In the USA as a whole as long as the bike is street legal then it still is with a sidecar. Adding a sidecar is no different then adding any thing else to the bike such as saddle bags. Some states do have yearly inspections but only for things like working lights and if the sidecar has a brake a few states require it to be hooked up and working.
On the national level all sidecars are required to meet department of transportation specifications for tires, lights, brake hoses, windsheild material and wheels. However the DOT seldom checks any of these items.
As a manifacure of sidecars as well as an importer I have had to learn all of these laws as while the DOT may not enforce them US customs often does.
As a result there are a lot of really marginaly safe sidecars on the road in the USA often assembled with just "universal" type frame clamps or worse. I once saw one where the sub frame was made up out of bed frame steel and some of these marginaly safe sidecars are being built by the dealers who sell the sidecars who either put sales ahead of saftey or simply do not know the difference between a properly assembled rig and one that is not.
Jay G
DMC sidecars
www.dmcsidecars.com
866-638-1793
harley DID sell cargo sidecars - the fender is mounted to the body and the frame is a bit different
very rare to find one and very little info for them
there was one on ebay a few years ago that was set up for blueprint delivery
to
@timo: Thanks for the info.
On it goes:
Are there currently any manufacturers of leaning sidecars in the US? It seems to me like the scene pretty much vanished after Equalean came to an end. Is that correct?
No present leaner Mfg'rs. in the US.
Equalean went by the wayside the same time most other sidecar makers in the US did around 1982/1983 due to the new consumer protection laws enacted at the time that required the manufacturers to have liability insurance in case of any personal injury claims against them. The cost was prohibitive for most and only a few companies could afford it. The number of sidecar makers went from triple digits to two in a very short period of time. Some of the old marques have reappeared under new management and names but no leaners (yet).
Lonnie
Northwest Sidecars
Thanks, that's what I thought. It's a bit of a shame, since leaners (at least the ones that allow only the bike to lean) seem to be quite straightforward construction-wise. At least that's my impression after having figured out how some of the european leaners (like the kalich swing or the armec sidewinder) actually work.
Leaner racing sidecar rig at the Oley Pa. Antique meet in April
A couple of sidecar cargo rigs from past AMCA meets, note that all of these photos show the fenders are not part of the cargo body. Harley did make frames that accepted bodys that were wider for specific passanger and cargo bodys.
The first photo is a mid 20's harley JD, second one is a 1929 JD and custom cargo body, third is a 1930 harley VL with cargo body, the fourth is a 1953 sidecar frame and home made cargo body this type was common with harley dealers for picking up and returning motorcycles being repaired by the local dealer
A couple of Indian motorcycle sidecars
