Onward and forward. AZ sidecar installers according to the the assoc. http://www.sidecar.com/MapResult.asp?c=*&s=AZ&cty=USA TX http://www.sidecar.com/MapResult.asp?c=*&s=TX&cty=USA Given where you live Lowell Neff or Texas Sidecars and Perrys in TX are very good people to consult with.DB
Send me a PM I have an early Jay build thats been redone..I'm not starting a war with anyone ,but just like give you some advice... Hopeully soon I'll get some updated pics on my rig from Claude hes redoing mine right now...
Tried calling Neff.. but I was told he has retired. Paul J. Falinski gave me the referral to another person
Yes, lowel has been retired so to speak for a while. Great guy and excellent work as well as a great reputation throughout all of th sidecar world. Try this: 2545 Zanella Way Unit C. Chico, CA 95928 (530) 520-7856
The offer we have made is for $200 we will make all of the up grades to the frame that our current frames have. This would include two new style eye bolts that sell for $48 each. For another $200 we will have the frame powder coated so that it will be like new. We will loose money doing this but want to work with owners of our products. When we started making these sidecars we built the frames like we did for street sidecars, as one of our employee's was involved in both California and Champion sidecars we did things the same way they did. Turns out while it works great on street sidecars and most dual sport sidecar but if they are worked hard off road over time we found that there are some things on the frames that can be made better. Remember we were building dual sport sidecars for about 5 years before any one else really started doing so and as such companies after us were able to learn from what we found worked and what could use some beefing up for off road. We started building dual sport sidecars as it is what I like to ride, I have ridden all of our dual sport sidecars (expect the expedition as my new R1200GSA has not come in yet) hard off road. I have ran AMA Enduro events with them, taken them on long trips both on and off road and in general tried to do every thing my customers would do I however have not had the same bike for years of testing. The sidecar in question we built about 7 years ago and 2 prior owners and as far as I know is showing no issues and may never. Jay G DMC sidecars www.dmcsidecars.com 866-638-1793
Jay after consulting inspecting the M72 with my mechanic here.. we are convinced that the workshould be done by you and your company and will have it reinstalled back in AZ. I am hoping this goodwill gesture by you will quell the misconceptions of your customer service and that you stand behind your product. I sent you an earlier PM this morning in scheduling a time to send the frame up and a reasonable amount of time that the repairs and shipment back to me. I mentioned to you earlier that will be moving this car to a R1200GS in the future and that you should present the newest mounting points. Thanks Kirk Scottsdale
Bike is being picked up today and will be off to Jay next week. I will look forward to getting it back and put some addition welds to the frame to hold the iron weights. Will keep thread up to date on what is going on.
Things that could have gone wrong with a set up Ken the mechanic before he took the side car apart measured the set up. 1) The reason why I couldn't control the car well was it had 3 inch of toe in. 2) Zero (netural ) lean angle even with weight in the car. 3) Adjustment rods hold the frame to the bike was too short for adjustments. 4) The car was not level at all. pics below History and lesson learn NEVER BUY A CAR WITHOUT HAVING IT SAFETY CHECK BY CHAIR MECHANIC.
When it comes to sidecars it's a lot of tweaking till you get what you want, it's all subjective one mans perfect may be undriveable to the next person and trust almost no one, by the time your done you'll be and experienced sidecarist, that and couple bucks usually get you coffee !
Looks like the right front corner of the frame took a pretty good lick at one time or another. More than likely not an issue at all structurally but who knows what it could have done to what the original setup was. Also if there were some parts replaced or whatever and if it was remounted that would possibly tell the story on how things got off as much as they did. Good that things are being checked over by someone who knows their stuff. Basic setup and getting back in the ballpark should make a difference for you. Any setup can be tweaked here and there to make it better for any given driver depending upon their experience and other factors. If one learns the basics and is willing to play around a little on their own it can be a good thing. If you do decide to do this always record your starting point so you can return to it easily. If at all possible We like to spend time with our customers going through these things so they will have a handle on what is going on and why. Sometimes this is not possible due to various factors. Some have their rigs shipped to them and some who come to the shop are on a tight schedule to get their outfit home. I much much prefer to allocate time to help dial in a given rig to the customers satisfaction when they pick it up here. This is quality time well spent. Once this is done they will also learn what does what and why so they can tweak it a little more once they decide what may be better for them. The basics are pretty much the same but the operators and the conditions the outfits are run under can vary. I am quite sure that all of us in this business do this as much as possible.
One thing that I can see that was changed, the electric lean actuator was replaced with a rod and normally the longer strut goes to the rear. If the rod is to short it would cause the frame to lean like in the photo's. With the frame level the eye bolts are also closer to the bike. Your frame arrived late last week with the fender mount bent. We will be doing the upgrades to our current specifications some time this week. It does not look you there are any issues at all with the frame its self. Jay G DMC sidecars 866-638-1793
Good luck on this one..Claude is removing my camber adjuster while he is rebuilding my rig..I'm watching this closely...Jay I hope you do him right..
Nice updates as they should have been ! To my critics The squeaking wheel gets the grease ! Hooray for Jay
Quoted for......well you know.....anyway it is very Big of Dave to finally say something nice about Jay.....
