Thinking about Sidecar?

I been riding for many years and consider myself to be a pretty good rider on 2 wheels. With that said Sidecars scare the heck out of me. But I love the look. I know they don't ride like a motorcycle and different than a trike. I saw some videos on youtube on how to negotiate one but never ridden one myself. What would you guys tell me? Safe or not. Steep learning curve? (I realize I'm on a sidecar forum for lovers of sidecars but honestly) Maybe you can tell me when you first started out and how you felt about it and the things you had to overcome.

Anyone out there to help Joe? I have limited experience. They can be tricky but once you know what you are doing different procedures for left and right turning. Got to remember how wide you are on the sidecar side. But I'm sure someone with experience will jump in here soon.

[QUOTE=madeinusa;444313]I been riding for many years and consider myself to be a pretty good rider on 2 wheels. With that said Sidecars scare the heck out of me. But I love the look. I know they don't ride like a motorcycle and different than a trike. I saw some videos on youtube on how to negotiate one but never ridden one myself. What would you guys tell me? Safe or not. Steep learning curve? (I realize I'm on a sidecar forum for lovers of sidecars but honestly) Maybe you can tell me when you first started out and how you felt about it and the things you had to overcome.

[/QUOTE]

Sidecar bill who's on this forum can probably help.....ThumbUp

I can't help with what it felt like to ride the first time. I was young nothin scared me back then. I got my first sidecar rig in 1970 had one ever since. To me sidecars are a love it or hate it type thing no middle ground. You'll need some parking lot practice plenty of room for mistakes. I would do the figure eights to get used to it. People think turning away from the sidecar is safe, because it looks like a big training wheel on a bicycle. Its actually the most dangerous and almost impossible to recover once it starts going over. Sidecar size and alignment are critical any mismatch and you're going to have a bad initial experience. If I was to buy a new rig I'd buy the bike I want and ship it to hannigan. I like their stuff and they seem to know how to set one up.

I pushed a Spalding side car over the road for a little over 3 years. The key to riding with a sidecar is the initial setup. You don't get it set up right you'll be fighting it from day one......AND crowned roads can be a real challenge.

The reason I went with the Spalding car was the clamp shell design. I was dating a young woman who had pretty bad MS and I could get her in a Harley sidecar but getting her out. Took 3-4 guys to lift her out and she was not a big girl, 5'9", 130#. Guess her and I put some 8-10,000 miles on it before we went out separate ways.

Guarantee you, you don't ride a sidecar rig, you drive it. That 3+ years gave my transition to a trike a breeze. I have thought several times that I should have gone back to a Spalding setup instead of spending the $$$$ I did on my TriGlide.

[URL="http://www.spaldingside.com"]www.spaldingside.com[/URL] My rig is several pics of their sales info. I was a great rig.

8~\o

Thanks guys for the info. I think I'll most likely build a Trike as I first planned to do. Never can hurt to ask questions so you don't say later on I should have done this instead. I still love the looks of the sidecar for sure. :clapping:

Not sure why Harley stopped sidecar production, but they were a long time factory option for the big twins.

I have a 90 FLHS with a later added 94 factory sidecar, that I'll keep & ride till the end.

You are right Joe, in that it handles way different than a trike but the learning curve to getting up & running with a sidecar comfortably is quick, if you want it to be.

Right hand turns take some getting used to. However they are safe if you as a rider have confidence in your riding ability, and have some amount of practice under your belt.

As Bill says above, initial setup is absolutely critical to your personal safety & enjoyment of riding it.

I have 4 years riding my home built sidecar rigs. The first was built with a '76 Moto Guzzi Convert for the tug. This has the fluid drive.

[URL=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/cleatusj/media/My%20Contraptions/sidevert_zpsm9ksmaul.jpg.html][IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v320/cleatusj/My%20Contraptions/sidevert_zpsm9ksmaul.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

The second one has both passenger body and rail for trails bike transport. The tug is a '93 Moto Guzzi Calli 3.

[URL=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/cleatusj/media/My%20Contraptions/flycascy_zps0gyrvyus.jpg.html][IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v320/cleatusj/My%20Contraptions/flycascy_zps0gyrvyus.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

[URL=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/cleatusj/media/Mobile%20Uploads/2017-03/20170317_105853_zpsf3f66vo6.jpg.html][IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v320/cleatusj/Mobile%20Uploads/2017-03/20170317_105853_zpsf3f66vo6.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

[URL=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/cleatusj/media/Mobile%20Uploads/20161204_142651_zpseabkznbl.jpg.html][IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v320/cleatusj/Mobile%20Uploads/20161204_142651_zpseabkznbl.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

[URL=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/cleatusj/media/flying1_zpsojj9da1x.jpg.html][IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v320/cleatusj/flying1_zpsojj9da1x.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

Practice them figure 8's and keep tightening the radius until the car comes up turning right. Then when you find the balance try it going left.

just ordered a sidecar from motorvations in iowa.5 month wait so reading alot. be ready about riding season.