Pros and Cons of Sidecar in South America

[martinef]

Looking for adventure travel experiences with a sidecar attached a motorcycle!!!! We are thinking about adding a sidecar to our 2007 DL1000 and we would like to hear from people that actually have traveled or are traveling with a sidecar. Please if you are not one of this people, refer me to them, we need to see pros and cons of this kind of way to travel and make the decision. This bike is going to be part of MotoNomadas-Explorando el Sur 2010-2012 journey two-up from Charleston SC to South America.

After reading Hubert Kriegel adventures, we started getting the idea about the side car because we know we are going to go through a lot of off road on our trip to SA, and it seems the handling of the DL1000 with sidecar off road is different but easier than by the bike itself. I do not have that much of experience off road with the big bike, we use to have a BMW F650gs and used to go off road with no problems or fears. When we tried going off road with the Strom, we did not have a good experience, it feels scary.....I do not feel the front end.....even after recommended modifications were done, so we think, the sidecar might give the bike more stability and plus it is going to be good to have, so my girlfriend is going to be able to take pics easier and feel more comfortable during the long journey.

Thanks for your contributions!!!

MotoNomadas-Explorando el Sur-2010-2012
2 Latinos+1 DL1000+1 Sidecar
Efrain Martinez
Ileana La Torre

[Debz]

Hi Martinef

Have a look at the below website for Andy & Maya, they are travelling in South America at the moment in a sidecar.

Adventure Sidecar - Home

We have a R100GS PD Sidecar but have not been fortunate enough to travel in South America (yet!), only trips closer to home so far.

Debz

[Threewheelbonnie]

Andy and Maya are the experts.

My own attempts (seriously less far afield) are here:

https://sites.google.com/site/threewheelbonnie/Home

You need to get a ride on an outfit if you've never ridden one. Try a Ural dealer, Urals would be the ultimate if they sorted the quality and added 250cc but they handle right and the dealers can often get you a ride. Not everyone gets on with an outfit, especially off road, think part quad, part 4x4, part bike. The huge advantage is on snow or deep mud, plus the amount of kit you can carry, but there is no point getting one if your entertainment is achieved berm busting at 40 mph rather than thinking ahead and looking for the path that'll get you through. Outfits are fun, but it's more thinking and less adrenalin.

The DL isn't the easiest conversion, you'll need a subframe. In the Americas google Dauntless, in UK Watsonian and Unit, for Europe there are lots, mostly in Germany and Holland (EML etc.). That other ADVenture bike forum ( sorry Grant) has a section called hacks where you'll get a lot of info on the Americas and the DL kit. You've some decisions to make regarding forks and tyres, but get a ride first before you get into that, what works for 70 year old guys with double adult chairs on their Wings isn't always right for a 30 year old with a box of camera gear and a tent.

Drop me a line if you need help/info.

Andy

[Warthog]

I met both Andy, maya and Hubert in South America and Hubert again since then when he stopped over in tallinn on his way East.

Since then a lot has changed. For one I have gone and done what you plan to do and added a sidecar outfit to my biking portfolio.

Firstly, riding a sidecar in South America should not expose you to any more hardships than you might encounter riding a sidecar off-raod in you own neck of the woods: You will find gravel, sand, forest and plain in South America as well as mud and bog, in different areas. The difference might be whether or not you can find alternative routes and how long such areas last: Amazonia, the Pampas of PAtagonia: they are all biiiig places!!

If you think you can cope with some of that stuff: you should manage fine over there.

Then your choices: You can fit a tub of your liking to your bike or any other, or you can buy a ready made out fit as I did: a 2007 Ural Sportman.

Based on my experiences and my own research initially:

The Pros:

Own bike and tub:
You know the bike
Japanese reliability
Potentially cheaper...potentially
Decent power

Buying a Ural (after 2007 best: new components)
You are getting a bike and tub made to go together not a bike and rig forced to go together
Cheap parts
Infintely mod-able
Sportman and Gear-up have engageable 2WD (can be Very Handy!!)

The Cons:

Own bike and tub:
Your bike is designed to be a bike: cornering stresses in a rig format are very different: wheel and steering bearings can suffer premature wear.
Attaching the tub can be a royal pain.


Buying a Ural
You need to be prepared to work on your own bike
They have frequent service schedules
They have crappy MPG
50mph cruising speed asdvisable


These are just my views and there is more to it, but perhaps it starts to give you an idea of the knock-on considerations.

If you want a no BS assessment, then email Hubert of example, ask around on ADVrider in the hack forums, etc, and I am sure you'll get plenty of info.

For what it's worth, I bought a Ural for our future trips with a dog in tow, but I still ride a solo plenty and still love it, but Sidecar-ing, once you get used to the handling of a rig, is another dimension that is so much fun: its a really nice way to travel, and I think you will enjoy it, which way you go about it...

[joshoisasleep]

Hey I drove past a British couple with a sidecar the other week, going the other direction. I was heading to Medellin and I would guess they were heading roughly towards Ecuador? Just wondering if this might have been the couple mentioned in this thread.

[martinef]

Originally Posted by Debz

Hi Martinef

Have a look at the below website for Andy & Maya, they are travelling in South America at the moment in a sidecar.

Adventure Sidecar - Home

We have a R100GS PD Sidecar but have not been fortunate enough to travel in South America (yet!), only trips closer to home so far.

Debz

Thanks for your input, we already checked that website and we got good ideas to design what we need for our trip. Still testing our DL1000 to see if is a reliable bike to take on this trip. We have two choices: DL1000 or R1150GS Adv.

[Warthog]

Originally Posted by martinef

Thanks for your input, we already checked that website and we got good ideas to design what we need for our trip. Still testing our DL1000 to see if is a reliable bike to take on this trip. We have two choices: DL1000 or R1150GS Adv.

If I am not mistaken both those bikes have the engine as a stressed member of the chassis and so have no frame spars under the engine. This will make it trickier to fit a sidecar, but no impossible.

I strongly advise getting Ural sidecar to attach to your choice of bike. These are very sturdy sidecars. And good value, IMO.

Yes, they are heavier than others, but if you are inexperienced with sidecar riding, then the heavier the sidecar, the safer you ride: Harder to lift the chair when it is on the inside of corners and harder to flip the bike when it is on the outside in corners.

Those are the two big concerns when cornering. Lifting or "flying" the chair is pretty easy to do and easy to control if you want to, but micorner , if it flies up it does so very quickly!!

[GSPeter]

Of some interest to those of us believe in thorough preparation and mechanical reliability. KCCD - Kong Krøsus - King Croesus. These two are a danger to themselves and all who come in contact with them. They are actually very friendly and determined, but it is a bit difficult to understand what they are determined about. Beer, of course, and an apparent willingness to make every border official transform from a boring public servant to a psychotic mass murderer. I have to assume the sidecars are to haul all their spares, and prevent them from falling over. certainly the best blog I have read for a long time.
Peter, in Oslo
"Too much of a good thing....is just wonderful" Mae West