Harley Sidecars, how do they compare?

The Harley cars are fine for a dedicated sidecar outfit. If you are thinking of an on and off sidecar usage an aftermarket car from another mfg'r. would no doubt be less expensive. With the TLE and Ultra cars there are a lot of expensive bits and pieces that are necessary to adapt an off year car to your Harley since the Motor Co. makes frequent changes in chassis, brakes and electrics. The Harley sidecars may look the same for many years but will not bolt up the same. You could spend thousands getting a used one matched up to your Harley.

Lonnie
Northwest Sidecars

My only experience piloting a rig other than my own FLHR/TLE was taking a friend’s Yamaha FJ1100 Sidebike for a spin. So I can’t really comment on other sidecars. But, I can say this: I too think the TLE is pretty crude with no suspension on the side care wheel but you know what? It works fine. When I hit a big bump in the road and the side car body starts bouncing around on the leaf springs, my passenger’s grin just gets bigger! They think it’s like an amusement park ride.

i have no real experience with other sidecars but the two i made from scratch 20+ years ago when i simply could not afford to go buy one.

the frame of the HD sidecar has some flex to it, the flex is in the frame brace - some have commented to me if its safe - but they have made them the same since the 20's when roads were much worse and they don't break. the bottom mounts are 1" bolt dia hiem joints with a zerk to make certain they don't bind up and stress or crack.

my wife has 5 bad disks - it never bottoms out, it never hurts her back no matter what the bike does. and when the sidecar wheel does hit a pothole it does a very small amount of motion at the bike. its really fine. its completely stable and predictable at all times, im very happy with it.

that all said - you can take one off mechanically in 10 mins, but it will take a half hour to get the wire off and another half hour to bleed the rear brake after you plug the line. - putting it on will take two hours or more if you are organized and a while to align it - if you install a raked tree it takes 8 hours both ways to change the tree - the result? with a harley the sidecar is ON or OFF and its a total pain to change.

what i do like is the sidecar wheel never changes ht so the whole rig stays very flat in turns.

to

We have had our sidecar since last April. It all depends on your purpose. Handling is fun. There is a bit of loss in the power department. I have learned to live with that. I tried only one other rig and it felt a lot lighter. The Harley rig feels so much more solid. Our sidecar was found on cycletrader.com. We put down a deposit and took a trip from New Mexico to Oklahoma to get it. It was well worth the time and money. If you find a used sidecar be sure to get the hardware and parts for mounting. I did not get the brake resevoir and am now hunting for a used one. The best thing about the sidecar for us is that Max loves to ride. This way we don't have to leave him home when we go. I hope this helps in your decision.

Dan Clark

Originally written by Kirk on 11/15/2007 12:49 PM

My only experience piloting a rig other than my own FLHR/TLE was taking a friend’s Yamaha FJ1100 Sidebike for a spin. So I can’t really comment on other sidecars. But, I can say this: I too think the TLE is pretty crude with no suspension on the side care wheel but you know what? It works fine. When I hit a big bump in the road and the side car body starts bouncing around on the leaf springs, my passenger’s grin just gets bigger! They think it’s like an amusement park ride.

I really don't think that the HD sidecar design needs additional suspension. The width of the HD frame places the wheel out about 53 inches. This means that the HD has one of the widest track setups. This provides for a long moment arm. Thus, when you hit rough road there is very little movement transmitted to the motorcycle. The springs on the sidecar body help out a great deal also.

I noticed that the nose of the tub would have a tendency to move up and down a bit on rough pavement. I solved this problem by adding a car shock between the frame and the underside of the tub at the front body mount. This prevents oscillation and undue movement so the tub rides very flat.

id like to see a picture of that shock mount

to

Here is a picture of the tub shock. It connects to the lower frame with two U-bolts that tighten up into a bracket. The front threaded part of the shock goes into a hole in a piece of 1-1/2" angle that goes across the three front tub bolts. There are rubber bushings on each end. The shock is a new air shock for a 1969-70 or so Camaro. I built the top cover from a piece of 1=12" steel tubing with a washer welded in to mount it on th threaded shaft.

Enjoy!

Hey Dan Clark,

Due to my disablity, I can't use the rear brake so I just removed everthing including the remote resevoir. My rig is a 04 FLHRSI with an 05 TLE. If you think it will work contact me kfeye@pacbell.net.

rather than removing all the rear brakes - why not work out how to make them all work?

while the front brake, even with a sidecar, has the most braking effort, you really are running with about 1/3 to 1/2 of your braking effort disabled.

i dont know HOW to operate all 4 discs from the handle bar - but ill bet there IS a way

to

Originally written by Kirk on 11/19/2007 12:24 PM

Hey Dan Clark,

Due to my disablity, I can't use the rear brake so I just removed everthing including the remote resevoir. My rig is a 04 FLHRSI with an 05 TLE. If you think it will work contact me kfeye@pacbell.net.

several options come to mind
the front and rear can be tied together with a proportioning valve
the master may not be compatable with 3 disks in which case on for an 1 aft might be better than than 2 in front or the mc could be changed,

another option would be run all discs with the proportioning valve but have a slave cylinder pushing a vacuum boosted mc (from a small car)
and it can be made adjustable with a bell crank between the slave and the mc
it sound a little far fetched but i have ridden with such a setup
work great

stace

Have had a 2000 FLHPI (Cop Bike) w/Harley sidecar for almost 8 years now.
Wouldn't trade it for anything!
My main monkey has numerous health issues to include some nasty back problems and she falls asleep in it while on long trips!
I'm 6'2" and can sit in it and stretch my legs out.
They ARE quite interesting to watch going down a bumpy road empty - but it rides just fine and I forget it's there.
And because something is an older design doesn't necessarily make it a bad or outdated one - it could simply be that it works!
Happy Motorin'
Dean

Dean wrote:
............. because something is an older design doesn't necessarily make it a bad or outdated one - it could simply be that it works!
Happy Motorin'
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

AMEN to that Dean. Harley sidecars are what they are and what they are is what they have been and what they will be in the future. They have allowed untold numbers of folks to enjoy riding in them. They have a low tech and a high smile ratio and in my opinion that is pretty hard to beat.

Originally written by stacebg on 11/24/2007 12:06 AM

Originally written by Kirk on 11/19/2007 12:24 PM

Hey Dan Clark,

Due to my disablity, I can't use the rear brake so I just removed everthing including the remote resevoir. My rig is a 04 FLHRSI with an 05 TLE. If you think it will work contact me kfeye@pacbell.net.

several options come to mind
the front and rear can be tied together with a proportioning valve
the master may not be compatable with 3 disks in which case on for an 1 aft might be better than than 2 in front or the mc could be changed,

another option would be run all discs with the proportioning valve but have a slave cylinder pushing a vacuum boosted mc (from a small car)
and it can be made adjustable with a bell crank between the slave and the mc
it sound a little far fetched but i have ridden with such a setup
work great

stace

Like stacy said: LOTS OF OPTIONS!
Another thing would be to convert the handlebar control to a cable type and have it activate a bell crank that would run two master cylinders with a balance bar assembly for brake bias adjustments.
Thinking outside the box of course.
Some of us haven't been in the box for years....right Stacy...lol?

Well looking around for a HD sidecar for my Sportster, I did find used HD SC but many $$$$ to custom the joint, suspension etc..the cozy was alittle challenge to apply thankfully i bought the universal mounting kit.
American Harley with a car made in India
you are talking about a larger bike than mine, but HD is not cheap.
For me I am more than delighted with my Cozy on my Sportster, future I would like a new FLT with HD car, but at present happy.