Velorex 563 Sidecar Experience

[Smitty901]

Velorex 563

We know going in the Velorex is a lower end basic sidecar. When I purchased it new it had a simple purpose .

Payton my granddaughter with CP needed to ride and that was the only way. Plan at first was simple short rides on back roads around the farm, a parade now and then. After mounting it on my 1996 FB just under $4,000 in it.

Despite warnings from many it worked well on the FB and served Payton far better than expected . We rode it every where and put 3,000 plus miles on it. The FB 22 years old was due for some minor work and inspection. Not wanting to take Payton's ride away , we mounted the sidecar on a 2015 HD Street 750. Couple hundred in steel and other parts to adapt the fit . Again the warnings , won't work , Street can't... Well in worked on prefect . Payton now has 1,500 miles in it on the Street.

Early on sidecar flat tire . Tube tire valve stem came loose. Easy fix. At 4,000 miles sidecar tire a cheap China one had side wall cracking that worried me while it still had tread on it. Replaced it, with Dunlop HD tire.

At about 4,500 miles windshield cracked. The canopy top attaches to it and we had used it a lot in winter and rain. I am sure that effected it. $200 for a replacement with all the mounting parts. I wanted the other mounts to make a shorty latter. Velorex shipped part the same day.

Today I noticed the grommets the front Canopy snaps into were loose. They are held in with a ring and glue. Pulled them out re-glued them .

Some of the carpet lining came down , sprayed 3m glue put it back.

As I said from the start it is not a High end sidecar. The 563 is a heavier frame than the 562 and has a few add on's.

The sidecar has years of life left in it and has far exceeded what we expected from it. I would do it again without a thought. If I were buying one for a larger bike and wanted something large I would look at a different model. But if you have no need for all of higher in things like ECC , it can be an affordable option.

Tomorrow Payton and Grandson will ride in a Truck show and motorcycle parade this will be their 4th year riding it. The motorcycle ride part raises funds for Make a Wish.

 

[Pooch]

Kewl!!

 

[FuzzyWuzHe]

Nice

 

[Redharley]

Glad your enjoy enjoying it. Looks great.

 

[NC Triker]

Your a good Grandpa Robert

 

[stacebg]

glad this has worked for you...i would never say it cant be done obviously.. it can but .... i would be one of the the 1st to advise against that match... and still am......and because it has worked doesnt make it safe...

the velorex is a tad light for a fb

and no matter what the match is.. the stock velorex mounts need some tlc to make them stay put... more on that if anyone wants to know more

 

[Pegasus1300]

Thanks Smitty for a great story.What it's all about.

 

[Smitty901]

glad this has worked for you...i would never say it cant be done obviously.. it can but .... i would be one of the the 1st to advise against that match... and still am......and because it has worked doesnt make it safe...

the velorex is a tad light for a fb

and no matter what the match is.. the stock velorex mounts need some tlc to make them stay put... more on that if anyone wants to know more

I also had concerns. It is proving to be as safe as any. I know the mounts need to be secured better , and have done so

To be clear I am not saying the Velorex is on the same level higher end hacks are Like the Hannigan , Liberty, Champion and others. Clearly as long as the bank account allows you can always get better toys. Even with those you can spend more and get even better .

If you are 100% sure that a sidecar is for you, then going with a lower cost Velorex might come up short for you and cost more in the long run when you end up going higher end. Velorex is an option for some . Not being higher end does not mean junk. My goal at first was limited use. The sidecar opened up a new world for Payton and ended up see many times more use than ever expected. Sidecars go the other way for some.

 

[Smitty901]

Here we are in the last quarter of 2019. The 563 has been on the Street 750 for some time and preformed great. In the last few weeks we removed the Spoke 16 wheel and replaced the 20 mm axle with a 25mm , the wheel is now a Street 750 15 inch rear wheel with the hub cut down about 1 1/2 inches. The change works great and will allow a Car tire to be used on the sidecar soon as the tire it has now wears out. The Street 750 has had a car tire on the bike awhile now and it works great.

Someone I met approached me about putting one on his Street 750. After and education process and allowing him to ride mine a good bit he decided to do it. It has worked well for him and we made the same changes on his .

For me the 563 is a second rig as we use the RGU one the most for a lot of reasons. The Street 750 rig is staying. I have had offers for people to sell it and will not. Payton and I still like to use it some times.

Would I do it again knowing what I know now ? yes with no regrets money and time well spent and rewarding.

From what I have seem recently compared to a red Wolf the 563 is top of the line. If you are looking at a red wolf do your home work.

 

[Papa Zook]

Smitty, I had been approached by Jack at Velorex USA to add Velorex to our sidecar line. I liked the look and the reviews I had read were very positive, but because the price was so much lower than all of the big brands, I assumed 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 did and found it is not inferior, just more basic. It was pretty 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 now having installed two of them, I can attest to these being a solid car.

 

[Smitty901]

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.

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.

 

[stacebg]

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!!

 

[Papa Zook]

..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!!

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.

 

[Smitty901]

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!!

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.

 

[stacebg]

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.

what did u find that works?

 

[Smitty901]

what did u find that works?

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.