Its interesting that the rubber work is a little bit suspect- but its only a small thing- I have now replaced the whole gear linkage with an aftermarket stainless item.
Is the front wheel and the Sidecar wheel interchangable? I know the Rotors are different?
Originally written by sidecarbrit on 5/1/2009 4:56 PM
Its interesting that the rubber work is a little bit suspect- but its only a small thing- I have now replaced the whole gear linkage with an aftermarket stainless item.
Is the front wheel and the Sidecar wheel interchangable? I know the Rotors are different?
The bearings are different as are the rotors as you mention. I don't know whether the bearings could be changed but it sounds like it would be questionable.
yes you can change the bearings on a front wheel and bolt a sidecar disk to it and mount it on a sidecar
however - the outside of the wheel the threads are not right for the chrome cover as near as i can tell ... the difference in a recent sidecar wheel vs the front is the outside is machined with small holes for the cover. if its a spoke wheel those are the same as a softail touring single disk front wheel.
i found it was cheaper to get a front bike wheel to match the sidecar
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A "Soft tail Touring?" What model Harley is that with a 16" front wheel?
Lonnie
I know all the "Cruisers" mentioned have 16" wheels. I just hadn't heard of a Softtail Touring. (FLSTT)
L.
fat boy, delux, heritage classic, they all have 16" front wheels with a disk on only one side and are set up for the wide front end.
fit 3/4" bearings and appropriate brake disk and it will go right on a hd sidecar.
the only thing special about the hubs is that they are either a single disk hub OR they have small holes for the 1/4" bolts to bolt on the hub cap.
for older sidecars it gets more complicated - there are hd sidecars with timkin bearings, and ones with a roller bearing - and of course some had drum brakes.
in any case its almost always cheaper and easier to change the bike front to match the sidecar wheel that is already on the sidecar.
on my bike id rather have the black cast spoke wheels - but the sidecar came with steel rim and spokes so i found a spoke front and settled for that.
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I am about to take the Back wheel out to get a new tire fitted- anything I need to watch for or just read the manual and its straight forward............
Paul
The only thing the manual doesn't tell you is that it would be helpful to have a 36mm open end wrench to undo the axle cone nut.
Has anyone else had a letter from HD asking them to fill out a questionnaire on Line about their sidecar-www.harley-davidson.com/survey?
I have checked my tub and found no cracks, i did find rust. I replaced all the bolts with stainless steel. I did find that up sitting in the seat with a camera there is writing to reflect date and pull from the cast mold, maybe thay can check tubs from the same area of building
sidecarbrit - 10/25/2009 8:13 AM
Has anyone else had a letter from HD asking them to fill out a questionnaire on Line about their sidecar-www.harley-davidson.com/survey?
Yes. I received one on Friday and responded on line.
Well that was interesting- the questionaire was more about HD trikes and would I be considering buying a trike instead of another Sidecar next time-No I won't be riding a trike- the wheels are in the wrong place- cannot miss the potholes, roadkill etc.
i got my letter this week - it sure appears obvious that they are trying to find out if they will lose customers for the bikes if they stop making sidecars all together. - the trikes probably sell 10 to 1 more than sidecars & with the economy like it is and the fact that they already threw in the towel on buell & MV etc and all the noise about york that they are planning on some big cuts. the cvo's have already been moved to the main production line, sidecars are on there own line, trikes are on the main production line. it appears as if they are trying to get down to three lines at most - touring, dyna, sportster.
id bet a box of donuts that sidecar production ceases sometime in the next 12 months. the dealers wont care they all seem to view sidecars as a pita.
*sigh*
timo482 - 10/31/2009 1:02 PM
i got my letter this week - it sure appears obvious that they are trying to find out if they will lose customers for the bikes if they stop making sidecars all together. - the trikes probably sell 10 to 1 more than sidecars & with the economy like it is and the fact that they already threw in the towel on buell & MV etc and all the noise about york that they are planning on some big cuts. the cvo's have already been moved to the main production line, sidecars are on there own line, trikes are on the main production line. it appears as if they are trying to get down to three lines at most - touring, dyna, sportster.
id bet a box of donuts that sidecar production ceases sometime in the next 12 months. the dealers wont care they all seem to view sidecars as a pita.
*sigh*
I didn't get the feeling that the questionnaire was aimed at finding out about quitting sidecar manufacture.
As to the sidecars, HD isn't building those in a steady assembly line. There wasn't ever much demand anyway and they basically no longer advertise them. It's a very small part of their production. When I ordered mine, it was clear to me that it was built to my order based on my VIN number.
As to selling 10:1 trikes to sidecars, I would like to see the real figures. ? I'm sure they'll push the trikes now as an alternative to a motorcycle but I don't see the demand. So, when you lose that bet, please, keep the donuts. I changed my diet. LOL.
Buell was never a seller for the MoCo and buying MV was just a mistake. They must have realized that it's time to consolidate in the new Obama era. (not being political here, just stating a fact). So Buell and MV had to go. It was just a business decision. It happens all of the time. Remember Plymouth, DeSoto, Hudson, and now more recently Saturn? They're even talking about getting rid of Dodge. There's nothing new in the world of cars and motorcycles. These are tough times.
my dealer told me last spring that every dealer got two trikes from the first order
in mn, ia, il, there are only two dealers that used to "stock" one sidecar each. and they stopped over a year ago.. i got my sidecar in 06 from one of those - it was still in the box, a 04 model built to stock in late 03.. they sat on it from late 03 to mid winter 06 and i got it for 75% of 04 list.
thats just a huge ratio... my dealer told me that all his trike allotment for 09 was sold the first week.
so, ya, i think its over 10 to 1.. my wife wants me to get one if they get the suspension as soft as the sidecar is.
thats my view - ive been wrong before.
the wall street types claim that hd will have to shrink by 1/2 by next spring to be profitable. so if its not selling ill bet its just gone by spring.
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timo482 - 10/31/2009 7:13 PM
my dealer told me last spring that every dealer got two trikes from the first order
in mn, ia, il, there are only two dealers that used to "stock" one sidecar each. and they stopped over a year ago.. i got my sidecar in 06 from one of those - it was still in the box, a 04 model built to stock in late 03.. they sat on it from late 03 to mid winter 06 and i got it for 75% of 04 list.
thats just a huge ratio... my dealer told me that all his trike allotment for 09 was sold the first week.
so, ya, i think its over 10 to 1.. my wife wants me to get one if they get the suspension as soft as the sidecar is.
thats my view - ive been wrong before.
the wall street types claim that hd will have to shrink by 1/2 by next spring to be profitable. so if its not selling ill bet its just gone by spring.
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I've been hanging out in Harley shops for many, many years now and dealers have really never stocked sidecars. The only rigs I ever saw were ones that had been traded in or which had been ordered and the financing failed, customer backed out, etc. Even you are saying that there were only two dealers in your experience that stocked them. Honestly, if they quit building them, probably no one would notice. Sidecars are still a specialty item. You either want one or you don't.
If you want to keep the ratio up to 10:1, you should do your part and help out, Get a trike, LOL.
Frankly, I don't like the looks of them. Also, I can remove my sidecar and go solo whenever I want. You will also find out that they are geared a lot lower than a standard bike as well, at least the ones I've ridden are.
My take on the trikes at HD is that it may well be another marketing faux pas. For some reason, they've been missing the mark on marketing for the past few years. It started with the Buell, including the Blast and continued with MV and now trikes.
We shall see.
