Hello all. Does anyone know if a 1999 Harley factory sidecar will fit a 2003 Harley Road King?
Should work.
While not an expert on Harley sidecars I doubt it will work. Up until 2002 Harley had what looks like a large nut welded to the frame that was for sidecar attachment. 2003 and up does not. In any event if you are going with a Harley sidecar make sure it comes with the proper hardware for the bike. As far as I know no one including Harley is making the needed mounting hardware. Yes, we and other companies do make proper bike specific hardware for your bike however it is not for Harley sidecars as Harley sidecars are state of the art 1928! Pretty much every other company in the world before WW2 started figured out that suspension on a sidecar is a good thing. Harley does not have suspension on the wheel, yes, the body is mounted on undamped springs. Also, most modern sidecars are mounted at 4 points, Harley mounts at 3 points and with no suspension the upper front mount must be extremely robust.
Jay G
DMC sidecars
www.dmcsidecars.com
866-638-1793
Thank you for the replies. Jay, it may be a better option for me with your economy classic sidecar. Your regular classic sidecar is $9,995 and the economy is $6,495. I don't know why such a large difference. For $9,995 I would probably prefer the Tomahawk. The seller of the Harley sidecar wants $10,000! I guess that's what they go for now?
Our economy sidecar is on a much simpler chassis that cannot have the electric trim, nor will we customize it with things like paint and different wheels. The Classic SE we are willing to semi customize. It also comes standard with a disk brake, full carpeting and electric trim. What electric trim does is at the touch of a switch while riding it will raise or lower the sidecars suspension which in turn leans the bike trimming for load, road and speed conditions. When a sidecar is aligned it can only be aligned to to pull one way or another as a specific speed, load, crown to the road and not taking into account cross winds. Electric trim is like trim tabs to a boat or airplane. Nice but not a must. You can see how it works by watching the last video on our video page www.dmcsidecars.com/video about "Big Red" the sidecar bike we built for Helge Pedersen of Globe rider's fame.
We are also taking orders for a new model we are calling the Patriot. This sidecar has the same basic shape as the classic which is styled like the sidecar Harley built from 1936-1963 however it is about 20% larger, has a door in the side, and an external opening trunk. We have rotated the suspension 90 degrees such that we can hide it between the seat back and the bulkhead for the trunk allowing the sidecar to be narrower and allowing for a cleaner look. The fender is shaped like the front fender on the current versions of the FLH bikes however we widened it enough to allow us to run a Harley rear wheel rather than a front wheel. We did this as newer Harley front wheels have brake rotor mounts that do not look good when exposed and without a brake rotor as is the case on a sidecar as we only use one brake rotor. Rear wheels this is not the case, this also allows for a much wider tire. Standard equipment is the same as our SE modeled sidecars. Base price $13,495 however until we have photos posted of the first one, we are taking orders at $12,495. If once we have photo's if a person does not like how, it came out, we can substitute a Tomahawk SE instead.
Jay G
DMC sidecars
866-638-1793
Thank you Jay. I look forward to seeing pictures of the Patriot sidecar.
Mike
Will it work. A loaded question. You can make almost anything work. Is it worth the cost and effort. And once done what are you left with. The HD sidecar was nerve much to get excited about. It would be one thing if you were restoring a bike to period correct with a sidecar..
There are much better options as Jay has listed. By the time it is all done you will spend some cash on the rig. Best to get what what you want and expected the first time.
I for one on a larger bike and sidecar recommend the ECC or aka electric trim.
Thanks smitty901 I get the point.
With a rear wide tire on the sidecar, all now you how to do is put a wide tire kit on the front and it would look like a Fred Flintstone mobile. One good thing with the heavy wide rear wheel on the sidecar will give you ballast. As far as the electric trim if you set you car up right I see no need for it. I had three of them which don't get used, unless you are out west on a straight highway it's a waste. JMO
I had a 2006 HD and ordered a new sidecar (my 3rd) from Jay. When he said it was ready I drove up from Oregon and Jay mounted it to my bike. At home on our first ride my wife thought the sidecar was perfect,BUT, she thought the bike was underpowered. Bought a 2016 HD and returned the entire setup to Jay for the change. When Jay was finished the wife thought the entire rig was perfect. It has the electric trim, which is great on our western roads and mountain roads, plus a number of extras from Jay. This was not my first sidecar rig nor my first time with Jay. DMC has always been spot on for me.
Gary backroad-rider@comcast.net
