Ironhead 83 XLH w/Velorex 562

[kitabel]

If you construct the container(s) carefully, water can be filled & dumped with minimal effort. Make sure the container is full or sloshing will transfer the wheel load back and forth. In some cases wide (but small top to bottom) truck tool boxes will fit under the chair. Try eBay under "Industrial".
Sandbags almost always require someone's back to be at risk, and you can't get them far from home.
If you're going to put something in a bag, I suggest using rejected wheel balancing weights from a big tire store, much heavier than sand.

[Iron Mike]

Can you not just have someone sit in it while you measure?

[ferretface]

I have the sidecar 'pod' in my basement, measuring and planning on how (or even if) I want to shorten it. Six feet long is too much. I'm thinking of cutting six inches or maybe even nine out of the middle. Here's what my Velorex 562 looked like before it was disassembled -



Right now, I'm in the process of pop-riveting it back together. I had to order flanged pop-rivets from a company on the Net. Nobody in my area had them.

But while surfing the Net, I found a pic of a sidecar that I like more than the Velo -



It's a Spirit of America 'Eagle'. I just like it more. But the company went out of business in 1974 (so I'm told). A couple of companies seem to have made copies of it since then but I can't find them. Maybe Ian Rousseau has one stashed away, but if anyone knows of someone or a company making this body, please PM me. TIA!

[Scott]

Say... that’s my ‘01 Evo and SOA sidecar. Small world. Anything I can tell you about it? It was an early pandemic project for my 12 year old son and me.

[ferretface]

Originally Posted by Scott

Say... that’s my ‘01 Evo and SOA sidecar. Small world. Anything I can tell you about it? It was an early pandemic project for my 12 year old son and me.

Post some pics! How does it ride? Is it sorted yet? When I was 12 my father and I built a 8' plywood hydroplane...One of those Mechanix Illustrated projects, like the one below...

http://www.sheepisland.com/boats/ful...cs_diagram.jpg

I got an email from the Florida Sidecar shop; they have a semi-butchered SoA Eagle body but from what I could see, it would be a real project just to get it back to 'Eagle' specs...

http://www.floridasidecarproducts.co..._bodies__parts

It's a third of the way down on the left. I'll work with what I have this year.

I didn't like the 1940-style Chris-Craft boat bodies or the Zeppelin bodies. I won't be using a tall windshield on the Velorex and I don't really want it as long [six feet] as it is. But I may try moving it rearward just to see how it looks. Just the body, not the frame/axle/wheel.

[Scott]

It's a bit light for my liking. I think you'll be happier with the heavier steel Velorex body. Using a combination of commercially made and homemade mounts, I've got it close to good. I don't know if I'll ever have exactly where I want it. I'll set it up anew when the weather warms up. The only thing I really want is a one tooth smaller front sprocket, which is challenging because my '01 is belt drive. I haven't decided if it's worth the trouble to convert to chain. First photo is after I bought it in pieces. Second photo is me and my 12-year-old son either coming or going (can't remember which).

[ferretface]

Originally Posted by Scott

It's a bit light for my liking. I think you'll be happier with the heavier steel Velorex body.

Mine is just fiberglas. Two-piece; upper & lower. I plan on two 60# sandbags for ballast. I almost bought a BMW w/Velorex 562 sidecar from a member on another forum. He had bought it because his wife didn't like riding on the back of his previous Beemer and wanted the 'three wheeler', so he sold it and bought a 'built' BMW and Velo 562.



Turned out his wife didn't want the sidecar; she wanted a trike. She said she couldn't see to the left in the sidecar, only half the view. She wanted the trike 'throne' so she could see 360 degrees.

I already had the Ironhead, and I really don't want to associate with millennials, so I got the old used 562.

[Scott]

Originally Posted by ferretface

He had bought it because his wife didn't like riding on the back of his previous Beemer and wanted the 'three wheeler', so he sold it and bought a 'built' BMW and Velo 562.

Turned out his wife didn't want the sidecar; she wanted a trike. She said she couldn't see to the left in the sidecar, only half the view. She wanted the trike 'throne' so she could see 360 degrees.

Definitely First World problems. I really like that BMW outfit. For some reason I thought the Velorex was steel. I got the SOA at a very cheap price because it was in pieces (right down the road) and dragged from of an overly full basement. I would have preferred a steel Ural chair. I made a subframe for the sidecar frame to add extra/better mounting points. It adds some weight, which I appreciate on right hand turns.

[ferretface]

Originally Posted by Scott

I made a subframe for the sidecar frame to add extra/better mounting points.

I ordered several lengths of steel tubing to strengthen the Velo frame, but after reflection, I may not use them. Velorex has been making sidecars since the '70's (IIRC) and it occurred to me that the shock tower/swingarm is canted to allow the frame to flex under weight. That helps straighten the wheel, which seems to me to be preferable to the lean-out it has with no weight.

Of course, I've been wrong before.