Delagem's XS650 Build

[delagem]

Very nice............Love the crash dummy.

Have you thought about a leading link front end?

Normally, you run higher, wider handlebars with a sidecar, makes wrestling it through turns easier. You also usually need to stiffen up the suspension front and rear.

Well, you guys were right! The car with no one in it, or just the 70 lb dog, is fine. Put a full-size adult in it, however, and it becomes a handful! Still reasonable when going straight, but definitely an arm-wrestling match on a twisty road, or with a lot of turns around town.

If the car remains attached, I will definitely need to look into a leading-link and the wider bars.

I did have a tank-slapper that lasted several seconds, too. No passenger, just me on a 20mph road, coming off a corner. Couldn't accelerate out of it, finally had to slow down to 5mph to get it under control. Never happened again, but it was not pleasant.

Here's the boy taking his 70 yr old grandmother for a ride!

IMG_8269 by michael delage, on Flickr

 

[5twins]

Yes, front end shakes are common with sidecars. You usually install a steering damper of some sort. The small hydraulic unit from a VW was a popular choice years back.

https://www.partsgeek.com/gbproduct...MIyJb9hNS64wIVhJ-zCh3OkAOMEAQYASABEgIHQvD_BwE

 

[650Skull]

Would the lowered front forks be a contributing factor to hard steering with weight in the chair, and attribute to the tank slapping..??

 

[Gator xs2]

I’m with 5 twins on the comfort thing. Get those bars up a bit and you’ll feel a huge difference.I put 400F bars on a 750 and couldn’t wait to put it back. Even with Tarrozzi Rearsets I went back to stock. It looked cool but was very uncomfortable.

 

[5twins]

It's not so much a comfort thing with a sidecar, you need the wide bars for leverage when turning. You don't lean the bike anymore, you actually have to steer it with the bars.

 

[Wordman]

It's not so much a comfort thing with a sidecar, you need the wide bars for leverage when turning. You don't lean the bike anymore, you actually have to steer it with the bars.

I understand what you're saying, but it would be more correct to say you always steer (counter steer, actually) with the bars. With a hack, however, so long as the third wheel is down, the thing steers "normally" instead of counter steering.