What years of a Harley sidecar will fit a 91 Tour-Glide or a 88 Electra-Glide ?
Thanks,
Chris
Originally written by chrism on 4/6/2007 7:13 AM
What years of a Harley sidecar will fit a 91 Tour-Glide or a 88 Electra-Glide ?
Thanks,
Chris
I believe that both motorcycles you mentioned are the rubber-mounted FLHT frame. Given that fact, you need to find one of the TLE or TLE Ultra sidecars from roughly 1985 up to the present day. This model sidecar will have Heim joints on the two lower mounting points. Those are the joints that have a roller type center with a 3/4" hole for the mounting bolts.
Earlier sidecars, those with the large threaded joints, are for the Shovelhead and earlier and the mounts are completely different.
Beyond that, you need to be concerned with the connection kit that contains the mounts. The earlier bike frames up to 2003 will use a three-bolt lower rear mount. The front upper and lower mounts will work on any of the rubber-mount frames so no problem there.
In 2004, Harley changed to a two-bolt rear mount so if you got one of those, you'd have to locate a three bolt one to match your frame. They are on eBay quite frequently. Oh, by the way, some of the earlier Evolutions, prior to 1992 or 3, were built without the third frame nut that takes the front bolt on the three-bolt rear mount. In this case, when you buy a rear mount from the factory, it comes with a special nut and a diagram showing you where to weld it. Neat, huh?
Then again, I am informed that Harley changed the lower rear mount for the 2007 model due to a major frame change for the new 96" engine.
It would be nice if you could find a sidecar that is 1998 or later since the tub was lowered about 2" with the change to single leaf springs. This iimproves handling just a little. Also, in that year, they began to use a disc brake which is a better deal since it made the braking more even between the three wheels.
Another issue would be matching the cable that connects lights from the sidecar to the bike for the turn and tail lights. You might have to change connectors or at least make an adapter cable since Harley was frequently changing their wiring harnesses and style of connectors and continues to do so right up to the present day.
In any case, in the event that you should decide to purchase a new sidecar from Harley, it would come with the proper mounts and everything needed to connect your year machine to the latest model sidecar. That's what I did for my 2004 Ultra. They go from your VIN number. Generally, the older the bike, the easier the connection as there are some electronic issues with the bank angle sensoe and the late-model ECM that have to be dealt with for bikes from 2000's and later. These would not be an issue for you.
Hope this is helpful. Good hunting!
all the above is correct.
they also changed the lower front mount in 07 - and you cant cross use them.
the front upper is the same part number for many years.
the ultras have very very narrow windows - a straight TLE will fit many years of bike, a Ultra will fit only a couple at a time.
to
Originally written by timo482 on 4/11/2007 8:11 AM
all the above is correct.
they also changed the lower front mount in 07 - and you cant cross use them.
the front upper is the same part number for many years.
the ultras have very very narrow windows - a straight TLE will fit many years of bike, a Ultra will fit only a couple at a time.
to
Good, thanks for the update. I wasn't sure about the 2007 mounts. I presumed that they changed the lower rear mount. There would probably be no reason to change the upper front but I suspected that the lower front might change also.
Yeah, the Ultra radio interface is complex and it gets worse the later they go.
This is a huge help. Thank you very much !
Chris
