Owner Installation

[hogcowboy]

I've just chosen one of two sidecar forums to ask the question, how difficult is it for your average joe blow to install a sidecar on a bike that has never had one on it? Is there a part that really requires someone that knows more than fastening bolts to do? It looks doable but I'm guessing I could get in deep dodo quickly. I'm thinking seriously about going this route rather than trike conversion just so I can keep my saddlebags.

And if I got it painting from some factory the color my bike is, I'm thinking I'd be 95% there provided I could actually get the thing installed to where it wouldn't kill me right off the bat. But I'm not sure if there is something that needs to be done with the forks or not. This is how little I know about it but guessing there might be as it sure is with a trike conversion. But I am getting further by starting to ask more about these sidecars.

[FuzzyWuzHe]

I'm thinking I'd be 95% there provided I could actually get the thing installed to where it wouldn't kill me right off the bat.

There's the rub ... being safe. It's like installing a rake kit, do I think I could do it ... sure ... I rebuilt nuclear reactors for a living, but, would I feel comfortable that I didn't miss something? I did the replace of the steering head bearings on a Gold Wing and had to "make tools" to get it done. After I was done I paid the Honda dealer to "check my work". Probably would of been cheaper to have them do it in the first place. In the end, what I did was correct, but, I felt better knowing they said so.

One of the guys in my Bible Study has a Street Glide with a sidecar. It was purchased and installed by Harley Davidson because he didn't want to void the warrantee on his Street Glide.

Like you, I don't have a clue what is involved in the "adjustments" after the install. He told me even though the Dealer that installed it had done many, it still had to go back several times for "tweaking" to get it to where he felt safe going down the road.

He also said that riding a bike with a side car, was like nothing he'd ever done, it's tough at first and took him a long time to "get the hang of it" (his words). He had ridden a tri glide and one of those trike add kits (where you end up with extra wheels in the rear but still have the two the bike came with) and decided he wanted the classic look of a side car. He said the learning curve was huge and took him like 2k miles to relax.

Now, he will show off with it ... he does tighter and tighter circles with the side car wheel up in the air .. LOL ... pretty freaky to watch, but, he claims it's fairly safe. Guess it's like doing a wheelie, if you got three wheels, why on earth would you want one of them in the air .. LOL. For the record, I've never tried a wheelie, I'm kind of afraid that if I did, I might like it and want to do it all the time ... ... can't be good for the trike ... and I always wondered how do you see where your going ... and where you are putting the front wheel down.

[rhino 2]

I learned late in life that there are certain things you can do yourself , And then there are certain things that should be left to the professionals to do......Sidecar insulation being one of the jobs better left for the professionals....

[hogcowboy]

^^^^ That's what I figured.

[Sidecarbill]

You need to call someone like DMC or someone that manufacturers sidecars. You need bike specific mounts. If they have them it should basically just bolt on. I just installed this sidecar. Basically everything is homemade. But it would easily transfer to another bike same model and year. I'd call around if i were you. Get the straight scoopj

[Ozarkryder]

We had a hack for the first few years I owned a 1990 FLHS I had until last year. If you get the proper mounts most of the mechanical bits are pretty straightforward. At that time it was easy to tap into the lighting for the sidecar brake light. Things might be different with the newer computer controlled CAN bus electrical systems. There was a connector from the main harness to the rear lights that a "T" was inserted. Hooking up the brake was more involved, also a "T" from the rear brake reservoir, after it was added the brakes needed to be bled and adjusted, and again if the chair was removed and/or reinstalled. There is also some degree of tilt of the bike from vertical, and some toe-in of the sidecar to the bike. You can most likely do most of the installation yourself, but for some of the set up having an experienced sidecar tech will be much easier and safer, and they can also help you with some of the idiosyncrasies of piloting a sidecar rig.

[hogcowboy]

We had a hack for the first few years I owned a 1990 FLHS I had until last year. If you get the proper mounts most of the mechanical bits are pretty straightforward. At that time it was easy to tap into the lighting for the sidecar brake light. Things might be different with the newer computer controlled CAN bus electrical systems. There was a connector from the main harness to the rear lights that a "T" was inserted. Hooking up the brake was more involved, also a "T" from the rear brake reservoir, after it was added the brakes needed to be bled and adjusted, and again if the chair was removed and/or reinstalled. There is also some degree of tilt of the bike from vertical, and some toe-in of the sidecar to the bike. You can most likely do most of the installation yourself, but for some of the set up having an experienced sidecar tech will be much easier and safer, and they can also help you with some of the idiosyncrasies of piloting a sidecar rig.

Yeah, the canbus thing is an issue. I was hoping I could do it myself and learn a little bit about piloting the thing in my relative safe place. Picking one up 200 miles away and getting home is a little daunting.