I got a sidecar rig last year mainly to allow my dogs to come along with me for rides. Problem is the two Golden Retrievers will not both fit into my Velorex 562 sidecar body at the same time. Here's a recent shot with the larger male (Roscoe), who weighs around 80 pounds: It's quickly became obvious that my 60-pound female Goldie (Bailey) isn't going to fit at the same time. So I've been trying to come up with a plan for a new sidecar body that I can switch out depending on whether riding people or canines. After seeing this rig on another thread I thought the basic design could work for my rig: I'm probably going to do with a fiberglass-covered wooden substructure instead of the sheet metal of the one above. I'm planning to put a hinged door between the front of the car and sidecar wheel and a waterproof hinged trunk behind the doggie compartment. Anyway, this is an initial concept; nothing set in stone. I'm posting here hoping that some inmates with experience of this kind can offer suggestions that might help prevent me from making obvious mistakes. Thanks in advance for any suggestions/comments.
I'm also curious about this. I have a Hannigan dual sport, which is very similar to their classic. With the seat removed, I have a very large opening and have actually fit three of my four goldens inside. The problem is they all want a place up front. The Hannigan is wide enough that two can sit abreast, with noses out each side of the windshield. But the third dog feels left out, and when he tries to squeeze in fights break out. If one of your dogs is clearly dominant it might work out with the submissive willingly taking the back seat. Interesting challenge. Let us know how it turns out. Pete
Front page picture material GSBS !!! Love the hat, I immediately think of Wallace & Grommit http://www.kalich.de has some nice looking tandem sidecars, perhaps too small... Sorry, can't find the good pics
Very cool plan! Can't wait to see what happens next. I would also like a body for my KLR/Enduro. Later Kamakaziozzy
First of all ,I loved the fact that you took the time and effort to photo-shop the dogs into the drawing .Excellent . Just an idea .A CJ or something from China .
...For all the comments and ideas. Muchly appreciated all I should have mentioned above that I'm trying to keep this project simple (and as inexpensive as possible). And while I like the concept of the rumble seat for riding people, I don't think the added complexity and loss of storage in the rear would work for me and what I'm trying to do. Another consideration is the height of the sidewalls. I was drawn to this design because it would be high enough the dogs couldn't accidently fall out. That's also the reason for the entry door in the side. Wouldn't work for people as well. Once in the hack, they'll be tethered to the floor with a quick-release webbed strap attached to a harness. This allows them to sit or lay down, but prevents their jumping out. My brother is a master cabinetmaker and is presently restoring a sailboat, so he has all the tools and skills to help me with this project. We're thinking a flat bottom made of 3/4" Baltic Brich plywood. A simple framework would support the sides, which will be some kind of bendable 1/4" plywood made for cabinet fronts where there are curved lines (such as on a television studio set). Once the frame and skin have been test fitted to make sure everything fits, we'll fiberglass the entire thing, probably using a black pigment in the resin so when the inevitable scratch in the paint comes along it won't be as noticeable. Again, that's what we're thinking after my spending 5 minutes measuring around the rig and 30 minutes in Photoshop putting together the above plan. At this point no materials have been purchased and no actual work has been done. So, I'm still open to all options.
Howdy! Your idea of a new tub for the dogs is gonna look awesome beside your Victory! The dogs will love it. I'm following you on this one. Keep on going with this project! Later Kamakaziozzy
I'm planning to get together with my brother (25 miles away) today to come up with a firm plan of action. Will post here as the project progresses.
I was also worried about that, as my primary hack monkey, 4 y/o Barley, has a very well-developed prey drive and will lunge after any small rodent who passes in front of us. I considered enclosing him, but instead used a shoulder harness with a tether clipped to an eye-bolt as you described. I made the tether just long enough so he could stand or sit, but not rear up to put his paws outside the tub. After 8k miles with the dog it's worked out very well for both of us.
Yeah, I'm using a doggie harness system made for use with seatbelts in cars, plus a tether in front (caribiner on a webbing traveler) for my two. With this system the harness stays attached to the car via the 'biner and has two seatbelt-like buckles that complete the harness. Takes only a second to connect or disconnect them. This clip gives a pretty good idea... Here Bailey is already snapped into the harness and I'm putting on Her Doggles and attaching the tether to the D-ring in the middle of the harness at her back, then finally clipping the 'biner to where the two harness straps cross at her chest: <iframe title="YouTube video player" class="youtube-player" type="text/html" width="853" height="510" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/7PprnoitWbU" frameborder="0"></iframe>
I'm sure your brother knows, but you can laminate multiple sheets of plywood together and get some curvature in it. Don
After discussing the project at length with my brother today, we've decided to take a slightly different approach. Instead of using the straight-sided version in the drawing I posted, the new design will essentially be a box for the rear two-thirds with a more rounded "nosecone" for the front third. This should simplify construction and improve the overall lines (I'll post an updated rendering in a day or so). Basically, after building a simple wooden box we'll glue some shapeable foam to the front of the box then use a rasp and sandpaper to shape the "nose" to the desired contours. Similarly, we'll glue more of the foam to the top and rear of the box/body to create the arched top and to make rounded corners at the rear. Then the box/body and foam parts will be fiberglassed together to create a single body. I hope all that makes sense. The rendering should make it more clear.
Very cool. Thanks for keeping us in the loop on the process...I'm very curious to see how it turns out and how the dogs like it...
