I see a few bikes with side cars, and was just curious as to how the bike handles with the side car attached. Thought I'd see if anyone on the forum had experience riding one, what model of bike and and their thoughts on how they handle.

 

My Son in Law has a sidecar attached to a "Moo-Glide". My daughter rode in it that thing for about 5 miles and got on the back of the bike. It came in handy on the way home because we stopped and filled it up with beer.

 

All depends on how well the work is done and if short cuts were taken.
The two rigs I have handle very well. They do Drive different than riding a motorcycle. But you can switch back and forth with no problem doing either.
Had one on a 1996 Fatboy
Have one on a 2015 HD Street 750 and one on a 2017 RGU

 

My wife and I both have added sidecars to our bikes after many years and many thousands of miles of riding on two wheels. Hers is an '05 FLHT with a Hannigan Classic hack, mine is a '17 FLTRU with a Hannigan Super Sport hack. Both ride and handle great, but it is a different experience than riding on two wheels, you don't lean through turns, you steer. Braking and acceleration inputs affect a sidecar rig differently than on two wheels. Riding a sidecar rig is a blast once you get used to the differences.

 

If you want the whole skinny on sidecars, you can read Hal Kendall's books on the United Sidecar site. He writes up how to set them up and drive them.

Sidecar books

 

Thanks for the input !

 

On Saturday we returned from a trip of 3,000 miles with ours. The first time we took it on that long a ride in one trip. Ours is setup so wife can ride in the sidecar or on the bike. Surprised me when wife rode 90% of the time in the sidecar. We met all of the goals we had for the trip and really enjoyed it.
I can not stress enough that if you do it , do it right. No short cuts.

 

I have one which I am riding for one year. First time I face a problem with this and I don't handle it in the right way, but now it is perfect for me.

 

I have an 11 Limited with factory Harley sidecar. The last year Harley manufactured the sidecar to match the bike.
We took it from Florida to Kentucky last year and had a blast with it. The wife rides in the sidecar or the back of the bike depending on her mood
The ride is different as mentioned for sure but I love it.

 

2017 Slim S
I just finished a 3,000 mile run through BC, Idaho and Oregon. The challenge I have is trying to keep up with my friends on their dual-sports in the mountains. It has taken several years to learn the tricks - its more than just driving the car. With the sidecar, you are using engine braking/throttle a lot more (my mantra is "right on; left off"). It's fun, especially as you see your driving improve. I can now keep my friends in sight - I'm a little slower than them in tight, low speed turns (signed at 20 & 30 mph ... that's as fast as I can go). As the postings get faster (45mph and up), I can keep up. So on twisty roads, I fall further and further behind, catching up on the straight's. My problem is that I haven't been able to deactivate the tip-over sensor and at low speeds I have to be careful, or the engine shuts down - fixing it will be this winter's project. The car itself has become a hobby, of its own. I've removed the battery from the bike and replaced it with an AGM car battery in the car. I fabricated a dash and added voltmeter and ammeter in the car ... and a clock. I really recommend trying out a sidecar. I'm loving it.