I just took delivery of a 04 Road King Custom with a TLE sidecar. I was surprised to see the bike leans into the sidecar. Everything I’ve read here on this web site suggests it should be upright or leaned away from the side car. It does pull to the right on acceleration. I was told the original owner weighed over 500lbs. Perhaps with him on it the suspension compressed enough that it was closer to upright? I assume I should follow the set up advice in Hal’s book for my weight. Am on the right track?
Take a short ride first, but NOT in traffic. I'll just bet it will want to veer of into the ditch.
You're on the right track reading Hal's book. You will most likely be making some changes.
500 pounds? Wow. His weight would definitely compress the suspension. Maybe even wear out the clutch.
Hal's info will apply in theory and should be studied. I say 'in theory ' as with Harley sidecar, or any rigidly supsended sidecar ( that doesn't sound right does it?) things 'can' be a little different.
In a nutshell when going straight down a road which should be like the roads you normally ride on camber wise a rig should track straight at a given speed. If you adjust it to make the bike lean farther away from the sidecar it will tend to make it go left( or quit pulling to the right) and leaning it the other way will do the opposite (Just like a solo bike to make it simple).
Rigid sidecars do not have asuspension to compress when the rider gets on the bike. Due to this the lean out or maybe even lean in opf th ebike is totally related to the bike side alone. This is why some seem to work well when leaned in at rest with no rider on the rig. The weight of th erider will compress the bike suspension to allow it to lean out when on the road. Looks funny sitting still and unloaded but may handle well.
I woudl guess that iof the former owner weighed 500 pounds then th ebike probably did lean in at rest. When he plopped down on it it probably leaned it out and worked okay. Keep in mind that the sidecar has no suspension on it so it will not move much is any at all.
Lean left to go left and lean right to go right. Pretty simpel. Not a bad idea to check toe in after adjusting lean though.
Kirk,
Harley's recommended setup is a bit different than all others. The bike angle should be between zero and 1 degree toward the sidecar, I had always had mine set up like most, leaning away, but after following HD's setup guide the rig handles much better, and the tire wear has improved. I keep mine at zero degrees. The toe-in is also critical. Try adjusting the lean to zero. I think you'll find the handling is greatly improved.
Scott
Hi All,
Thanks for the input. This site is great! Scott, thanks for the tip about Harley's set up recommendation. I was thinking I needed to get a Harley manual.
Cheers,
Kirk
Kirk,
If you are of average size give your factory Harley rig a 1 degree leanout. It will track better, guaranteed. With raked trees, even better.
Lonnie
