Dogs love to ride, but cats want to drive... Found that saying on a sign a while back. Yeah, one has to look at each pooch individually as to what works best when they ride. What works for one may not work for another. I learned to keep my Jack Russell to the inboard side, but she can still scare the hell out of me at times, regardless. I thought of removing the seats and thus lowering the dogs in the hack, but when I actually did it, I just wasn't satisfied with the results, as my dogs expended much more energy in trying to see over the hack walls in that manner. One has to make adjustments as necessary and find what works best by trial and error, I suspect. Doggles, what are Doggles? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cw1grVC8Lkk
I posted up this info in the WUMPA thread but thought I'd preserve it for posterity here where it belongs. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Kirby's Breakaway Restraint System My sidecar has a steel support bracket for the passenger seat that's bolted through the floor of the tub into the tubular frame. It's very strong. Kirby's plywood platform sits on top of this bracket (earlier post on this HERE.) On top of the plywood I use a memory foam dog mattress encased in a waterproof velour cover (this one) that also serves as his dog bed in the tent. You may have to experiment with your dog to find the right combo, but I used an ordinary 1/2-inch nylon dog leash. I attach the "handle" end to the passenger support bracket near the tub wall then feed the leash up the side between the plywood/mattress and the tub wall. I chopped off the other end and removed the scrap from the metal clip-snap. Now I have a bare strap attached to the chair and a bare clip-snap. Then I took a 1/2-inch plastic tri-glide slider and fed the strap through it upside down (Kirby weighs 47-lbs--with a heavier dog I'd feed it right side up.)-- Next, I take the end of the strap and feed it through the clip-snap then back through the tri-glide-- Note that this tri-glide is in the upside down position I mentioned above. If you feed it through right side up there is more friction on the strap and more holding power. Also note that in these pics I'm using a 1/2-inch strap but I'm using a 5/8-inch tri-glide. This is just because I couldn't find any 1/2-inch tri-glides this morning to use for the pics. The 5/8-inch tri-glide is heavier and harder to break than the 1/2-inch version. One additional note--the dog harness I use has a metal D-ring on the belly of the harness (from Coleash Kryptaglow-excellent product!) I don't use the D-ring that most harnesses have up on the dog's back between the shoulder blades. The belly ring allows Kirby to move around quite a bit inside the car without getting the strap tangled. I hoped this system would be strong enough to keep Kirby from chasing deer or squirrels. To check it (this was kinda mean but necessary) I clipped him in then encouraged him to jump out by teasing him with his favorite toy. He made a mad dash for the toy but ended up half in and half out of the sidecar suspended by the strap. But the strap held and the tri-glide had not moved! Then I experimented quite a bit to get the right length. I kept adjusting the length until I got it right, then I chopped off the leash so that only 1-inch of strap was sticking out of the tri-glide. Then I melted the end to prevent fraying. My strategy was that while the strap was strong enough to resist him jumping at deer, it would slip or break from the inertia of a crash. Of course, there was no way to test this until I actually had a crash. Which I did have. After the crash, Kirby's harness was intact and the metal clip-snap was attached to the belly ring--but with no strap! When I examined the car, the strap was there, the melted end told me that the strap had not broken, but the tri-glide was nowhere to be found. Looks like the tri-glide simply broke. Kirby was thrown some distance in the air but landed OK and was standing by my side totally calm and unscathed when I crawled out from under the bike. There are pros and cons to a breakaway system. Having a breakaway strap means that your dog won't drown in the lake or roll down the embankment when you have a crash. With a no-breakaway system the dog goes down with the ship even though YOU have been thrown clear! But the flip side to this is that if you have a crash, especially on pavement or in traffic, the dog might easily freak out and, if not restrained, run away. This might mean a lost dog, or might mean a dog hit by traffic after-the-fact. So it's kind of a toss-up and your decision of which way to go may depend firstly on (1) your dog and (2) what kind of riding you do. Another way of doing what I did without depending on a tri-glide would be to use some nylon braided fishing line (or equivalent) and making a loop that remains permanently attached to the D-ring (assumes you know how to tie a proper knot.) Then every time you go for a ride you attach your restraining strap to the braided loop instead of to the metal D-ring. Again, you'd have to experiment to determine how many loops of fish line to use for your dog knowing that at the end of the day, you are still just guessing on what's right. There's no way to know in advance how violent your crash is gonna be and is the system gonna work the way you want it to.
I have an EasyRider harness from Baxterboo that Fred wears. Fastened to a stainless eye on the sidecar back deck with an adjustable length of chain, and also by a length of web leash attached across the nose opening. Not shown is another length of chain attached to left inside car to a ring on the harness. He can lie down, but can't stand up (depending on amount of slack I leave), and he can't be pitched out in hard lefts. I carry his leash with us, but I always disconnect it when we're driving so it doesn't flop out somehow and do an Isadora Duncan on the big guy. The lower seat is removed and I cut a piece of diamond plate pattern squishy bar mat for him to dig his claws into and cushion him at the same time. I think he's pretty comfortable. When we stop somewhere and I turn the motor off he barks until I start it up again, then he's happy.
I got a related question: Did your dog 'naturally take to riding' or was there some coaxing involved? My almost 1 year-old pup doesn't like murdersickles
No, it has a ToasterTan upper billet clamp, stock lower, and a San Jose BMW style fork brace. Those together stiffen up the front end so there's no flex and wasted energy when turning. I lowered the front a little in the triple clamps, and used wide GS bars. It steers pretty easily. I have a leading link front end project I've collected parts for, but the steering hasn't been an issue since all the tweaking, so it's been on the back burner. It took awhile to get it dialled in, but it tracks nice now and almost no wobble. I have to hit an obstacle at low speed to get any shake.I have a dampener on there, but it's set back to hardly any pressure. It just made the steering harder.
Leash wrapped around my leg once, tied into a loose knot. Will throw her clear in the event the shiny side goes down, yet still strong enough to keep her in the hack when those pesky cattle get too close.
http://www.ruffwear.com/Web-Master-Harness_2?sc=2&category=1131 Justin likes Ruffwear but we need to rethink a mount, he makes up for my overbearing and boorish behavior with shy and retiring demeanor, unless your a streaky gopher or squirrel then your entitled to a quick death. He prefers to be down in the front facing forward to rise and look out the side when we slow doesn't like his face in the wind. A wonderful fellow to travel with.DB For rain the Tonneau.
I am trying to get some /6 triple clamps made up with a offset to reduce trail.. I may have to make a few sets to get the cost down. But, lets see. My /6 steers like a 1950's truck. Thanks for the info.
Mine's an /7, but I think they're the same. Shoot me a PM, I might be interested if it doesn't break the bank. Perry's Sidecars in Texas makes a set of airhead triple trees that reduce trail for about $450 if I remember correctly. You have to send them your trees and he reuses the stem, I think. This is a Perry's setup on Inmate Pfestus' /5....
Well, MotoJ, I was a bit surprised to see my /5 posted. Good for you. I was just thinking about going to look for that pic and post. You saved me the trouble. Perry's triple tree does do a good job of making the steering easier. He does need the stem from a donor triple tree.
(I've cross-posted this from my original thread per request) In searching the topic of tie down points for a dog harness I haven't seen anything quite like the way we did it, so I thought I'd show & tell. We didn't want to be drilling any holes in our shiny new Retro, so we came up with a method that avoided doing so. First, we got two female 1" plastic buckle ends and sewed a length of two-sided velcro (one side hook, the other loop) like so: Next, we wrapped the velcro around frame tubes on either side of the hack with the buckles appropriately positioned. We're going to be leaving them in place, but they install and remove in about 7 seconds each. Then we made two lengths of 1" nylon webbing with a metal snap latch on one end, and male plastic buckles on the other. Here are the two tie down leads attached to the dog's harness: The length of each tie down is adjustable by pulling the webbing through the male plastic buckle. Once we've done some test runs we'll add indexing pieces of velcro on the loose ends so that we can quickly set each tie down to the correct length (and it will keep the extra from flapping in the breeze). Here is our dog, Tiger, getting fitted in the tub: As an added touch, on one end of one tie down we added a female plastic buckle like so: That way, when we release the dog from the tie downs via the metal snaps, we can unbuckle each tie down from the hack, then buckle the two tie downs together male-female and, voila, we have a leash (no need to bring one, or we have one if we forget to).
I use the "sit stay" method. In the past I kept my girl on a harness and leash, but after a close call (off road) I started to rethink that. When we are not moving I will put her on a cable to keep her from wandering off if she hears a backfire etc. When we are moving I want her to be able to get away from the sidecar if needed. The last thing I would want is for her to be trapped and dragged down the highway. She did tumble out one time when I made a quick U-turn, we were only moving at a walking pace. I don't think she will let that happen again.
We are on the not tethered to the bike line of thinking, I wouldn't want to be tied to my seat! Our K9 will ride without being restrained, even when we see his favorite critters the deer but we do ride off road some & its curvy around here so he does need to be restrained so he can't be toppled out of the hack away from the bike, he does great but ever so often I'm a little to aggressive with my driving & he & I get bounced around I use a older ruffwear lease that the wrist hole is adjustable all the way out to waist size and has one of the plastic buckles so I can clip on like a belt. This way Kofi is tethered to me. He still has the ability to do anything he wants (stand facing any direction/sit/lay with his head looking out over the step or in the noise of the tub & sleeping) but not able to fall out. If there is a need for me to leave the bike he will be going with me & even if were ejected or worse he is still hooked to me & can't freak out & run off. When I leave Kofi in the rig unattended & want him to stay in the hack I run the lease through the rear rack & the rear seat grab loop & clip it back together. If he can get out I put the front wheel where I want him & clip the lease to the front fender grab bar. Quick & Easy & I have his short lease for quick/short walks. Now the disclaimer this is just my thinking & you gotta make your own If ya got a rig & pup just ride/be safe/enjoy hope we see ya out there
I have a fair amount of experience training dogs and I am confident my pooch won't leave the sidecar unless instructed to do so. For that reason I am in the no restraint camp but will be among the first to say that isn't the best method for the majority of dogs. I am concerned that Meatloaf could accidentally exit during aggressive or unexpected maneuvering and for that reason I modified a race car window net to cover the large side opening in my Ural tub. It only involved drilling a couple of holes and welding in a couple of small brackets. The top bar is spring loaded and the net can be taken up or down or removed completely in a matter of seconds.
That's exactly what I've been thinking for my new bandit rig. I'm also thinking the webbing to cover the top with a hole for Woody's head o poke out. Can you direct me to a source for the window webbing?