Sidecars

What's a good sidecar for a kz650? I like to take my little grandson biking.

Don't think there was ever one specifically for a 650, it's what you can adapt to fit.
Saw this one at the Paris Ontario Swap Meet:

Back view. Don't know who manufactured it though.

I think that hack is a Velorex. I put about 50,000 miles on a Kaw. Concours with a sidecar on it - learned quite a bit along the way.

- It is important you dont go with to large of a hack for the bike - something the size of the Velorex is not bad for a 650.

- You DRIVE a sidecar rig - it is a totally different experience than a solo bike. Toss out everything you thought you knew about riding a bike. When you accellerate, it will pull right, when you roll off the gas it will push to the left. Countersteering is no longer. With time, you learn to use these to your advantage - accelerate through right hand corners, decell through lefts etc.

- Set up of the rig is critical. Proper amounts of lean out of the bike, toe in of the sidecar wheel, axle lead (how much the sidecar axle is ahead of the bike's rear axle, all add up to a well handling rig. If you dont get all of those dialed in, a sidecar can be a nightmare to drive.

- A hack with adjustable lean out is very handy - you can adjust for wind, road crown etc. and keep the bike tracking straight. Motorvation used to make a nice set up for this.

- If you run stock front end on the bike, you can expect steering by armstrong. Steps to reduce trail will help a great deal though. Some run leading link forks (expensive), other do some easy mods. I was able to modify my top triple clamp to reduce trail a bit - helped out a lot.

- I dont know if they are around anymore, but do a search online for Hack'd magazine,and US Sidecar Association - a wealth of info from each (or at least there used to be)

Driving a hack can be a blast. I loved being able to take my whole family along on trips - two kids in the hack, my wife and I on the bike. We did several 3 to 4,000 mile trips and many many sorter day and weekend rides. Best of luck!

Thanks folks! I'll certainly check it out. I've seen them before but never paid any attention to them. I'd never thought of how it can affect the handling that much. Very interesting. I'd sue like to put one on the left side of the bike, away from the 4-in-1 exhaust on the RS. Hmmn need to do some homework here. Love the ones with the pics too!