Dauntless Motors

This morning, I stopped at Dauntless Motors aka DMC Sidecars, to pick up the modified front mount for the Cozy sidecar as well as a new rear crossmember. It was a very wet trip north from Corvallis OR, to Enumclaw, WA, with almost continuous rain. Jay was out running errands but his knowledgeable and helpful staff got my order together and gave me general instructions for welding in the new crossmember and getting everything lined up.

There were a lot of bikes in the shop which I'm assuming were waiting for sidecar installation and a few looked to be ready for delivery. Through the doorway on the right is the machine shop where the fabrication is done.

In the back of the shop were a couple of interesting looking cars. I didn't take time to look at what it was though the louvers suggest a rear engine. The yellow scooter looking object to my immediate left is a kids grocery store type scooter ride with a sidecar. I probably should've gotten a picture of that contraption.

Here are most of the pieces of my order with the rear mount and the new crossmember in the center. They are flanked by the two identical 70° bosses that connect the sidecar lower mounts to the lower mounts already installed on the bike. The modified Cozy mount was already sitting in the box. The parts are all very well finished.

General directions were 10-15% lead and with my airhead, he recommended closer to 15% of the bike wheelbase since my airhead is a relatively light bike (according to him!). Lead is the amount the sidecar axle is in front of the bike's rear axle. More lead helps keep the rear end planted on left turns. Torque on all of the pinch bolts is 80 ft-lbs. A bit more than I would have guessed. Toe in should be about 5/8" to start. For our weather, he recommended I look at some of the soft rubber compound trials tires since they are readily available in the 4.00-18 size my bike uses. The disadvantage is the soft rubber wears faster.

He also suggested that I start with a fair amount of ballast in the sidecar and explained a technique on how to determine if there isn't enough. Turn the bars to the right, stand on the left peg and try to lift the sidecar. It shouldn't come up much more than a few inches. He also suggested playing with the distance between the sidecar and the bike. He prefers it close but due to the light weight of the sidecar, more may be better. Like I said, very general directions. Now all of this stuff is packed in my checked baggage as I sit in the Seattle airport for my flight home.

This is an example of lack of planning on my part. DMC is in Enumclaw, WA, just outside of Tacoma, WA. I should have just flown out of SEATAC just a few more miles north but, no, I ended up driving back to Portland, OR, to catch my flight to SEATAC.

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