Some club outfits

When I had a property in Florida I bought a brand new Harley outfit in 2007- what a performance that was. The factory was on strike then. When you order a "Hack" sidecar outfit in the States they come from 2 different factories and the Stealership puts the 2 bits together? Question to the stealership have you got a technician who can do the work- of course we can Sir give us your money. Gave a deposit and went back to UK, returned 3 months later and rang them have you got it," We have the bike" would you like to pick it up......."No" I will pick the bike and sidecar up. A week later a whiney salesman saying can I pay for the bike as he wants his commision....."No".Eventually the outfit is ready, pay and pickup and on the ride home not impressed as it is pulling to the right giving me shoulder pain, it went back 3 times and on the 3rd time I got a friend in the UK who could write American to explain how to set up an outfit and gave that to the technician and it was fine after that. Fine did I say....ALSO.... shortly after taking delivery I was checking things over and was horrifed to see that the underneath of the chair has lots of cracks in it, so the stealership had it back so a grown up from the company could inspect it......they replaced the chair. Yes that is a club badge on the front fairing.

HarleyAirstream2 018.jpg
 
Paul P. said:
Was there a brake on the sidecar wheel..? if so, how operated..? (just curious)
Click to expand...
There was a hydralic disc brake and I had to ask for all the parts they had swapped out...it took a few days for all the parts to be "found". I cannot remember if it was linked to the hand brake or footbrake, but it did entail installing a larger master cylinder. Have looked in my parts book and it is not listed
 
sidecarnut said:
There was a hydralic disc brake and I had to ask for all the parts they had swapped out...it took a few days for all the parts to be "found". I cannot remember if it was linked to the hand brake or footbrake, but it did entail installing a larger master cylinder. Have looked in my parts book and it is not listed
Click to expand...
50-odd years ago, one of my mates had a plunger BSA A10 outfit with a sports sidecar. As I recall (but it was a long time ago), it was set up with transverse extensions welded to the brake pedals (left foot brake on the BSA, of course) so that if he hit the bike brake, the extension pushed down on the sidecar brake pedal, but he could also use his foot to operate the sidecar brake pedal extension separately on left hand corners.

EDIT
I should add that, back then, many outfits didn't have sidecar brakes.
 
Last edited:
When I visited Watsonian Squire about 15 years ago they were still operating the sidecar brake mechanically, I think they also offered the option of hydraulic as well. The problem these days with hydraulic brakes is the bikes hydraulics can have ABS and be linked to the bikes computer and then the fun really starts.
 
My first big bike was a 1956, 600cc Norton 19S with sidecar. Lots of fun, if a bit slow, until the sidecar wheel broke off where there was a casting to lift the axil high enough for the 19 inch wheel. You could see rust on the break where it had been slowly cracking. When talking to older fellers about it they said you had to look out for that happening, shame nobody mentioned it before I was slung up a bank, followed by a instant U turn when the right hand footrest dug in.

If you go back to the previous page there is a picture of a 19S, they have a stroke longer than the big Panthers with the Norton being 113mm. This is eclipsed by the Harley KH engines, the go fast sidevalve which has a stroke of 115.9mm and would put out a claimed 38 horsepower at 5,000 revs which is some serious spinning. My 19S would get distressed at around 4,000 revs (about 80 mph) and pop its pushrod seals.

I've not found a longer stroked road bike than the KH although there were some monster things built for cycle pacing way back. If you know of one I'd be pleased to know.

There was a sidecar brake operated by a foot pedal next to the bikes rear brake (outboard of it). There was a swiveling/pivoting piece which could be moved by foot to lock both pedals together or they could be used separately. It was a Watsonian chair and chassis and the sidecar brake assembly looked factory made.
 
Last edited:
garethr said:
50-odd years ago, one of my mates had a plunger BSA A10 outfit with a sports sidecar. As I recall (but it was a long time ago), it was set up with transverse extensions welded to the brake pedals (left foot brake on the BSA, of course) so that if he hit the bike brake, the extension pushed down on the sidecar brake pedal, but he could also use his foot to operate the sidecar brake pedal extension separately on left hand corners.

EDIT
I should add that, back then, many outfits didn't have sidecar brakes.
Click to expand...
A lot of sidecar outfits still don't have brakes fitted to the chair, bike brakes are a lot better these days which helps.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top