And if a 'lemon' pulls you over for ridingaround with the sidecar wheel inthe air and writes you up you still have a hassle on your hands.It taks time to prove , or try to prove, you are right. Maybe it is best to not push our luck in the eyes of those who are paid to 'serve and protect'.
Claude
Claude,
I agree 110%. Intentional flying on the road is not a wise idea at all. Showing-off is showing-off, no matter what the form and can result in undue attention with unwanted results.
What concerns me is the aforementioned "lemon" seeing me practicing in some empty high school parking lot on a Sunday morning and equating flying the chair with "wheelies" and "stoppies" as he digs out his BIC while dreaming of ORC 4511.201, "Reckless Operation On Private Property". You have to learn as a sidecarist. You have to practice. That's why I keep "The Yellow Book" with me and only hope he turns out to be a "peach" when the situation is explained.
Tom
connie
if you really want the non sidecar 3 wheerer get rid of that voyager thing and get a trike with independent rear suspension and a raked tree or a leading link
imho the voyager is ill handling and not safe
but there are those that do swear by em not me
stacy
Having just flown the hack for about a 1/4 of a mile, on a non busy street, I pulled into a m/c dealer's parking lot. A local city cop, in an unmarked car, pulled in behind be and said, "that looks very dangereous".
"Oh no officer, I am practicing for safety. On right hand turns the wheel comes up and I want to be able to control it when it happens..... so if I practice it on purpose I will know what to do when it happens by accident." He left, shaking his head.
Hey Lonnie,
Just wanted you to know that my husband put the sidecar back on my bike last evening. I'm planning to ride it to the Ron-Dee-Voo (not sure if I spelled that right). I have missed my "baby." I'm looking forward to seeing lots of rigs! Since you are so far away, I don't suppose you'll be there.
Connie
Yeah Connie!
Didn't want to say anything, but frankly the Voyagers look odd. 'Specially on a big bike like yours.
Hi Red,
I do like the looks of my sidecar rig, but I don't think the Voyager looks too bad either. Well, except for the fact that it's not painted to match my bike. I may sell it if I get the chance, but if I decide to keep it, I'll have my brother paint it to match my bike. He actually wants to put a custom paint job on my bike and the Voyager. He paints lots of bikes and he does some beautiful work, but I'm not sure that I'd care to have my bike painted.
The original owner of the Voyager had it painted to match his green '95 Goldwing. If I do decide to paint it, I won't have it done until riding season is over and that's not until after the Christmas parades (white and green are Christmas colors, right???). Besides, I'm not all that picky about what I look like going down the road, I can't see me!!!
Connie
After having my hack installed (Harley sidecar on 02 FLHT) I find myself flying it constantly. I try to be somewhat discreet as to where the location is trying to avoid any conflict with local law enforcement. I fly it for over a mile at times, lifts so easily. I even go thru all the gears with it flying! talk about trouble. Lots of fun, but VERY ADDICTING!
PS, I LOVE the sidecar. So glad I decided to get one!
H-D Chair Flyers
After 15 years of Hacking with H-D's, I decided that the Rear Mounting Assembly with U-Bolts, that stretch after awhile and tend to bite into the sidecar tube frame, aren't much good. I've seen to many slip. 10-32 set screws just don't hold enough.
Check out Picture to the left: Rear Mounting Assembly with new Block.
I went to a Machinist to get a block made to replace the U-Bolts.
1 5/16 x 2 1/2 x 2 3/4 Block, 3/8 -16 x 2 3/4 Cap Screw SS Bolts, Nylok SS Nuts & Washers.
Maybe I did a little over kill, 5-5/16-18 knurled set screws [redrilled & taped (2 inside) 10-32 to 5/16-18]. Had him put (3) 5/16-18 set screws in the Block.
Machinist found that on the stock part, the weld was raised toward the sidecar, and the block was warped. He indicated and faced it to get it true with the new Block.
Double Wammie with 5 Set Screws & Fully Clamped.
It's Fly 'd Chair time, with no more slipping of U-Bolts.
It's an interesting question. I've never seen someone actually steal a sidecar. I had a border crossing guard, even though the employee or the devil to call them, call me a sidecar machine. That, of course, I really Ireland. But I can not imagine that the police are too numerous to find this funny, if you fly a car in traffic. But since you brought up this point of law.
stacebg - 7/15/2004 2:12 AM
connie
if you really want the non sidecar 3 wheerer get rid of that voyager thing and get a trike with independent rear suspension and a raked tree or a leading linkimho the voyager is ill handling and not safe
but there are those that do swear by em not me
stacy
If anyone was to get a trike it sure as heck wouldn't be an independent rear suspension. Lehman trikes proved that with there solid rear suspension system. If it wasn't the best they wouldn't be the largest trike manufacturer in the world. I was introduced to all the trike designs when I designed the Victory Crossbow trike for Lehman in 2008. I spent months in the R&D section testing and driving every kind of trike unit. My job was designing and sculpturing the new body for the Crossbow, but having a Mechanical Engineering background I was invited to help sort out some of the handling problems they where encountering with there latest designs. No other trike rides like a Lehman design.
As for flying a sidecar:
When I was manufacturing my Sweet SL-110 sidecars in the 1970's s we had many that would do what we called a fly by. The Sweet SL-110 only weighed 120 to 140 pounds. Compared to some of the heavier rigs that some of you are forced to drive this would be considered light. You can fly an SL-110 in a split second. At the time we where all young guys in our twenty's, and former military combat soldiers afraid of no one or anything. Flying our sidecars became a way of life. We had one guy that was a former Navy Seal that not only flew the sidecar but at the same time stood up on the seat while bending over to hold onto the handle bar throttle. I was always waiting for him to stumble and fall between the bike and sidecar. He was one lucky guy. Or was it skill? As I write this it may sound crazy to some, but at the time we where young and full of juice. When we weren't building sidecars we where skydiving, or racing hydroplane racing boats at speeds over 150 MPH. Our mortality had yet to catch up with us.
As far as flying a sidecar in today's world with all the traffic that we have to contend with. I say Good Luck!
Ya, the cops never did like us flying the sidecars, but at that time in history they didn't have a law to stop us. Today you can't leave your yard without unknowingly breaking a law. It's a sad state of affairs we live in today.
A Lemons or A Peach, that's the first time I had read that. Well at least law enforcement know who they are. I've met more Lemons than Peaches, but that's there job. We had quite a few local police officers that had me manufacture sidecars for them. They where great guys when not in uniform.
When you read this remember that my sidecar experiences where in another time in history. My opinion is that most of the sidecars, not all that people are forced to drive today are from archaic designs of the past. Don't get me wrong. I have loved sidecars from the my first memories on earth. My dad and mom went on there honeymoon in a sidecar in 1937. As a kid I spent many a mile in my dad's one of a kind sidecar installed on a Harley. Whenever I see a sidecar traveling down the road I still get a thrill looking at it. I have five sidecars in my shop at all times just because.
I'm just an old man putting in his 0.02$
Later, Johnny Sweet jsweet450@yahoo.com
legally it is exibition driving,best kept to closed,safe environments. But we all know the value of practicing so we know how to control it when it happens unintentionally.
In ontario it's called stunt driving, Impound of vehicle and up to $10000.00 fine
