I talk to a number of motorcycle cops on a regular basis. They've all told me that with proper/regular maintenance and especially sound takeoff procedures, that the H-D platform is really quite reliable.
I know that H-D gets its share of dissing here, but I really feel that the company has confidently engineered the FL/sidecar platform.
Ditch,
Thanks for the information. Though I grew up in L.A. I was born in Grove City, PA and that's where I fell in love with sidecars!
Ohhhh....let me just say that I had to apply lock-tite to my handlebar mounting bolts.....every thousand miles or so they would loosen up, and this anomaly was confirmed by my biker cop buddies....thats it in 14k miles of hacking around the country.
Are you still in LA?....If so I'll see you at Griffith Park.
i used to have to do this on my bikes in the 70's - but both of my twin cams have not yet lost any parts at all.
to
Originally written by timo482 on 10/12/2007 4:35 PM
i used to have to do this on my bikes in the 70's - but both of my twin cams have not yet lost any parts at all.
to
My T.C is also very stable. I've not lost any parts as of yet. The handlebars would probably be the least likely candidate I could imagine for loosening up. The bolts are 5/16-18 socket head screws and are laced with HD locking compound and then torqued to 12-16 ft. lbs. That really ought to hold them. Ha.
Matter of fact, I've been considering getting a longer set of bars to aid in wheeling the sidecar rig around. I'm not looking forward to the job, though. It's one of those deals where lots of pieces have to come off before you can reach the bars. Thus, I've been in no hurry.
Have now had my FLHPI w/sidecar for 7 years - bought the entire rig brand new in 2000 and the dealer did an excellent job of initially rigging the bike/sidecar.
This same dealer - Gail's Harley-Davidson of Grandview, Missouri has a factory trained sidecar rigger on staff!
The H/D FL platform is an exceptionally reliable, stable and very strong set-up.
I have never been sorry for a moment that I got this rig!
good luck and...
Happy Motorin'
Dean
Ditch,
No longer in L.A., still miss it and being able to ride all year!
Dean in K.C.,
Just curious as to why you went with the FLHP? I originally was going to get an Electra Glide Standard with TLE sidecar.
Being that my wife rides with me approximately 90% of the time, I went with the Ultra because of the creature comforts (radio, CD, intercom and yes I have grown to love the cruise control).
I looked on the H-D web site to find out the price on a their police bikes and it is not ginen. Are they they much mor expensive than an H-D Electra Glide Standard?
I went with the FLHPI - or Road King model - because I can order my bike through the PD where I work!
At the time back in 2000 we could order either the Road King or Electra Glide models - I have found through the years that the windshield on the Road King gave me a great deal of protection and the only thing that gets wet on me while riding in the rain is from my knees on down.
As for pricing of Police bikes - Harley-Davidson takes exceptionally good care of Police and Shriners when we buy a standard model cop bike from them - so much so as to make it a bargain to buy it - no kidding!
That was true for the sidecar also.
Now if you don't want to switch careers in life and join the local PD so as to get a good deal on a motorcycle then there is another option.....buy the used ones at the dealership when they get traded in from the local Police Departments.
With the exception of the very largest departments which have their own factory trained techs and garages, all of the medium to smaller Police Departments and Sheriff Offices have, as part of the purchase and/or lease agreement, the dealership perform all maintenance and services on the bikes.
So you get a very well maintained and definately NOT abused bike for a good price.
Now by 'good price' I mean for instance a 2005 or 2006 FLHPI - Fuel Injected Road King - for about $11-12,500 here in the Kansas City area from my local dealer.
In this part of the country it's the Birch White that you think of when you see a cop bike - but hey - they are darn good machines with typically fairly low milage.
As a bonus you get the run-flat Police only tires that are OEM for these machines.
Harley will only mount that tire on Police bikes - and it doesn't matter if you are a cop or not - as long as the VIN comes back as a Police model originally.
That is a fantastic tire that gives amazing wear - especially as a pusher for a sidecar rig. I have let all of the air out of mine and was able to drive just fine up to about 50 mph - they might have gone even faster but that was enough of an experiment for me!
As another bonus you get what is arguably the most comfortable factory seat set-up in the industry - the Harley Police Air Adjustable Seat...ohhhh yeaaaa - a true 12 hours in the saddle seat!
When I first started out we rode the Kawasaki K1000 bike - a very fast and nimble machine for this type of work.....but for comfort, all day ridability, ruggedness of machine and a great return on the taxpayers dollar - nothing beats a big Harley cop bike.
Happy Motorin'
Dean
Originally written by Dean in K.C. on 10/18/2007 5:31 PM
I went with the FLHPI - or Road King model - because I can order my bike through the PD where I work!
At the time back in 2000 we could order either the Road King or Electra Glide models - I have found through the years that the windshield on the Road King gave me a great deal of protection and the only thing that gets wet on me while riding in the rain is from my knees on down.
As for pricing of Police bikes - Harley-Davidson takes exceptionally good care of Police and Shriners when we buy a standard model cop bike from them - so much so as to make it a bargain to buy it - no kidding!
That was true for the sidecar also.
Now if you don't want to switch careers in life and join the local PD so as to get a good deal on a motorcycle then there is another option.....buy the used ones at the dealership when they get traded in from the local Police Departments.
With the exception of the very largest departments which have their own factory trained techs and garages, all of the medium to smaller Police Departments and Sheriff Offices have, as part of the purchase and/or lease agreement, the dealership perform all maintenance and services on the bikes.
So you get a very well maintained and definately NOT abused bike for a good price.
Now by 'good price' I mean for instance a 2005 or 2006 FLHPI - Fuel Injected Road King - for about $11-12,500 here in the Kansas City area from my local dealer.
In this part of the country it's the Birch White that you think of when you see a cop bike - but hey - they are darn good machines with typically fairly low milage.
As a bonus you get the run-flat Police only tires that are OEM for these machines.
Harley will only mount that tire on Police bikes - and it doesn't matter if you are a cop or not - as long as the VIN comes back as a Police model originally.
That is a fantastic tire that gives amazing wear - especially as a pusher for a sidecar rig. I have let all of the air out of mine and was able to drive just fine up to about 50 mph - they might have gone even faster but that was enough of an experiment for me!
As another bonus you get what is arguably the most comfortable factory seat set-up in the industry - the Harley Police Air Adjustable Seat...ohhhh yeaaaa - a true 12 hours in the saddle seat!
When I first started out we rode the Kawasaki K1000 bike - a very fast and nimble machine for this type of work.....but for comfort, all day ridability, ruggedness of machine and a great return on the taxpayers dollar - nothing beats a big Harley cop bike.
Happy Motorin'
Dean
When the CHP sold off all of their 1987 and 1988 FXRP's in Sacramento I put a bid in on two of them but missed by a few dollars. They were going for $6 to 7K but that was 20 years ago.
The HD Police Road Kings are very nice. HD still hasn't figured out how to combine ABS with standard brakes for the sidecar. I don't know how that works.
Yeah, too bad they won't sell those run flat tires to mre civilians. They would probably be a good seller.
I too have wondered how the ABS system could be integrated into the sidecar brake - would be interested to see how that could be worked out.
Regarding the civilian purchase of the run-flats....it can be done as long as you are having them mounted on any of the "P" for Police designated FL models - such as the surplus bikes I referred to in my post.
A much superior (IMO) tire which costs the same as standard tires.
One side note about those tires - due to the incredibly thick sidewalls they are an absolute bear to mount - but I have found a dozen or so doughnuts for the guys in the dealerships service department gets it (and any other service work) done a bit faster!
😉
Happy Motorin'
Dean
Originally written by Dean in K.C. on 10/18/2007 8:24 PM
I too have wondered how the ABS system could be integrated into the sidecar brake - would be interested to see how that could be worked out.
Regarding the civilian purchase of the run-flats....it can be done as long as you are having them mounted on any of the "P" for Police designated FL models - such as the surplus bikes I referred to in my post.
A much superior (IMO) tire which costs the same as standard tires.
One side note about those tires - due to the incredibly thick sidewalls they are an absolute bear to mount - but I have found a dozen or so doughnuts for the guys in the dealerships service department gets it (and any other service work) done a bit faster!
😉
Happy Motorin'
Dean
Too bad about those tires as I said earlier. Not too many civilians have the police models. They would have to get one used. If HD would sell the tires over the counter, I'd try them. Otherwise not. In any case, the dealers would probably double the price if they had them.
Most any tire can be mounted on a tire-mounting machine with no trouble. I go to a place here in the Sacramento area that uses a European style machine. It never touches the rims so there are no scratches on alloy wheels. I'm sure that other shops have them too.
As to ABS, I'm not sure what happens when a TLE/TLE Ultra sidecar is mounted on a police bike. It probably changes the system to non-ABS.
Frankly, I doubt that HD is going to design an ABS system for sidecars since the sidecars represent such a small porion of their business.
Currently I run the H-D Dunlop whitewall on my Ultra. When they were first installed them, I noticed that more wheel weights were used for balancing. As one of the H-D mechanics pointed out, and their was a police bike to compare it with, the sidewalls of the whitewall tires are about the same thickness as those of the police bike. Granted though, they are not "run flat."
Again, thanks for all of the replies! I am learning a lot from this forum. Please keep the information coming.
