Best Side Car?

There is no "Best" sidecar for everyone. Different people have different needs.
The "Best" one would be one you can afford, one that looks good to you as an accompanyment to your bike, one that fills the needs for your passenger or loading requirements. One that will handle well for the type of usage planned whether touring, short hops, on or off seasonal usage, passengers with limited physical abilities, heavy loading, etc.
After you have made one or more choices do little research by asking other owners of similar rigs how they have liked them or if any problems arose that would make you rather choose another sidecar.
Check with sidecar professionals and owners in your area if possible.
A little planning will save a lot of "I wish Ida's" down the line.

Good luck,

Lonnie

Thanks for the reply, Lonnie. I posted here hoping to get some input from owners of different rigs. There doesn't seam to be anyone local with a sidecar. Haven't been to the HD dealer yet but will probably check it out this weekend.

I will mostly ride the local back roads around here. They are lots of hilly windy roads but I usually just cruise on the bike. The main thing is to be able to take my dog with me. He rides in all the other vehicles and gets pretty upset when I leave on the bike now. He loves to hang his head out the window so I think he'd really like riding in a sidecar.

Hope to get some more input from other owners.

I just ordered a Liberty for my Road King, emphasis were on looks and their reputation.Lonnie summed it up quite well, i.e. no one answer.If I had been planing on a pet in the car versus Connie, I would have looked at either a Ural or a Spaulding. Urals are cool looking, have a cut out for easier entry, are steel, not too expensive.......I posted a thread a few months ago, re: sidecars for out RoadKing, You might want to look at the responses there. http://www.sidecar.com/megabbs/thread-view.asp?threadid=5474&start=1

I own a Liberty, and did three years of research before my purchase. One trip to the shop and you would be convinced that the operation is as first class as the product. If you talk to Pete, I would bet he can modify the entrance to the tub. He has a pic or two of a slot opening, with a cover.

I don't know if Champion is still building hacks, but the Escort I have tied down to my R1200C has proven to be a very good tub now with 51K on her. Wife, and Dog, love it. They just don't both fit in.LOL

Uber

Thanks for the info, guys. The FLTRI is a fuel injected Road Glide.

http://www.totalmotorcycle.com/photos/2006models/2006models-Harley-Davidson-FLTRIRoadGlide.htm

I'm not really crazy about the idea of welding a big nut to the frame of the bike (there is already a big nut behind the handle bars!) I am going to stop by the HD dealer this afternoon to look at theirs.

The Liberty site shows raked trees as an option. I remember dealing with HD raked trees for side cars long ago when I used to do resto stuff. Now I see they say you don't need them but I can't help but think they would help. Any input on this?

Originally written by gnm109 on 6/3/2008 8:03 AM

If I read the letter code on your bike, it's some sort of Road King. That would be the Electra-Glide family. I gave up on memorizing the Harley ID codes when they got up to FLH. LOL. There are lots of sidecars available for your bike. The ones I like the most are Liberty and, of course, Harley-Davidson. I was quite familiar with Harley-Davidson sidecars when I bought my latest one (third in 20 years)

I did spend some time investigating the Liberty sidecar. They make use of a set of modified Harley mounts that will bolt up to a Softail but some work is required for an Electra-Glide attachment.

Liberty is very well made and nicely set up. I considered buying one until I discovered that the fourth strut (behind the driver's right leg) requires welding a large nut to the frame behind the fuel tank on the right side. Additionally, depending upon which seat you have, it's probably necessary to cut a notch in the seat where the strut attaches.

Other than that, the Liberty is very nice. It's a copy of the earlier metal Harley sidecar tub and they are quite elegant. They also have a suspension on the sidecar wheel which, I'm told, is a good thing.

The Harley sidecar is, of course, traditional in its approach, using the typical three-point mounting. Mine came in the crate with everything needed to connect it. It was already paint-matched. Liberty can provide paint-matching but they send the sidecars out, at least the last I heard.

I really don't know much about any of the others. If the welding on your frame doesn't bother you, then I would say that the Liberty is a good choice. Otherwise, Harley would be the choice for a Harley motorcycle, at least in my book.

With the listed 6.2" of Trail I would think something would need to be done with the steering to make it liveable.
You might be able to get by with that much Trail using the HD Car and it's wheel so far back but most others with forward axles will become a PITA to steer. JMHO

All the Electra Glides (and GL's) with sidecars need raked trees in order to steer decently while keeping a stock appearance.

Lonnie
Northwest Sidecars

THE RAKED TREES FROM LIBERTY ARE A GREAT ADDITION AND WELL WORTH THE MONEY.THE STEERING WITHOUT THEM IS VERRY STIFF AND YOU FEEL LIKE YOUR FIGHTING THE FRONT WHEEL TO STEER.WITH THEM ITS LIKE POWER STEERING. NOW RIDING WITH ONE HAND IS VERY EASY. AS FOR THE SIDECAR I RODE WITH A HARLEY SIDECAR ON MY 94 FLHT FOR 5 YEARS AND WAS VERY HAPPY WHEN I SWITCHED TO A LIBERTY SIDECAR. HARLEY STILL USES A 1930'S TYPE SETUP, ITS VERY STIFF AND ROUGH ON THE LOWER BACK WITH NO SHOCK ON THE SIDECAR WHEEL.LIBERTY GIVE'S THE BEAUTY OF AN OLDER HARLEY SIDECAR AND A SOFTER RIDE. AS FOR THE WELDING OF THE BOLT I JUST DRILLED A HOLE THROUGH THE 2 GUSSET PLATES AND BOLTED STRAIGHT THROUGH, IT WORKS JUST FINE AND THERE WAS NO SEAT CUTTING.I JUST TOOK A 1400 MILE TRIP ON MY BIKE AND EVERY THING WORKED GREAT, LIBERTY ALL THE WAY.

IT'S NOT BASHING WHEN IT'S A FACT. WHEN IS THE LAST TIME HARLEY UPDATED THEIR SIDECAR, BESIDE THE BREAK'S, IT'S PRETTY MUTCH THE SAME SETUP SINCE THE 30'S. MOST HARLEY DEALERS CANT EVEN INSTALL ONE ON YOUR BIKE.JUST THE FACT'S.