I'm curious about how a bike with a sidecar handles. Also a rough idea on cost. Reason being is I would love to be able to take my dogs for rides.
Sound crazy? Anyone ride with a pooch in a sidecar?

 

They pull to right on acceleration, and pull left on deceleration. No more counter steer, you have to turn them. You need pretty good upper body strength, especially if you ride a lot of winding roads.
Gas mileage goes down. I went from 45-50 MPG to low 30. Rear tire only goes 5,000 miles taking it easy. Run it hard or in a very strong head wind and it will wear out real fast.
If you don't have one with electric lean control, your arms will get tired due to road crown.
Huge amount of storage room available. Never have to worry about forgetting to put the kickstand down. Be prepared to get asked lots of questions every time you stop. Get your picture taken all the time when driving down the road. Yes, driving, you don't really ride it, you drive it. Sidecar rigs are very popular with dog lovers. See them a lot out there.
Cost can vary depending on make, accessories, new or used. Mine was $7,000 new in 2007. If your good mechanically you can install it yourself, if not add in another $1,000 or so for installation.

 

Thank you

 

Had a blast with mine! Everyone at work always wanted to go out to lunch with me when I would ride it in. I would head for their car and they would say "wha" I would reply "did you bring a helmet" they drove...every time. I found myself fighting the crown in the road all the time, thought is was misaligned but no. in fact I got very good at set up adjustments. went thru rear tires twice as fast(flat spotting center of tire).
I used to scare the crap out of friends taking sharp right turns(flying the hack).
anyways, it was fun and the fun got old at times like on long rides. do I miss it? no, not really. would I ever buy another? if my money tree ever drops a bunch of leafs...yeah maybe.
good luck if you buy one.

 

I built a trike out of a Softail Crossbones to carry my pooch. I did a trike for more neutral handling vs. a sidecar with all that weight hanging off to one side and the left/right pulling. The trike drives straight and easy and turns on a dime. The trike doesn't have the cargo/passenger capabilities of a sidecar but I only needed to haul an 8lb poodle and be able to lock up my riding gear when off the bike. May be something to consider depending on your requirements.

 

Wow that is really neat. Very creative. My beast are big. Zues is 120lbs all day long. German shepherds. I never liked a trike till I saw yours. I shouldn't rule one out though...with the condition of my back..I very well may have to look harder at one. Time will tell. If given the option...I would want it to be removable...without a ton of effort. So I could cruise solo.

I may be asking for more trouble than its worth. But a mere mention of the word "ride" at my house sends all the dogs scrambling to get out the front door to the official dog 4runner. a 99. They love rides.

Another thing is the bike noise....they get pretty upset when I fire up the RD350 in the garage. I wouldn't want them to go if they were uncomfortable. But then again getting a Shepherd to do something it doesnt want...they usually let me know by playing dead weight dog and dropping to the floor....making themselves twice as heavy somehow.

 

Sidecars are not for every buddy. At 59 my only transportation is my rig (motorcycle with sidecar) and I have never looked back. You ride a motorcycle and you drive a rig or trike. With a hack you can always go back to two wheels with little to no problem not like a trike.

I have been working on and riding Harley s none stop for over 42 years but only have been running a hack for about 14 months which in that time being my only transportation have put well over 7,000 miles on it. When I go camping I can take everything but the kitchen sink. When I go buy groceries not problem or many other things. I really like mine. Even with my poor heath I have no problem driving mine. If you want to make it a hack mule and never go back to two wheels a raked tree makes it much easier to steer. Harley triglide come from the factory with a rake tree.

As far as cost it is all up to you but like nothing on Harley s is cheap. I paid $3,000 grand for my 06 Harley hack and it still had the original tire on it. It is all in how it is set up and set up properly the drive just fine. Yes taking off and slowing down the do pull a LITTLE. I am so use to it I never think about it.

 

Here is a video a friend of mine made one day we went riding.

 

scott,
that trike is kickass!!! excellent job.

 

Hilux, a sidecar is definately what you need to safely haul larger dogs. While I've never driven a rig I have heard that aftermarket is the way to go vs. a HD sidecar handling wise because HD never added suspension to their cars even after the bikes got rear suspension. All aftermarket brands I have seen have some sort of suspension which will make the outfit more comfortableto drive and better handling. Also, once installed most people don't go back to two often due to the time and complexity of installation and alignment.

Starman, thanks for the complement!