Liberty Build on '03 FLSTSI

Hog Dr · 2016-01-23T11:48:21Z

Hey y'all, I'm new to the forum, and have yet to ride a "hack." My wife and I are about to buy my father-in-law's 2003 Harley-Davidson Heritage Springer (FLSTSI) with my expressed intention of putting a sidecar on it for our daughter, presently one-year-old. I found this forum this morning and have done a bit of reading on safety (i.e. riding with the wife in the car when riding two-up), rake/trail mods, and downloaded a couple books on riding with a sidecar. Below, I will list my build ideas; I appreciate your scrutiny. I'd say I'm 99% locked onto the Liberty. My rationale is that a Heritage Springer is effectively a repop '48 FL, making the Liberty effectively period correct. I could be wrong, but I think DMC's Champion Legend and Tomahawk are nods to classic Indian sidecars, ruling them out. …As would be any British sidecars. The Build •Increase displacement from 88 c.i. to 95 c.i. •Kompressor heads (10.5:1 CR) •SE-257 Cams (for increased mid-range torque) •Liberty 5º raked tree I'm a H-D tech, and I remember watching training video on TLE sidecar setup, and I know it's a lengthy process. On that note, how difficult is it to remove the Liberty if I want to put the bike on the dyno? Is it even worth exploring how the 88 c.i. handles the additional weight or just go ahead and hot rod the motor? Performance considerations •Harley-Davidson six-speed transmission? Lower RPMs make better fuel economy, but is direct drive preferable to overdrive when cruising 70+ mph with a sidecar? How about changing pullies? •Suspension upgrades (that won't detract from the nostalgic look)? Some posts described changing rockers. Who recommends tree vs. rocker? Does it make any sense to do both? Does anyone recommend Progressive's Softail shocks as an improvement to ride quality? •Does chroming the top leaf spring have any negative effect on the passenger's ride? I'm worried it might be stiffer or somehow less functional. •Other cams/performance mods I should consider? I read one post that described a hack/trike cam from Andrews, I would like to find more information on that. The Ride Before my daughter was born, my Harley was my daily driver, and I really want the sidecar to get me back there. Ideally, I will regularly use the sidecar to take my daughter to and from school, and the three of us to dinner. I would also like to ride family day trips anywhere in length (one way) from 45 minutes to 5.5 hours. Solo, I might ride as far as GA. I already use his bike for touring, as it's worlds more comfortable than my V-Rod, so I'm not deterred from the springer's ride as it relates to long distance. Plus, we want to keep the bike in the family, so a Touring model isn't really on the table. Any other suggestions for comfort? 100th Anniversary Specific question: I would like to match the car's paint to include the centennial tape. I found it 4' in length from killer-decals.com, but I don't have any experience with the company. I'm wondering if the tape should wrap all the way around, one piece, or what? Any advice or recommendations for matching the silver/black centennial paint scheme is greatly appreciated. My goal is to make it look as though it came from the factory. Thanks, Drew

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Last Post by thekid1950 9 years ago

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thekid1950

(@thekid1950)

Posts: 14

Eminent Member

I don't really know why it's more dangerous....just that Pete of Liberty thinks so.
I once had the beginnings of a death wobble at maybe 25 mph. Somehow I quickly recovered, but it certainly scared me. For some reason I feel safer on my Road King rid than I did on my HS Springer rig....can't pin it down however.

Sorry I can't add more.

Posted : December 11, 2016 4:28 pm

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