Planning a long trip from Scotland through France, Spain, Morocco, Italy, Greece and Turkey next year. Hitching up a sidecar to my Harley. We are in our mid to late 50s and wondering if anyone has experienced long distance with a sidecar.Seeking info, tips, advice and stories.

My son is in his early 30s and a couple of years ago he and 5 others rode two Ural motorcycle sidecar units from London to Beijing (accompanied by a back-up Landrover with another complete Ural in parts). I think that, apart from the struggle to obtain visas into China, their main problems revolved around the fragility of the Urals rather than sidecar units per se. I'm sure he'd be happy to share his experiences with you, if you think it would be useful. Please let me know and I'll put you in touch.
Neil.

Thanks for the reply..yes I would like to info on any of their experiences...good/bad also any adice. Having said that I dont intend to go as far as China...but certaily around the Greece/Turkey locations would be great.

Been a few years since I rode a bike and chair...just for fun then and now. My right leg is not as strong as it was and although my Harley is great solo but with two up and loads of gear...not so sure I can hold it up when I stop. ha ha ha ..just imagine it stopping then falling over just when there is a load of spectators around. So the idea came why not hitch on a sidecar..takes all the gear as well as it not falling over.

OK...apologies for babbling on

my e mail is in the link above

email address in post removed by Grant - see http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/ubb/faq.shtml#notify for why. Use the link above to contact directly, or just post a reply.


[This message has been edited by Grant Johnson (edited 21 October 2004).]

I recently added a sidecar to a '93 Moto Guzzi with the intention of having a heavy duty touring rig for my wife and I. I now believe I will have to convert to a leading link front end in order to make the rig easy enough to steer for long distance touring. However, in your case, you may find that a reconfigured triple tree will reduce the trail enough. Since you mentioned that your bike is a HD you have more options. There are several companies who offer reduced trail forks for your bike. Good luck.
Bob

A sidecar is a fun way to go. My 60+ year old aunt and her boyfried stopped in with their harley on a multi state trip...they were having a great time. I have travelled north of the arctic circle and as far south as mexico city with a sidecar rig. Great experience with lots of interaction with the locals. The tips on steering rake reduction via triple clamps or leading link front end are very valid. I notice lots of work involved steering on higher crowned or rough roads. The nice part is you don't tip over and gravel is fun to drive on. Do a few tire tests, rear tires can wear out amazingly fast depending on speed and load and how your rig is set up.My favorite tires are dunlop 491 and metzler 880. It's snowing here in montana USA and I am just fabricating a new sidecar for my old 650 suzuki. Take a few moments to think about which side of the bike you are mounting the sidecar on if you have a choice, I have ridden my own rigs on both sides and it is really different and safety is a factor. Have a nice trip.

Hi,
I had a Chang Jiang 750 with sidecar which I bought expressly for long-range touring with lotsa gear. The bike itself (bought new!) was a total piece of junk... Three years after *giving* it away, I still regret that I ever bought it.

BUT, the sidecar was great. I could load it with all kinds of luxuries like a decent tent, proper cooker, an inflatable boat in case I found any whitewater for R&R, and the bike would haul it all on steep gravel roads, no problem, even with a passenger on back. One bonus was to be able to carry an entire spare wheel - no roadside puncture repair for me!

Some points to consider:

# Get leading link forks - it dramatically improves the handling, cornering etc. There is a place in the US that supplies leading link forks for different bikes. Google will help ya find them.

# Get the toe-in and camber set up properly or else expect rapid tyre wear

# Use the sidecar to carry gear and put your passenger on the bike. My wife would say, 'The sidecar's for dogs...'

# If the sidecar has parts that can't be welded by some backwoods mechanic, take spares. This lesson I learned when I fractured the rear axle bracket out in the boonies after being airborne for a short time with a loaded sidecar. I limped to the next farm (15 miles of bad dirt) where the farmer looked at the bracket and shook his head. It was some kind of weird alloy that the Chang was full of... After three days of being marooned in the boonies, had to borrow the farmer's XT and ride 200kms to the nearest tar road to hook up with a courier out in the desert. Then on the way out of boonieland, at night, the rotor failed - grrrr. And I had room to carry a whole spare alternator...

#Riding with sidecar on dirt roads is FAB!

Have a good trip.

cheers

Paul

Stories of side car travels:

http://www.americanborders.org/
http://www.aedst.org/~mullie/
http://sidetour.free.fr/e_index.php
http://worldtriumph.co.uk/

In French:
http://www.trophymotos.com/site/company/story.html

If you are in west France give me a mail.

__________________
Simon Kennedy
Around the world 2000-2004, on a 1993 Honda Transalp