I am in the early stages of mounting a 1954 LE steel car onto a 2004 Road King. I'm still gathering parts. I would love to hear from anyone who has undertaken a similar project. The car has been updated at some point in its life because it has a hydraulic drum brake installed. My goal is to limit fabrication to the bare minimum and use as many Harley Davidson factory parts to bolt this all together to the greatest extent possible. Right now I'm trying to figure out which 2004 era parts to use and which 1954 era parts to use, and where/how to join them. This is very new to me so any advice (except this can't be done, find something else) is greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Kevin Winters
Kevin @kevin-winters, WELCOME to the Greatest Show on Earth, or any of the odd numbered planets.
Two Million Mile Rider
Exploring the World in Comfort
Interesting, I would like to see you succeed. No, I haven't done this, but I may be able to help. After 3 posts you will be able to post pictures. A photo of the sidecar chassis would be most helpful. Welcome to the forum.
Does this count as a post?
The first thing I'm trying to figure out is the rear mount. On older bikes the attachment point was on the actual swingarm aft of the swingarm mount point. I have a swingarm attachment fitting. It is circled in the picture of the attachment fittings (I also have the rear mount attachment for a rigid frame bike). I don't know if the attachment fitting will fit the swingarm of a newer FLH. I believe this would be a ball & socket type connection.
Another option I am considering is using the more modern (period correct for the bike) fitting that replaces the RH Swingarm Mount. It would move the rear attachment point several inches forward. I don't have these parts yet, they appear to be hard to find and expensive when you do find them. It would also require mounting the corresponding piece onto the J-Bar tube forward of the rear forging. I don't have these parts yet but it may still be the best option. It would be a Heim Joint connection.
I think there is a third option I'm still exploring. It looks like it may have been used in mid 80s - mid 90s. And mounts at the swing arm mount point but has a ball and socket mount instead of a Heim joint. I don't have much information.
Is there anything I should be considering that I'm not? Is there anything I have completely wrong? Are there advantages or disadvantages to the Heim Joint vs Ball & Socket?
Thanks.
Great pics. Have you tried to mockup the sidecar to the bike? The rear mounting point of the sidecar chassis looks like it would be right where the saddle bag is on the RK. Also wondering where the front mounts land near the bikes frame, the 04' is wider, and from frame to the edge of the footboard is far wider than a rigid bike. Just wondering about clearance there.
If I was doing it, I would go with the correct bike side mounts for the 04' and modify the LE chassis for heim joints. Especially if you have to remove the rear mount area of it's chassis. Note the hiem joints in the diagram, they are clocked 90 degrees from each other, this allows up/down movement of the chassis for adjustments, but no fore/aft movement. I've copied that and it works well.
For info, I have owned a couple 04's, but built my own rig.
This is what I would do is get the new style chassis and mount your body, wheel and fender on it. The newer style chassis should give you a better ride and should have most of the mounting hardware you need. I think you might have to get one more mount. I the long run it going to save you some headaches and handle with a better ride. Plus, you can sell the old chassis and probably come out ahead. There is some NOS chassis out for sale as Harley didn't have much luck selling them.
I just went through quite a bit of sleuthing to find all the necessary hardware to mount what I figure is an eighties HD sidecar frame to my 97 FLHP (police roadking)
At least one of the mounts was very specific to 97-98 and like hen's teeth. Ebay is a good resource if you're patient. JWBoon in the netherlands is an awesome resource if you can get him to ship to you. I had to build my own Wiring harness interconnects based on the diagrams for my 97. Well, I ended up building the harnesses for the hack, too.
If you don't have one, you should purchase the HD `04 Sidecar service manual. It shows the specifics required to fit mis matches of several years together (but not your 54 LE ! 😉 ).
I'd hate to see the 54 get diced up, but thats just me.
P.S. Those rear joints (maybe both ball and heim) I think are available from Tedds Vtwin.
@panhead_kicker JW Boon is odd. I ordered some Servicar parts from them several years ago with no issues. Their site even converts prices to US dollars and then a couple of years later tried to order something and they hit me with, "We don't ship to the United States and haven't for at least 15 years. I have a guy in Germany I've bought parts from I'd like to think I could get him to buy parts for me from JW Boon and then ship them to me at a slight markup if I find anything that I can only get from there.
Kevin @kevin-winters, there is also Ad Donkers in the Netherlands, he owns LBS Sidecars. He won't have the parts you want, but he can get what you want from JW Boon, then ship the parts directly to you in the US.
He ships large orders of parts, including complete Sidecars, to Mike Paull @ LBS-USA in Washington State....all the time.
If interested, I can hook you up with Ad Donkers at LBS Sidecars in the Netherlands.
Two Million Mile Rider
Exploring the World in Comfort
@panhead_kicker JW Boon is odd. I ordered some Servicar parts from them several years ago with no issues. Their site even converts prices to US dollars and then a couple of years later tried to order something and they hit me with, "We don't ship to the United States and haven't for at least 15 years. I have a guy in Germany I've bought parts from I'd like to think I could get him to buy parts for me from JW Boon and then ship them to me at a slight markup if I find anything that I can only get from there.
If it comes to it, you may also want to speak with Tom (TomsNOSparts) about Boon. Tom's a standup guy to deal with.
P.S.
I don't know if it will affect prices in a positive way, but repatriating USA made parts back to the states costs no import fees...
@panhead_kicker I have been reviewing some of your posts on a different forum as you were working through your connection challenges. I noticed you post discussing the 87114-93 vs 87114-93a.
Right now there I know where I can get a -93 (it's pricey but a guy has one). I haven't been able to find a -93a. Your issues with the -93a seem to have been caused by the exhaust Y-pipe. I have Rhinehart True Duals on my Road King so there shouldn't be any Y-pipe issues. My concern before buying the part is that it looks like it moves the mount point aft about an inch or so. Did you have any issues with the -93 contacting the bottom forward edge of the fiberglass side cover? I looked it up and the side cover for a '99 and '04 should be the same part (66670-97a).
@not-bob Thanks for the input. Right now I'm still gathering information and haven't actually tried to mock anything up (beyond parking the bike next to the hack).
Actual Harley sidecar mounts are crazy expensive. I want to avoid the "universal kits" I see advertised, so I'm trying to use the pieces I have but I've come to the conclusion that isn't going to be a 100% solution. My plan has changed several times and will probably continue to evolve but right now I am planning to use a 2004-era solution for the rear mount. The earlier rear mount mounts to the actual swing arm and there might be exhaust and saddlebag issues.
I am going to try to use the ball and socket mount I have (70's Era) for the lower front mount. The bike-side mount appears to be adjustable enough to fit. My father in law has put several rigs together. He currently has three, a liberty rig, a 2010-ish fat bob with a Ural car, and a 2004 Road King Police with a 2003 Harley Ultra car (with all factory mounts and attachments). He has used ball and socket and Heim joints in the past and doesn't see one as having an advantage over the other.
What I don't have a plan for is the forward upper mount. I think the old type is too narrow, so I'm looking for a more modern mount, preferably 87131-83c and 87132-92.