Just curious about everyone's valued opinions on side cars. I have always thought how cool it would be to have one on my deluxe. I have done a little research on champion and liberty. Was hoping for a dealer closer to Indiana. Thanks

 

Check here and good luck!!!

https://www.hdforums.com/forum/hacke...railering-100/

 

There is a very active sidecar forum here with lots of knowledgeable people:

http://www.advrider.com/forums/forum...aysprune=&f=56

 

Not much sidecar activity on this forum. Don't have one on any of my Harleys, but have a Ural, should be some similarities. Don't expect it to handle like a motorcycle. It'll pull to the right braking, to the left accelerating, and you'll occasionally find other little handling surprises, like, yes, the bike can lean in a right turn, only it's the wrong way and the car is "flying" some distance off the pavement.

A motorcycle is more finesse to ride than strength but a side car is brute force to ride; properly aligned, the rig will want to track straight, but it'll work your arms on winding roads, and you sure won't want short handlebars.

I got the Ural because it was a cheap (used) way to try a sidecar, and something I could feel more comfortable riding with my 6 year old grandson. Didn't think I'd use it much for other than fun family rides, but find it's replacing the van when a two wheeler wouldn't, getting more use out of it than expected. One warning about Urals, it's not a bike for someone with no wrenching skills.

I'd love to have a sidecar rig on an S&S powered Tour Glide (I'm stuck on EVOs), but not ready to lose that two wheel ride on mine yet. When the old body has problems with two wheels, I'll sure consider adding a third, though. Unless I find another old Glide I can't live without...

 

Check out the United Sidecar forum, lots of good info there. http://www.sidecar.com/

I put a Hannigan sidecar

http://www.hannigantrikes.com/produc...decars/sidecar

on my wife's FLHT so she could take our dogs on trips.
I rode it a few times and liked it, so I got one for my Roadglide too. One thing I like about the Hannigan, it only takes about half an hour to take it off when I want to go back to two wheels, a little longer to put it back on. They make several different models, from lightweights to others that can carry two adults.

It's amazing how much cargo you can carry in a sidecar. We packed ours with everything we needed for a four month, 15,000 mile camping trip around the country and had room left over.

 

My father in-law was into them for many years in the '80's
Him and his wife both had one and would take month long trips with my wife and her sister.

He also raced a BMW with a sidecar at Bonniville and hold two records.

In 2005 he bought a new Road King.He rode it until his legs were getting to weak to safetly come to a stop.
At that point he bought a new Harley side car and mounted it.My mother in-law would ride in the car.
On the few trips we took together,he would have to stop for fuel twice as much as us on solo bikes.
Lack of power was another issue when the rig was loaded.
Steering could be difficult at times for him so he changed out the stock trees to 6 degree raked trees.
When on the road going fast into right-hand sweepers,My mother in-law would hang out the right side of the car to keep it from coming off the ground.

You just don't slap one on and ride.You will need practice to get use to a side car!

 

First time I rode one, wondered if something was wrong with it, just seemed to wiggle going down the road. Didn't take long for the automatic reflexes to kick in, seems like a solid ride now.

Flew the grandkid in the car when my daughter rode behind me like on a regular bike, didn't lean, even though I did. Didn't take much to lift the car that way. The little guy loved it, though, said that was really fun. Never lifted him with just the two of us. Empty, it'll fly easy, too. Rode one once with the tub off, just the frame and wheel, and that's dangerous, tips easy just changing lanes.

 

I put a Liberty sidecar on my 1995 FLHR back in 1998 and have had it ever since. Once our son was birn in 1994, we found ourselves riding less and less so i started researching sidecars. I rode a HD rig but wasn't happy with the "wiggleness". Then my wife and I were in the Seattle area on a vacation so we stopped by Liberty Sidecars. Pete is a fountain of knowledge on sidecars and he suggested we go over to Pyramid Ales to look at the FLHR based rig. Not only did we get to look at it but 10 minutes later we were told to take it for a spin. Nowhere near the "wiggleness" of the factory rig and I was sold. The requirement to weld a mount on for the 4th mounting point had initially put me off but after that test ride it was clearly worthwhile.

A few weeks after getting it mounted, and with little real practice, we were off to Milwaukee for the 95th Anniversary Homecoming. I learned what a drag it was on both power and drop in range but was sold. We made a few minor bolt on mods to gain a little more power but not much could be done about the lack of range. It is partly due to decreased gas mileage but also because it is not possible to fill the tank as full as when it is leaning on the sidestand.

Due to work it has mostly sat in the garage for the last 4 years but a few weeks ago I got it back out on the road. Looking at some more bolt in tweaks for more power and my wife and I are signed up for a couple of rallies this summer. My son is now 21 and 6'3" so he doesn't fit so well . Good luck!

Roger
The photo is from shortly after we finished the install.

 

Nice looking rig!

 

Check out Velorex. A no BS company no hidden or add on charges. Shipping includes crating it ect.
Ordered one last week for my FB