sure you know, there is quite a learning curve to properly installing sidecars, lots of variables.
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[QUOTE=stacebg;699951]i have found the vel is a good chair especially for the price...but just as a word of caution, i have also found the lower rear mount is about as useless as teats on a bull.. even if you weld the clamp to the frame because of the configuration of the joint it still has a tendency to move and so is not as good as a pipe in a pipe imo the pic of the frame on the guzzi bike are stock the other two we made better
its a bit of work but i have seen too many stock ones come in with the bike and chair leaning in about 8 inches closer together than should be... and if someones life is a stake and my name is on it... it does NOT leave till its safe enough for anyone to ride!![/QUOTE]
No denying you are correct and do some good work. So far the changes Solo750 and I have made to The mounts has held after repeatedly trying to make them fail.
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[QUOTE=Smitty901;700176]No denying you are correct and do some good work. So far the changes Solo750 and I have made to The mounts has held after repeatedly trying to make them fail.[/QUOTE]
what did u find that works?
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[QUOTE=stacebg;700389]what did u find that works?[/QUOTE]
Made a bracket for the bike and used a Farm tractor top link. The issue on the Street was getting the lower rear mount back far enough. Also in Solo750 case he is a bigger man and wanting to ensure it would handle his weight. More refinements coming as time permits. fall is here and winter coming . There will plenty of time to experiment.
Going to the 15 inch wheel on the sidecar really made a difference in getting the bike and sidecar height matched up.