New man on the block • New man on the block • USCA Sidecar Forum • United Sidecar Association %

#1 · April 9, 2004, 10:18 am

Hi Everyone, I just joined this morning. I'm also new to the sidecar scene. My Wife and I just inherited out Grandson, he's 2 years old. I've got a '94 Harley Ultra and usually put on about 15,000 miles a year. I still work but will retire in 6 years so that should increase. Anyway, now that we have a 2 year old who already displays joy in anything that has wheels, we bought a 1978 Harley sidecar project. I've come to find out that this is an odd ball year for HD sidehacks and I've had to either make things fit or find other alternatives. It didn't come with a wheel, so I spent a lot of time at swap meets, which I've had no luck, so I had a front wheel from my Wife's Custom Bagger and a disk brake off my old Shovelhead and off to the machine shop I went to have an axle made to make all of this work. The connection kit from HD doesn't match, so I've had to do some cutting and welding(I was a fabricator for 20 years) to make that work. All in all, it's been and interesting adventure so far and still have not been able to ride it yet. I should be about 2 weeks out from a test ride and I'm getting excited about this new riding adventure. I hope to learn a lot from you folks here who have been doing this longer and I have. Thanks for letting me put this long post up.

#2 · April 9, 2004, 12:57 pm

Hi Skin
As you probably know you have a CLE Sidecar (w/ball type mount).
You may want to check out the mounting system for the TLE (w/Hyme type mount).
On your '94 you will find a nut welded to the frame behind the battery box, this is for the rear 3-point mounting bracket for the TLE.

Before you hit the road, seriously consider purchasing and reading from cover to cover: Driving a Sidecar Outfit (The Sidecarist Bible)
I hope that you want your young 2-year old to be able to take you for a ride when you are no longer able to operate your rig.

To become a USCA member please go to this site:
http://www.sidecar.com/Membership.htm

If you are a member you can order Books & Paraphernalia from:
(Driving a Sidecar Outfit) one of the many items)
Dave Sasenick
5039 Denise Way
Floyds Knobs, Indiana 47119
812.923.1082
sasenick@epowerc.net

Driving a Sidecar Outfit, can also be ordered from:
http://www.whitehorsepress.com/product.asp?id=sidc

PS: Have a sister in Columbus

#3 · April 9, 2004, 2:57 pm

Hi Skin,
I live up the road from you near Dayton, Ohio. If you want to take a spin on one of my rigs just call. (937) 837-6650
Dave
PS: welcome

#4 · April 9, 2004, 7:55 pm

When it comes time to replace the tires on the bike or sidecar we have automotive tires that fit right on the stock Harley rims.
Jay Giese
Dauntless Motors Corporation
http://www.dauntlessmotors.com

#5 · April 10, 2004, 5:32 am

You may also want to check out the books written by USCA member #2 Hal Kendall which are here at Sidecar.com as a free download. This was a very unselfish gesture by Hal in offering these in this manner. Good info.
You can also go here: http://tinyurl.com/2ag8d Click on 'how t ride'. This is basically the same as the book Dave mentioned. It was actually written for the Ural folks first then rewriten as the present book.
Hope to see you at The Sidecar RON-DEE-VOO In Pa. See calendar 🙂

#6 · April 10, 2004, 10:07 am

howdy, new man on the block! I too am a newbie, I have a 1992 ultra and found a 1986 HD sidecar and know what you mean about fabricating, I finally got the paint job done and put it all together and test rode it yesturday. and I am tickled, it is way cool, I put 150lbs. of dog food (3-50lb. bags), just to see how it handled and for safety sake, before I go putting my kids in the hack. so far so good, I put 130 miles on it so far and all is well other than rewiring the lights. I live in MidMichigan, and hope to get together with other sidecar owners and get more info. I hope to go to some rally some where, well good luck and hope you get the project done. take care Steve from Montrose

#7 · April 10, 2004, 7:41 pm

Thanks for the welcome Everybody. I made some more progress on the "tub" today. Still waiting for some connection parts from Chicago HD. Dave looking forward to meeting you. I actually live on the east side inside the 275 loop so I'm not that far from you. Can you post pictures on this site? If so, I'll post some when I get finished.

#8 · April 11, 2004, 9:30 am

Yes you can post pictures here in Albums. Here is a link to some of mine here:
http://www.sidecar.com/megabbs/photos/photo-thumbnails.asp?albumid=21
Happy Easter
Dave

#9 · April 21, 2004, 2:14 am

Hey Skin how are you coming along with your rig? Hope its going good for you, I have about 450 miles on my rig now and I am the one that had the dog food in the hack, anyway I took it out and took my kids out this weekend and they thought it was great!, I am getting the feel of the rig and how it handles. definitely a different style of riding but I really love it. I would like to meet more side hack owners and get some Ideals and maybe some info on anything that would help my knowledge of what I should or should not do, anyway, just thought I would send a few lines so take care and Hope your project comes together. Steve from Montrose, Mi.

#10 · April 21, 2004, 8:59 am

Steve, I'm almost finished with it. I'll pick up my windshield today on my way home from work. I need to do a little bit of welding on the frame, which I can do myself, wire the tail light, bleed the brakes and hook the car up and do an alignment. I should be up and running this weekend with it. I've come to realize "hackin" is a whole other world when it come to motorcycles. I'm gonna like this.

#11 · April 21, 2004, 9:00 am

I forgot to mention, I put a couple of pictures in the photo album.

#12 · April 22, 2004, 2:27 am

Hi skin, looks like things are comming together, what year is your bike? and Hack? mine is a 1992 FLHTCU Ultra and the hack is a 1986 HD standard. it was suggested to me by another hack owner, that I put a plug in the wiring between the fender and spring, to make it easier When you go to change your tire on the Hack, He had to do the samething. I have the tail light and the brake light and the fender tip marker light working but, am having trouble getting the blinker to work, I think it is not getting a good ground. I tried to send some pics of my rig but they are 550 kb and they are too large to send, it needs to be 200 kb or less and have not figured out if the resolution on my camara is set too high or what. but I will try and send them later. I have my rig set up according to the manuel and it goes straight down the road, without the steering dampner and don`t get any wobble or nothing, so, I am just learning how to ride it and enjoying it. well hope things come together for you and will talk to you later, take care.......... Steve

#13 · April 23, 2004, 8:01 am

Steve, my bike is a '94 Ultra with the tour pak taken off. The hack is a '78 that I've pieced together so you could say it a standard hack with a connection kit from HD. I had yesterday off so I spent most of the day in the garage finishing up the hookup and a few odds and ends. The only thing left to do is bleed the brakes, which I hate messin' with brakes. I did notice that after everything is hooked up, I can still take the bike and move it side to side, not a lot. In other words, I can change the vertical degrees. I double checked the hookup and everything seems to be done by the book. I would have thought you wouldn't be able to do that. I'm going to check again when I get home tonight. We have a ride tomorrow that I'm going to but not on, so I'll see how the first time is. I'll take it easy, that's why I'll not go on the ride with a bunch of other bikes until I get the feel of it. I'm looking forward to riding with a hack.

#14 · April 27, 2004, 2:00 am

HI skin! well I finally figured how to post the pics of my rig, my side car looks similar to yours when I bought it. well I now have 1,000 miles on the sidecar, been riding it to work and back for the last 2 weeks it is 65 miles one way and took my daughters for a ride a couple of times, they thought that was cool! I have a get off ramp on the way back from work and going a little too fast at night (I work 2nd shift) and got my first scary thrill, making a right turn, with the hack empty, by the way, (first time I rode it empty) the sidecar came up and it scared me at first, and I hit the brakes and came to a stop, and then laughed, glad no one was behind me watching, Ha, and continued the curve and then purposely put the rig up to see how it was going to handle, and I guess "Flying the chair" as they say, and it was kinda of neat but do not want to make a habit of it. anyway, getting the feel of it, and really like riding it, I got home and checked all the mounts and linkages, and everything looks the same, thought something would have bent or something, but like you said earlier it does feel like it should be more ridgid. my bike seems to move side to side a little too! but I don`t have anything to compare it to, but it seems to ride and handle good. well let me know how it goes with your rig. take care and talk to you later. check out my pics in the albums. Steve