sidecar fever...

That will be a great fit. Welcome to the asylum...

Carl,
Don't forget to put some ballast in the boot or attached to the sidecar frame.
Your bike weighs about 600# wet without rider. The 562E sidecar weighs 154#.
For a nice stable rig add rider weight to the bike and weigh down the sidecar with ballast or passenger for around a 2/3 bike to 1/3 sidecar weight ratio.
If you want to fly the chair a lot go for a 75 to 25 Bike/Hack weight ratio.

Have fun,

Lonnie
Northwest Sidecars

Lonnie - Thanks for the tip...I had not read that. I was already planning on putting 2 x 45lb. olympic plates in the car to act as ballast. I'll use your 1/3ds, 2/3ds formula as a heuristic for the future. I am looking forward to testing out the rig. My primary concern is stability at speed. After seeing a lot of the European rigs, I'm convinced my next step is a leading link fork...we'll see if it's necessary.

...still learning.

Scout 99 - another option might be a raked triple tree. Pete Larson at Liberty Sidecar has them for big twins but for several years he manufactured a sidecar specifically for sportsters and he probably had something for them also. You might consider contacting him to see if such a component is available. If it is you will accomplish much the same as the leading link forks but at a considerable savings and your aesthetics will match the Harley look better.

Your present stock handle bars will offer hard steering. There are many 1" aftermarket bars available for cheap that will ease the steering. Altering the trail of the bike can always be done later should you decide to make a dedicated sidecar rig out of your Sporty. Raked triple trees or LL's are not condusive to riding the bike solo later if you so desire.
The Sporty/562E combo should be be quite stable at any speed if the bike and sidecar shocks are adequate. The 562E has a fairly soft shock and would be beeter served with one of heavier resistance to keep the rig from wallowing in the turns. The bike can also use better rear shocks and heavier viscosity fork oil to prevent front end dive.
If you use the lifting plates, be sure and place them behind the seat in the boot so you don't dip the sidecar nose in the sand when braking.

Lonnie

Thanks all for the welcome. I'm glad to see that this is a friendly site for all who have a common interest.

archon - I thought about increasing my rake, but already sunk some cash into a wide-glide tree set 2 years ago. My next step would definitely be a leading-link set-up...again, we'll see what I need when I start piloting this rig around Deutschland.

Lonnie - I have flat-track bars (it's a Roadster) that are wider than normal. Yeah, I thought about the placement of the ballast, but never thought of putting it in the rear of the boot. Was actually trying to find a way to mount the plates to the underside of the chair in a fashion so that I could add/remove as required. I only thought of Olympic plates because they are so cheap and have plenty of holes to use for mounting. Maybe the Germans have something available for ballast that I have yet to discover.

...still learning

Excuse me friends, but its faster in my native language.

Scout
Viel Spass beim Lernen.
Das Buch (hier im Forum in der englischen Übersetzung) vom Bundesverband der Motorradfahrer über Gespannfahren war Jahrelang meine Biebel und hat mir über 16 lange Jahre ohne Gespann auch moralisch hinübergeholfen.

Wichtigste Regel: IMMER VORHER bremsen, falls man zu langsam wird kann man immer noch Gas geben, aber ein Überschlag geht rasend schnell.

Und nicht jeder hat das Gück es in 1m Schnee in Norwegen zu machen.....1986/7

13.12.1986 Auslieferung der MZ. 1. Kreuzung 1. Sicherung, 2. Kreuzung 2. Sicherung...genug > Blinken per Handzeichen.
140km nach Hause. 3 mal geradeaus auf den Acker.
2. Tag Begrenzungspfosten mit der Spannfaust und den rechten Knie umgenietet.
24.Dezember Sicherungskasten in eine Feuchtraumverteilerdose verwiesen und Chrom unter Bitumen versteckt.
25. Dezember mitten im Schneesturm nach Norwegen auf die Reise gegangen.
3. Januar bei -28ºC Salto Mortale im linken Grabem mit 1m Schnee.
5.Januar Deutscher Zöllner:"Sie kommen mir mit den Spikes nicht aus dem Hafen."
12. Januar ab in den Harz zum Zelten...."Kümmerlings-Vernichtungs-Treffen"
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Es braucht ungefähr 1 Jahr bis Du fest im Sattel sitzt. Wenn Du Dich nach einem Monat sicher fühlst kommt die gefährlichste Zeit!!!!

Wald-, Feldwege und Kiesgruben geben einem am schnellsten ein Gefühl wie man fahren muss. Auch viel mit dem Buch in der Hand auf Parkplätzen Fahrschule spielen. 1 Stunde am Tag ist optimal....

Wirbelsäulenschutz und Motocross-Schienbeinschützer helfen auch super gegen die Kälte nicht nur gegen Blessuren.
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You will have to start to learn completely new from the beginning, forget about all your former bike experience.

After that training mentioned You will feel sour bones. But then you might start to say as I, that you will have to start to worry when you don't feel your body akeing when you wake up.

One thing you can be sure of. Under the sidecar pushers you will find a really high percentage of excelent persons and wind-faces, who live accourding to my grandma's saying: "A man is as worth as much as his word! And he is as strong as the consequence he applies his principles with!"
Best regards from Costa Rica.
Sven Peter Pan

PS: for Liz in New England: it seams like my email didn't come through: Enjoy the snow by pulling the neigbourhood's kis on their sleigh.