Howdy from Oklahoma!

Welcome Donald!  Tell us some more about yourself and favorite things over two more posts and you’ll be free to add content with moderators (like me! )

Posted by: @daddydon57

↑

I've just joined USCA. I don't have a sidecar right now, but I had a 1975 Ural when I worked overseas. It was ugly as sin, but so much fun to ride. I have a 2008 FLHTCU Ultra Classic and want to mount a sidecar on it. I'll be the big 70 in a few months, and I don't plan to ever stop riding. But Father Time and surgeries on both knees are making it a challenge to wrestle the Ultra around when parking her. I hope to get advice and pointers on how best to set her up properly with a sidecar.    

Donald, since you have never owned and driven a sidecar rig before....it might be smart to buy a lower priced one that is already Road Ready and Road Proven, to test the waters, per se....before adding one to your H-D FLHTCU Ultra Classic.

Example: directly north of you, one state UP, in Buffalo, Kansas, is a absolutely Road Ready 1995 Honda Goldwing 1500 SE, with a Champion Escort ll sidecar, currently on a special pricing sale...only $ 6,000.00 to YOU, and you could buy that, test sidecar driving, see if you like it, or hate it, then...next Spring decide if you want to add a sidecar to your H-D.

The ad for that sidecar rig in Buffalo, Kansas is on these forums, under "Complete Sidecar Rigs For Sale"

Everyone here will tell you....if will cost you a LOT more to add a decent sidecar to your H-D Ultra Classic, that it will to buy this one in Kansas, to test the waters, and see if you can handle sidecar piloting.

If you decide to go forward with adding a sidecar to your H-D, you can always sell this 1995 Honda Goldwing 1500 SE w/Champion Escort ll, for the same money you spent buying it.

Miles’ point about spending a LOT to add a decent car to an existing, beloved bike is completely true and there are many examples of this event occurring and the owner finds that they aren’t as happy about it as they were hoping.  There are also myriad examples of someone getting an inexpensive sidecar and being unhappy about it because cheap sidecar kits don’t work.

i agree completely about trikes and I have my own reasons for having gone with a sidecar rig.  

Oh, Oh, Oh....I forgot my usual Welcome Wagon byline.....

Donald, WELCOME to the Greatest Show on Earth, or any of the odd numbered planets.   

Do you like Stroopwaffles ???   

@thane-lewis, thanks for the feedback. The Ural that I owned overseas had a sidecar, so I'm familiar with the unique handling of riding a sidecar rig. I see your perspective on the cost versus the satisfaction when mounting a sidecar. I'm bike poor already with the Ultra and my 1996 Springer Softail. I'd probably be in divorce court if I told my wife I'm buying another bike. 😐

My physical condition dictates that I either mount a sidecar on the Ultra or park it. I can still handle the Springer safely. There's a big difference between it at just under 600 lbs. wet and the Ultra at over 900 lbs. wet. I've considered going to a Tri-Glide, but trikes don't have the charm of a sidecar. IMHO    

@miles-ladue Hello Miles! I do like stroopwafels from the times I was given them as snacks on airline flights.

Gotcha on the cost of divorce relative to modifying an existing bike.  Im going to point you directly south to the dreaded Texas and a genuinely fantastic builder in Donnie, TX called (unironically) Texas Sidecar Company.  They will shepherd you through the process and deliver a fully functioning rig.

I recently bought a 2001 electraglide classic with a hannigan side car as a project. It is now on the road and driving well. This bike has gone through a bunch of mods to make it a sidecar tug. I would be happy to discuss if you are interested. I can't really say much about how it might have run before all the mods, since this is my first Harley. But, this bike has raked trees using a triple tree from a trike manufacturer, reverse gear from Jim's.  Modified gearing (speedometer was off by 20% or so). Wiring mostly spliced into the accessory fuse. Upgraded jugs to 95". Special cams of some sort including gear driven cams. I bought a speedo compenstator from dakota digital to fix the speedo. I changed the wiring to go through a distribution box and a relay instead of the acc fuse. I have another rig based on a Honda ctx 700. So, I have some sympathy for the idea of buying a rig already put together.  I would hate to take an older Harley and spend the bucks needed to bring one up to the standard of my 2001 for sidecar use. I don't want to get into the Harley vs everyone else debate. I have had about 10 rigs in my time based on Hondas and BMWs. This is my first Harley. Granted my current Honda is a lot newer (2016), but the Harley drives like farm equipment next to it. Maybe I haven't bonded with the Harley.  My wife loves the Hannigan and won't harly look at the Vetter I have hung on my Honda. Anyway, I am happy to share opinions if you want. 

And ... whilst Thane points you towards Texas Sidecar Company, I will point you to Murray, Kentucky....to Hannigan Sidecars.

I have bought a few from them, and 93.14 % happy with them, and their products.

Just my opinion....but dollars for dollars....I would hang a Hannigan Heritage Sidecar on that Ultra Classic before any sidecar that Texas Sidecar Company produces .

Buy the road ready Goldwing w/ Champion Escort ll rig in Buffalo, Kansas.....sell the lighter weight Harley to recover the cost of the Goldwing Sidecar rig....then whilst driving the Goldwing Sidecar rig for 6 months....order a new Hannigan Heritage Sidecar from Hannigan Sidecars in Murray, Kentucky.

You're Welcome 😁 

I have to agree on the hannigan comment.  The Harley I purchased came with the Hannigan. I was not happy with the wiring between the bike and the sidecar.  But, the quality of the mounts on the bike and the mating of the sidecar was top notch. The quality and comfort of the sidecar also top notch. 

Posted by: @dickbrandt

↑

I have to agree on the hannigan comment.  The Harley I purchased came with the Hannigan. I was not happy with the wiring between the bike and the sidecar.  But, the quality of the mounts on the bike and the mating of the sidecar was top notch. The quality and comfort of the sidecar also top notch. 

Richard, as you experienced, wiring of a Sidecar to the bike, or bike to the Sidecar, is typically a rat's nest of wires, done poorly, by 93.14 % of sidecar installers in North America.

I, as well as others, can tell you of horror stories of terrible, terrible wiring jobs done by so-called professional Sidecar manufacturers.

Currently, only Mike Paull at LBS-USA in Poulsbo, Washington....and myself....do absolute perfection on wiring a bike to a Sidecar.

Mike Paull uses the aerospace engineer method, where as I use the KISS method, and both of us do it right, so it doesn't fail... doesn't damage the OEM wiring on the bike, and doesn't fall apart on the Road of Bones in Eastern Europe.

After seeing how Hannigan Sidecars did the wiring on their showroom model Goldwing w/ Hannigan Dream Sidecar....I told them that I would deliver my bike to them with the bike side of the wiring already completed, so all they had to do was plug in their Sidecar wiring connector to the connector I had ready for them....on the bike.

Probably a good move. That said, the Harley I have been working with seems to have covered 77K miles with the old wiring.  Not sure of that. The Hannigan could have been added later in its life. Anyway, after I overhauled the wiring I don't blow acc fuses anymore. Not sure why Harley considers its electric speedo and accessory, either.

 I have a couple Hannigans One came from them when the bike was new. I don't want to not knock them, but I wasn't totally impress as I thought I would be with their mounts and sidecar and I leave at that. But like I always tell everybody there is always room for improvements. I think that goes with everything maybe I just too picky.