HD Car vs Liberty

I just ordered my Liberty after 3 years of checking all the options. I spoke with H-D dealership owners, service deptartements and sales staff. I also took two trips to see Pete at Liberty. I recommend you speak with Pete directly on his product, but here are a few tidbits I came away with:

Liberty has a much better suspension.

Liberty is has a much more stable boat.

Liberty has better adjustability for proper alignments.

H-D treats its hack sales as another chrome accessory.

H-D has a school to send its mechanics to to learn about sidecars.

H-D usually only one tech in the shop that went to get certified, and he may only have done one install.

Liberty only does sidecars.

Liberty listens, and builds your car.

H-D offers you what they have.

But what really impressed me was the Liberty shop. It is as professional and organized as I have ever seen. Everything is layed out and orgainized, the facility is spotless.

I showed up with a friend of mine on a business trip. He does not ride or have any interest in motorcycles but he was very impressed by the operation as well.

Bottom line is that you should make an informed choice, and do a lot of research before hand. You are spending the $$ and have to be happy in the end. I am sure you will get a lot of opinions from this forum on what you should do, but you owe it to yourself to verify all the infomation.

One more thing. I had the advantage of having a good friend of move quicker than me on the purchase of a sidecar. Tom is another very informed person, and has proven invaluable in helping me gain knowledge from his experiances.

Harley: More trunk room, two trim levels, passenger handholds, rigid windshield, factory ballast ingot (available if not installed), sound systems, later models all have disc brake.

Liberty: Trailing link suspension, Retro look, all have disc brake, windshield apron may stretch in hot climate and touch passengers helmet, less trunk space. Optional interior colors.

Both have the rocking chair body suspension that some riders like and some don't. It can effect handling on rough twisties. Both have optional luggage racks, wheel options.

Both cars are world class in fit and finish.

Dealers Choice,

Lonnie

I received this message from Pete at Liberty Motors this morning and must pass it along. It seems part of my comparison data is outdated.
I have apologized to Pete for this. As yet no word from Harley so they must agree with me on their end.

Lonnie -
F.Y.I. although both our Liberty and the HD sidecar have the body
mounted via leaf springs - their motion is very different. The current
HD "mono-leaf" has a characteristic oscillation and will continue to
bounce - a multi-leaf spring such as we use is self-dampening and will
deflect once & stop itself. There is no effect on twisting roads.
Our windshield apron is marine cloth, not vinyl, and will not stretch
in hot weather. Some early windscreen assemblies allowed the apron to
slip where it is clamped to the metal bow, allowing the windscreen to
come back too far. This is no longer a problem. This was solved years
ago.
The 4-point mounting & suspension along with our available 5 degree
trees put the Liberty in another class for handling & ride quality.
Regards,
Pete

http://www.libertysidecars.com
http://www.ezs-usa.com

Liberty: very cool old school look.
Harley TLE: plain Jane appearance.

Just my opinion. I love the Liberty and wouldn't trade it for two of any other brand. And Pete and Patty are great people to deal with. There are lots of good people out there who really know their stuff and some might equal Pete but no one will surpass him. Or Patty.

Thanks for the replies and the opinions.
One of my biggest concerns is the size of the tub. It looks small in the pictures on there web site. The Liberty is suppose to be the same size as the older tubs. I own a 47 HD w/ a HD sidecar and that tub is bigger than the newer HD tubs. So, I'm not sure if it is something to be concerned about?
I'm also concerned w/ the windshield, if it's like my old unit it comes back so far that the lexan is almost touching the rider. The HD fixed windshield seems to have more room.

With Liberty's shock for the wheel, is the ride any better than the HD car?

I have talked w/ Pete and he is very informative. I have also installed his 5deg triple clamps on the Ultra I just sold. Wouldn't own a rig w/o his clamps!

Thanks again,
Scrubs

Every installation I have seen from Liberty has been top notch.

Another hack which would match your bike well, is roomy and very well made is the Champion Legend. Uncle Blasto had one on his Honda Ace, which he switched to a Valkerie and later to a Kawa Drifter. It was a good handling rig on all those bikes, and i suspect it would work just as nicely on a Harley.

http://www.championsidecars.com/sidecars/showdetail.aspx?Sidecar=3

The Legend also has a Retro Indian look, but all that I have seen mounted on big twins have minimal ground clearance at the front lower mount. On some it would be hard to slip a pack of cigarettes under sideways.

Lonnie

Heya. New member here. Re: your question: I'd seriously consider Liberty. A few years ago, as part of a magazine article I was writing (my job), I contacted Liberty about putting a sidecar on a then-brand-new 2002 Indian. My company in NYC hadn't done much research on the subject of sidecars, and so Liberty was the number they gave me. Despite the obvious free press he would have received (and the cash, as we were paying full price) Pete at Liberty turned me onto Champion Sidecars, explaining that while he'd love to have his rig featured in a magazine, he thought the story would be better served by having Champion's version of the "Princess" sidecar on our Indian. Score one -- a big one -- for integrity. Champion was, in fact, the right choice for the article, but no one at my London-based NYC publishing company would have known that without Pete's help. Due to his phone manner and to the fact that he'd turned down what would have been a lucrative (and high profile) sale, I started to look into his operation. Was I impressed? Absolutely. I have no question Liberty will build exactly what you want, and offer as much build intergrity and service as you could desire. I'm sure the H-D rig is fine, but Pete's character sold me. I'm getting set to purchase a new Harley, and you can be sure Liberty will be the first call I make when the order comes through.

Just realized I didn't comment on the Champion "Legend" sidecar we used on the Indian. The Champion "Legend" was absolutely great all around. No complaints. I rode it from Long Beach up to SF, through Nevada, up the mountains in Wyoming and then down across Nebraska all the way to home back in NYC. Great trip. No troubles with the hack, even in a Wyoming blizzard, a Great Plains rainstorm and NYC traffic. The effectiveness of the optional halogen running light, and the fit and finish of the tonneau cover were especially nice. Kept me on the road and kept my photo gear nice and dry through all. Being able to remove the windshield might have saved on gas. Otherwise, Champion has a great product and great customer service. That said, I get the feeling that Liberty offers something special, provided their product is appropriate for your needs/wants.

Liberty products are first rate!
Another sidecar that would have a retro look is the Ural, We often lower them when mounted on a H-D.
We have over 40 Ural sidecars in stock.
Jay Giese
Dauntless Motors Corporation
www.dauntlessmotors.com
866-638-1793