Anyone ever try to put the HD sidecar parking brake on a Liberty?
KC
I've only seen one on a Harley sidecar. Like Harley's former battery-powered reverse gear, they are not all that popoular even on Harley sidecars. If you are referring to the HD P/N 44103-02A, they are $549.95 for the kit at MSRP. Even with a discount, for that sort of money, I would simply leave the machine in gear when parked.
I'm only minimally familiar with Liberty. I understand that they use modified HD mounts. I guess it would be possible. I would call Liberty and speak to them. They would certainly know.
the brake mounts to the swing arm of the bike & then the handle clamps to the sidecar frame
id bet it would work on most any sidecar mounted to a harley - assuming its a touring bike. on other models it would take more futzing - but the axle and brake would be the same
i have one on mine & its really nice - its always good practice when its cold [like 25F out] to start it and let it run for a min before taking off. with the brake i can set the brake and let it idle while i mess with my helmet and gloves & heat etc and then take off, without it i have to do all that while on the bike with my foot on the brake
later
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I agree, it would be nice. It's still a lot of money. IMHO, a better expenditure for a sidecar driver would be a reverse gear....speaking of Harley's here. I know that some of the other bike's have them already, like honda and BMW, I think. I've seen a couple of different reverse kits in the $1,400 range...still pricey but rather handy, especially if the sidecar owner is physically challenged in some way.
Happy trails.
i agree - but raked trees are first on my list & they wont affect the warranty other than the trees.. [and tubes] harleys warranty is really good - but a reverse gear will likley void the warranty on the transmission including the towing and transport component of the warranty if the transmission goes out.
while hd's sidecar wheel reverse was not popular - a after market electric reverse unit would not have many warranty issues associated with it..
harley is really strict about warranty sometimes - it really sucks to put on a aftermarket part and void 6 years worth of warranty coverage.
Installing a set of raked trees on a Harley Ultra would be a major undertaking. I'm waiting for my HD sideecar to be built and delivered in December. It will come with a steering damper and that's as far as I will go.
The negative issue with the raked trees is that you really can't ride the bike solo with them. Harley advises against doing this in their latest sidecar book...probably with good reason. IMHO, it would be rather dangerous. So after installing them, there's no looking back.
In the old Panhead Days, HD provided a set of adjustable triple trees that would fit on the 1949 and later "Hydra-Glide" forks. That was HD's only attempt to change trail on a bike for sidecar AFAIK.
I've owned two other HD sidecars in the past. One was on a Shovelhead and the other on an Evolution. Both had a factory steering damper and once properly adjusted they were really very nice steering.
My 2004 Ultra is out of warranty now so I'm not concerned about making changes. I agree it would be a concern otherwise, though.
Don't mean to hijack this thread. Ha.
gnm109
a harley tech speculated to me that they quit making the adjustable trees partly for safety. with the factory trees the steering effort gets really high long before you are in danger of rolling the thing. with raked trees its much less steering effort to get into a unrecoverable situation.
i have no idea if there is any truth to it - but there you go.
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I think that's an entirely reasonable explanation. That's the great danger, rollinig one over. I've seen it happen and it's not pretty.
I noticed that my HD sidecar manual is filled with some dire safety warnings. Also, since the later HD's are fitted with a Bank Angle Sensor to stop the engine if the bike falls over, they found it necessary to change this for sidecar work. They provide a replacement BankAngle Sensor Switch which is programmable for sidecar or solo. They note that there is a possiblity that if the standard bank angle sensor is used for sidecar work without updating and re-programming, the engine could shut down on a hard right turn. That is not good.
It's not your grandfather's sidecar anymore.
Originally written by timo482 on 10/19/2006 4:08 PM
a harley tech speculated to me that they quit making the adjustable trees partly for safety. with the factory trees the steering effort gets really high long before you are in danger of rolling the thing. with raked trees its much less steering effort to get into a unrecoverable situation.
i have no idea if there is any truth to it - but there you go.
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LOL..I think the 'truth to it' has more to do with the advice given by some corporte lawyer than anythiong else. Heck, people reduce trail by various means on sidecar rigs all the time with good reason but they are still keeping the rubber side down.
The idea of maybe trying to ride the rig solo with the reduced trail from the adjustable trees is a valid saftey concern though. Reduced trail on a solo bike can get you in trouble and it is not recomended.
As far as the parking brake goes one could cut a piece out of an old inner tube (remember them?) and use it as a rubber band to put around the front brake lever. No guarantees of course and all disclaimers apply...ugh.
Hello.
I have 2003 Road King with Tle Sidecar.
I bought the HD Sidecar Parking brake Last year.
The Instructions do not show the cable routing or the exact lever location.
I have hard bags on both sides of the bike and I can not seem to route the cable to where the lever is in a good place on the sidecar frame and the cable is free to move with the rear swingarm.
Would you be willing to send Photographs of how yours is setup?
Thank You!
Just personal opinion....but I would certainly go for raked trees over a parking brake. I have a Road King with a Liberty sidecar and raked trees and it was like installing power steering. Liberty also does NOT recommend riding solo with raked trees, but hey, with the amount of work involved taking a sidecar off and putting it on I'm OK with that!!!
Hi Kevin,
d'Lynn in Chelan has one on his Softail/Liberty. You might give him a call. If you don't find a phone number in the book for Lynn Morrison give me a buzz and I'll find it for you... His is a nifty setup.
