Greetings all. There's an FLH-TLE rig for sale locally here at what I would consider a pretty reasonable price.
Not necessarily pulling the pin on it, but would like to hear from someone who has had such a rig and get some input about how it handles and runs and anything in particular which may be unique to this rig. Any information appreciated.
TIA
Bob
what year is it? the FLHT sidecar i have now handels so much better than the old FLH sidecars i had.
It's an 04 FLHTCU with a TLE sidecar...
Hi Bob..... I've had a 03Ultra&TLE since new. Now have about 55,000 miles. Mine is stock, and the handling seems heavy. I've read good things about the raked triple-trees to improve handling. Posts have said it's like power steering! But it would cost about $1500 installed, and I just could never spend the money. This is my first sidecar, I've never tried any other makes, so I have nothing to compare it to. But I like mine a lot. When I'm ready, I would order another one, but since Harley stopped sidecar production this year I'll probably paint and transfer mine to the new Ultra. It is hard to enter/exit though, since there isn't a door . I don't get good mileage on any of the tires, like all sidecarists. I get about 6,000 on the sidecars' Dunlop. I'm going to try a Metzler on my next change, to see if there is any improvement. I'm going to post a question about long-wearing tires, to get some other opinions.
mount kits are only availiable thru the 11 bikes
mounting a tle to a 12 bike may prove to be difficult
none of the mounts you have on your 03 are going to fit anything newer than a 06 frame
figure the cost to move your sidecar to a different bike at about 2k plus installation [assuming there are no electronics to deal with, if so add about 600 in parts]
hd now makes a tree that will fit your 03 frame - its the tree for the trike - much less bux than in the past
when i wanted a new bike in late 06 i decided to save money and keep my sidecar and move it to the new bike - cost me more than if id just gotten both new, if i were to want a new bike now id probably get a liberty car
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Hey Tim... thanks for all the info. I think you're right, it'll be better to get a new car when I'm ready. Also, it would make a nice roadtrip from Wisconsin to get the new one installed. But it will be a while, my 03 is still running like new. I'll have to do some checking on the trike-triple tree. Do you have a raked tree?
Hi Bob,
I have a 1981 FLHC factory rig (see post below yours), I've had the H-D for 24 years and I have owned four different rigs over the years. The harley is the solidest ride I have eperienced, probably because the company has been making them so long. Some of the part numbers go back to the '20s & '30s. They had a good original design and they stuck with it. The big detractor is the lack of suspension. Leaf sprung body is good for the passenger but when that sidecar wheel drops into a big pothole it can knock your left foot right off the footboard. But I would not let that deter me. The adjustable front end was discontinued years ago, but V-Twin Mfg makes a replica-not cheap. I have heard that Harley-Davidson discontinued sidecar manufacture last year.
I think that if you like the idea of the H-D combo you should go for it. Can you post a picture of that FLH-TLE ?
Pete
i have a liberty raked tree - its a really beautiful piece of machine work - just perfect.
good installation directions and came with the lower bearing on it
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All good info.
Hey, Pete, it's a nice looking rig and I went over it at the dealer the other day. Looks to be in very nice shape, both car and tug. I went over to the website to fetch a link for you, but it looks like it's been sold. I thought I had downloaded some photos from the dealer, but it looks like they've disappeared into hard drive never-never land...so sorry.
That said, I think the FLH/TLE combination is one of the nicest looking sidecar rigs around...
Hey Timo,
I understand that the Liberty raked trees use a spacer to extend the fork legs in order to maintain the correct height. Do you foresee any problems with the spacer? Do you have a drawing of where the spacer goes?
Also, I am seriously considering the Harley Tri-Glide trees. Do you know anybody who has tried this?
Terry
Spacers used to adjust ride height are placed atop the fork springs.
L.
Thanks Lonnie. Does this affect the travel of the springs?
my liberty tree came with a spacer that consists of a new top nut that jacks the fork up a inch.
the tri glide trees are cheaper than a liberty tree - but hd uses one inch longer fork lowers to deal with the ht if you get the whole thing i think its a wash. personally i really like the liberty parts - they are very nice machined parts.
i did not use the spacers - i just moved the brake line brackets around to make sure the fender would not hit anything. having the front lowered reduces trail another degree or so
with a liberty sidecar there is very little adjustment available so you really need to use the spacers to make it right. if i had a liberty sidecar id follow there manual exactly. all liberty stuff ive had in my hands was first rate.
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