Sidecar: 850-T or Loop?

[swooshdave]

Does it make any difference? Aren't the Loops longer and will that handle the sidecar better?

Yes, I am looking for an excuse to get another bike so if you say Loop I won't be offended. 

[LeRoy]

Neither an Eldorado (regardless of which one) or an 850-T has brakes that are up to the task of getting a sidecar rig stopped quickly and effectively. I had a disc-brake Eldorado and sidecar setup for several years and its stopping power was pretty marginal. If you have a disc-brake Eldo or an 850-T you can add a second front disc, but perhaps you might want to include an 850 T-3, Convert or G5 in your considerations to get overall better stopping power. Of course, a braked sidecar wheel will also help.

[swooshdave]

Aside from braking does the length of the bike make any difference?

[nick949]

Aside from braking does the length of the bike make any difference?

I recently checked: the Eldorado (Loop) and the Convert (Tonti) have exactly the same wheelbase at 58 inches according to their respective manuals.

Nick

[John A]

You'll want the larger ujoint of the T3 too.

[Desmo]

MY 850 T5 EML was a great rig.

[swooshdave]

You'll want the larger ujoint of the T3 too.

At this rate I might as well just get a Ural...

[maquette]

I had this on my Eldo, but decided to put it on the SP for the brakes. Makes a lot of difference.

Tom

[chuck peterson]

Why pass up the perfect Convert?

[Texas Turnip]

I've put a lot of miles on an Eldo/sidecar rig.It was never a problem as I don't come to a screeching stop .EVER. I wouldn't let anyone under 40 drive my '77GMC or my '82 Chev pick-up.

On some of the old semis I used to drive we'd say that you had to plan your stop Thursday to stop on Friday. I'd admit my toe nails were in the fan I was pressing so hard on the brake.

Tex

[swooshdave]

I'm guessing a dual disk on the 850-T would be more than sufficient.

[canuck750]

There is a fella in Central Alberta, decades long Guzzi owner, one of his bikes is an original 72 Eldorado, 2ls drum pulling a Jawa side car, he continues to ride it all over the place. Seems to have worked for him.

[Shorty]

This page contains links to free PDFs written by Hal Kendall, long time sidecar enthusiast. Theory and mounting instructions, as well as driving tips. http://www.sidecar.com/links3.asp

[ccoli]

A big advantage of the loopframe is that the wheel bearings are tapered rollers. On a Tonti they are balls. I go through bearings at an alarming rate on my Tonti based rigs.

[Moto]

I'm guessing a dual disk on the 850-T would be more than sufficient.

I wouldn't want to put all my braking on the T's front disk, for the same reason I wouldn't want to drive a car that did all its braking on the front left wheel.

Speaking of this idea, how hard is it to rig up a sidecar wheel brake? Anyone done it using a car that didn't come with one? (E.g., my trusty Spirit Eagle?) Maybe this is thread theft.

Moto

[swooshdave]

I wouldn't want to put all my braking on the T's front disk, for the same reason I wouldn't want to drive a car that did all its braking on the front left wheel.

Speaking of this idea, how hard is it to rig up a sidecar wheel brake? Anyone done it using a car that didn't come with one? (E.g., my trusty Spirit Eagle?) Maybe this is thread theft.

Moto

Moto

Sidecar bakes are possible. I think some of them are even electric.

[Moto]

Unless you an adjustable brake or always carry the same amount of weight as brake on the sidecar is sometimes more of a hindrance than a help. When Claude Stanley built my DR650/Velorex 562 rig one of the 1st things he did was scrap the brake on the hack. He said I would end up dragging the hacks tire when applying the brakes more often time than. After operating the my rig for a couple 1000 miles he was right. Actually its very easy to lock the rear of the motorcycle as when braking the front dips and unloads the rear of the bike to the front tiree and the right front of the sidecar.

With all this talk of brakes and or lack of them. The mighty DR is not known for exceptionally strong brakes. Add me at 240 lb a sidecar pushing 300 lbs and a 65 lb pup it still goes from go to whoa quite acceptably. Heck I had 8 cases of beer in the hack and it still stopped when I needed it too. Yes you have to be more alert but if your piloting a hack you'd better be alert or bad things are going to happen regardless of what brakes you have.

Thanks. What you say rings true. When I had my hack on my (since departed) R60/2 I didn't miss having a brake on it at all. I didn't have super strong front brake either, of course.