Sidecar - Now I can ride ALL winter

Do you have pictures yet!? Your setup seems really cool. Buddy of mine wants to add a street car to his Streetglide...

Sorry about that I just edited my first post. Forgot to compress those two photos and so they didn't go through. I'll add a few more here. I was lucky that Liberty sidecar company is here in this city. A few others are also but Liberty turned out to be my favorite so I got it. If your friend decides to add an outfit be prepared to wait. These things get hand built. Also - passengers love them so be aware you'll spoil your significant other if you add one of these things to your bike.

now if you can move the controls to the sidehack you will be all set

Archon,
If this is your first hack, you should do some practice in parking lots for stopping and fast starts. Get familiar with the handleing in emergency situations.
After you have ridden it awhile have the shop check all the attachments for alignment and tightness.
And enjoy. Cool looking hack.

Very nice looking. It must be cool as you don't see many these days.

When I was a kid one of our neighbors had what I think was and old BMW and he had this HUGE Beagle that he would take in the side car, they went everywhere together. That dog and him were one of many great experiences, and memory's with "bikers" when I was young.

Have fun on it and it does look very nice. I congratulate you on learning another riding discipline that few will.

LittleBear said:

Archon,
If this is your first hack, you should do some practice in parking lots for stopping and fast starts. Get familiar with the handleing in emergency situations.
After you have ridden it awhile have the shop check all the attachments for alignment and tightness.
And enjoy. Cool looking hack.

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I've been very cautious with this and plan on taking the training course for it as soon as I can. What I've been doing in the meanwhile is reading the David Hough sidecar book (the "yellow" book) each evening and practicing different maneuvers in my free time. I've already been practicing emergency braking on straights and on left and right turns but thanks for suggesting it anyhow. Your idea of having the shop check the connections is a good idea. Thanks.

LAF said:

Very nice looking. It must be cool as you don't see many these days.

When I was a kid one of our neighbors had what I think was and old BMW and he had this HUGE Beagle that he would take in the side car, they went everywhere together. That dog and him were one of many great experiences, and memory's with "bikers" when I was young.

Have fun on it and it does look very nice. I congratulate you on learning another riding discipline that few will.

Click to expand...

Thank you for your friendly thoughts. I don't have a dog or I would put it in the sidecar. Probably just as well since the wife really likes it. It is fun and people really notice it. What surprises me is all the cagers that smile and act friendly. What is it with this? I usually got scowls from them when the Road King was solo.

Archon said:

Thank you for your friendly thoughts. I don't have a dog or I would put it in the sidecar. Probably just as well since the wife really likes it. It is fun and people really notice it. What surprises me is all the cagers that smile and act friendly. What is it with this? I usually got scowls from them when the Road King was solo.

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Very cool looking...

I think folks identify and romanticize the sidecar with a bygone era in this country.

There is only one I have seen in my area. A guy has a SE Electraglide and painted the sidecar orange just like the bike and it looks fantastic. I have often thought it would be handy for touring as you could take a little more with you.

I would definitely prefer a sidecar over a trike...although I am sure they handle totally different.

Thanks for sharing the pics...

Motorvation Hack here

Welcome to the worl of hacks. I've got a Motorvation Royal Roadster on my 83 Electra Glide. Changed OEM shovel (80 cu in) to a 93 cu in S&S. Now it has plenty of power and fair gas mileage.

The only bad thing about a hack rig is tire life goes way down. Rear bike tires seem to go 8,000 if your lucky and front tire about the same. Front tires seem to get cupped due to that nice low end shimmy.

go to www.sidecar.com and check them out

Archon,looks cool.

Would you mnd giving some idea of what these cost?

Is installation a big deal, or easy (I might be able to change the oil if I had too).

thx, greg

Looks good. I like the idea about moving the controls into the hack. That would freak out some people. Could you imagine riding down the street in the hack with the bike unmanned, screaming like the machine was out of control...

I saw on the news today that Seattle has had 30 straight days of rain. My condolences.

gbenner said:

Archon,looks cool.

Would you mnd giving some idea of what these cost?

Is installation a big deal, or easy (I might be able to change the oil if I had too).

thx, greg

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Well I think you need to get ready for some sticker shock so be really sure you want one. I figure that cost wise I've strapped a new Sportster onto the side of the Road King. My costs for everything that you see - sidecar, matching paint job, raked trees, labor for above and set up costs at a total of about $9K. Set up was, I think, $450. Check the Liberty web site for specifics. I chose to have them do it cause everything I read suggested it was far better to have an experienced person do it then spend weeks getting it right. Also, the rear top mount to the Road King goes just in front of the side panel of the bike and requires welding a special plate on. I can't weld so I'd have to haul the car and the bike around to get this done. So it was simpler to have the manufacturer do it all. It was worth that added expense as it drives very smoothly.

fourstar said:

Looks good. I like the idea about moving the controls into the hack. That would freak out some people. Could you imagine riding down the street in the hack with the bike unmanned, screaming like the machine was out of control...

I saw on the news today that Seattle has had 30 straight days of rain. My condolences.

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Yes the rain is really getting on my nerves. The sidecar has no problem with it but the windshield, faceshield and glasses all eventually become impossible to see with and going home in the dark makes it worse.

I saw a sidecar outfit that Dauntless Motors (another manufacturer in the Seattle area) was building for a handicapped guy. The controls were from the sidecar and went to a Moto Guzzi automatic (I thought only Honda 750s had been automatics). It wasn't done yet but was a really interesting idea. I'm sure it'll freak out people when it goes down the road that way. Oh... one more thing, the sidecar was on the left side because that's where the controls are. Normally American sidecars are on the right. This one was on the left like a British sidecar outfit. I bet the average cager is going to think its a robot device at first.

The Rain... The Rain..................

I'm not trying to belabor this thread with unnecessary appendages but I just have to express my feelings about Seattle's winter. Seems that I was expecting a normal winter and all the easy riding a sidecar would bring. But wouldn't you know it... the weather is atrocious. I have found out that the sidecar on my Road King holds me up in even the worst of weather but what has happened is that with the endless rain I find that the windshield, faceshield, glasses, all fog up and make the riding difficult. This winter really sucks!!!

Archon, I just sent you an e mail. I just pruchased a new ural retro ans road it from Bellingham to LA.got home last Saturday. Lots of weather, as you know.

My SO had fibrimyalgia, and has been unable to ride much on the back any more. The sidecar worked perfect for her:wootdnc:

Really had a blast. in process of ordering one for my RK from Liberty.

Check you e mail, would love to talk live with you

greg