Harley Davidson Sidecar Experience

Adding a sidecar to a Harley and driving it is probably like trying to fly a helicopter with fixed wing skills. Its a different machine entirely. I've owned 3 Harleys; a '58, '79 and '83 with steel HD, Glass HD and steel Goulding. My best suggestion is to find a rig (any brand) in the classifieds, eBay, Craigslist and take it for a ride; preferably in a parking lot or some safe place. You may hate it. Its weird to make a right hand turn and if no one is in the car it can lift off and scare the crap out of you.

Sidecars work best with rigid frames. I used solid struts on my '58 and it handled the best of the bunch. It also had a sidecar fork; a special factory HD front end that was adjustable for rake/trail. It also had a steering damper built in. Everything else was "mushy". I'm told springers compensate for this r/t thing.

You might want to try a trike instead. It has a golf cart feel. Then again you may miss the leaning into the curves entirely, which is why I had a flexible center pivoting mount on my '83. Kept the "lean" but it was a handful at low speed. Ultimately, the sidecar was a novelty.

 

Several years ago I drove and rode in a harley sidecar attached to a dresser. I did not like it at all in either position. It is kind of cool but I did not like the experience.

 

I worked at a dealership in the service department for almost 10 years and can give you some input on the service and handling side of things.

First off, if you are going to get one, understand that they are quite heavy and handle different than anything 2 or 3 wheels you've ever ridden.

They are extremely sensitive to setup. The slightest amount of lean angle or alignment issues and you will be fighting the thing constantly. If they pull to the right or left on the highway, it will make your whole upper body hurt at the end of the day.
This can be corrected, but they typically require constant checking. We had a couple customers that put lots of miles on and they almost regularly needed alignments in the 5-10k mile range.
If you have a good tech to work on them or plan on learning it yourself, not a big deal. If you have a tech that hasnt worked on them, consider that.

If you plan on putting an HD sidecar on a touring platform (the only way Harley sidecars ever mounted) then you need to consider engine work. They are very heavy and a stock engine will barely get the bike out of its own way with a passenger on board.

I'm not sure what year the last year for a drum brake was on the sidecars, but make sure you get a newer one with a disc brake. The biggest reasons for this are 1.) The old drum brake setups were only compatible with DOT 5 brake fluid, so if you have a 2005 or newer bike that requires DOT 4, forget it without rebuilding the Drum components to newer seals that are DOT 4 compatible. And 2.) The drum brake is so much weaker than the stock motorcycle disc brakes that every time you hit that rear brake, it's gonna want to pull to one side. Annoying.

Not trying to scare you off, but these are things to consider when you're looking for one.
I would call them a "neat" experience, but not something that I would want to rider everyday. If you're looking for a daily rider, seriously consider a trike and your body will thank you for it.

 

One of my HD Sidecar rigs came with one less tooth on the drive sprocket so it would be easier to start/launch. Ultimately I went back to stock because it buzzed too much at highway speeds.

Setup is actually pretty easy. The sidecar wheel tows in to the bike slightly and bike leans away from the sidecar slightly. I use lengths of angle iron and a square as my "jig".

I have run cars with and w/o brakes. Nice to have but not a deal breaker if you find a nice unit. If I was to redo the experience I'd find a nice springer vintage setup with a spare tire mounted on a steel car and enjoy it on sunny days.

 

honestly, I think I'd go the trike route as well.

and Harley sells them, with a factory warranty!

2014 Tri Glide Ultra | Harley Trike | Harley-Davidson USA

edit: only one model, and it's $32k!

 

I have a 79 FLH with a sidecar. I bought it that way and didn't like it so it's hanging on the garage ceiling. The primary drive sprocket was as above and I changed it out. The triple tree was different too. Coolest thing about a sidecar is that you don't have to put your foot down....ever...you just steer it around, no balance required. People love to ride in the sidecar. I got over the novelty in about three days. YMMV