Hello folks, I have always liked the way a Harley sidecar looks, but like an Automatic Moto Guzzi as the "tug". Has anyone put an HD sidecar on another metric bike? Any pics. or info on the mounts? I just finished my second rig, its a Texas ranger, on my auto Guzzi. but if its feasable I would like to hook up a harley chair in the future.
Thanks
Rick.
While this could be done, knowing the Harley sidecar and its short comings, the question is why would you want to do it? The Harley sidecars chassis was a fantastic design, when it was developed in the 1920's for 1920's roads on 1920's bikes. Now nearly 100 years on with modern bikes and roads, it is not such a good design.
Harley sidecars never had suspension on the wheel of the sidecar. The body was on leaf springs that were not dampened. As such you hit a pothole, you know about it on the bike and the passenger gets to be reminded of it as they bob up and down. Not good if you have a passenger that is at all prone to motion sickness. Harley sidecar frames the frames are specific to the generation of bike that they were to go onto as they have very little adjustment only to be able to set toe in. They run a single upper mount on a bar that is designed to flex which is as close as they come to having suspension.
We will be finishing up mounting a Harley sidecar onto a 2012 FLH latter in the day. This sidecar came off of a much earlier bike that had drum brakes. We will not be hooking up the brake as the owner did not want to spend the money to convert it to a disk brake so that it would work well with his bike. On this bike we are using our standard lower mounts then welding on pinch clamps to the frame of the sidecar to convert it over to adjustable boss and clamp type mounts (the sidecar had already been modified and ran on a softtail) We are then making a much more robust upper front mount for the single mounting arm to attach to. You could also convert the sidecar over to a 4 point mount but then you would loose the very limited shock absorbing value of the arm that goes to the upper mount. We could provide all of the needed parts to convert one of these sidecars to 4 point mount and like all of the sidecars we build can supply proper bike specific mounts. In the case of your bike the mounts were developed on my now retired former general managers Moto Guzzi Convert. I also ran the same design mounts on a G5 which is pretty much the same bike but with a manual transmission. BTW, both my wife and I are life members of the national Moto Guzzi club and have been for the better part of 30 years. My wife has a 1972 Eldorado.
If you are after a "Harley" type look you might consider our "classic" which is styled like the 1050's Harley sidecar however as sidecars are often a life time purchase you might also consider what your needs down the road may be. Sidecars like the Harley sidecars and are Classic can be hard to get in and out of as you step over the side and then slide down in. As we age or have other heath related issues this often becomes a problem. Sidecars with cut down sides, steps and or doors can be much easier to get in and out of. Also, having ran sidecars for about 30 years now while it may seem a bit silly, I really do not like sidecar where you access the trunk area by lifting or tilting the seat back. An external opening trunk is much nicer. While I am between sidecars right now, my next one is under construction and will be done by months end. For my own use I run our Expedition sidecar, easy to get in and out of, very nice to sit in for the passenger due to the depth of the body, it has a external opening trunk and a very stout luggage rack. Mine is going onto a BMW R1250GSA
Jay G
DMC sidecars
www.dmcsidecars.com
866-638-1793
Hi Jay. Thank you sir, for taking the time to answer my questions in detail. I really appreciate that! I was not aware of the limitations presented with the Harley sidecar. I had no idea it has no suspension at the wheel, only the tub. I can see where all the "bumps" from the sidecar wheel would be transmitted to the bikes frame, and give a less than ideal ride, for both the sidecar passenger,and driver.
Your Classic sidecar would deffinitely be the way to go . I am also finding out what you mean about some sidecars being a bit difficult to get in and out of if they are not designed to open, or have a "cut down" side opening. I will have to see how my wife handles getting in and out of Texas Ranger sidecar I am currently setting up.
Thank you for supplying me with some of the mounts to make this possible. Your clamps and components are of top quality, and worked out real well for me, on this rig.
Your sage advice im sure has saved me from alot of headaches, I would have encountered if I had gone forward with the HD sidecar on my 84 Guzzi california II "Convert".
Thank you, and greeting from sunny Arizona,
Rick Duarte
