Harley-Davidson to end sidecar production

[YruiY]

Have you guys hear about this?

Harley to end sidecar production upon completion of remaining 2010 model year
orders.
JULY 22,2010
Over the years, we have seen retail demand for Harley-Davidson® sidecars
decline. This decline accelerated following the introduction of the
Harley-Davidson Tri-Glide™, which is part of the Trike family, a new family that
continues to grow. As a result, Harley-Davidson has made the decision to exit
the sidecar business. The Company will end sidecar production upon completion of
remaining 2010 model year orders. Effective immediately, no new sidecar orders
will be taken.
Harley-Davidson is committed to continued support of its dealer network and
customer support for sidecar owners. We will support current customers by
continuing to honor warranty repairs and supply service parts and technical
support.
The sidecar was first made available to Harley-Davidson customers in 1914 and
will remain a proud part of the Company's history.

Let the marketing department of Ural go wild on this one.

[snowpatrol44]

great....more for us

[Gummiente]

That's news to me, but it's not really surprising when you consider how well their new trike is selling. Their new Canadian made trike, btw. Lehmann Trikes is based in Alberta and won the contract to make the trikes for Harley out of their Spearfish, South Dakota facility. Anyway, sidecars still have that "awkward, heavy and dangerous" stigma attached to them which is why I believe they have never sold well in Canada or the USA. Ural is an exception, but it has never been in direct competition with Harley for the sidecar market share; the two rigs are just too totally different in design and purpose.

[pidgey]

It's unfortunate that sidecars are a best a niche market in North America, given their popularity in Europe. When it's time to 'upgrade' from two wheels to three, most riders never even consider a sidecar and just hop on a trike.
A damn good bike and sidecar rig can be had for $20K. For a trike, double that and some......... Check out prices here, http://www.trikezone.com/Honda.htm just nuts.

[snowpatrol44]

just look at the Ural for a minute...

why would you consider anything else. with all of the things that it can do, all of the luggage space that you have and the price. you can see all of the rediculus things we have put in the tub and rack of these things and there is no way you could do that on a trike. in the end, the trike is more of a motorcycle with two wheels at the back and the Ural, is like a bike with a tub. like the truck of the car world.

[berger]

just look at the Ural for a minute...

why would you consider anything else. with all of the things that it can do, all of the luggage space that you have and the price. you can see all of the rediculus things we have put in the tub and rack of these things and there is no way you could do that on a trike. in the end, the trike is more of a motorcycle with two wheels at the back and the Ural, is like a bike with a tub. like the truck of the car world.

Ok, who are you and how did you hack into Antonio's account!?!?! Veronica, is that you???

[Sidecar Bob]

When it was obvious that the US couldn't avoid becoming directly involved in WWII, the US Army put out a tender for a vehicle suitable for transporting up to 3 soldiers + gear over any terrain. The finalists were an early prototype Jeep from Willys and a sidecar outfit from Harley. Trials were held (observed by the people who were to make the final decision) in an overgrown ravine near a military base. The outfit ended up towing the jeep back to the base after it broke down.

They decided to buy Jeeps instead of sidecars anyway because they took less skill to drive.

I guess you could say that was a sign of things to come - with small, cheap cars (including VW Beetles and mil surplus Jeeps) becoming readily available after the war, many families that would have bought outfits before the war bought cars instead (after all, Dad got to sit inside, out of the weather, with the family too).

I'm afraid those of us who are willing to learn the skills and brave the elements to use an outfit for basic transportation are a dying breed.

BTW: I had a trike for a couple of years. It was much easier to drive in good weather than an outfit, but when the snow on the road hadn't been plowed yet it wasn't. Trikes are 3 track vehicles - If the track width is wide enough you might be able to get the drive wheels into the tracks left by other vehicles but the front wheel will be in the deepest part of the snow and if the trike is narrow enough and enough other vehicles have been down the road before you, you might be able to get the front wheel and one of the drive wheels into the clear track but the other drive wheel will be in the deep snow. With a sidecar its easy to keep the drive and steering wheels both in the clear track...

[snowpatrol44]

no that was me, all i can say is....Must have been the rally
at least judging from my previous posts you will see that i'm not being biased when I say those things.

[1-up]

At one time Harley-Davidson was the primary builder of V-engined motorcycles.
And their primary competition was Indian. Times change, other
importers brought in machines from overseas. Some of these early machines
were suitable for sidecars however the availability of
low=priced automobiles. cheap petrol and good wages, often made people
rethink the idea of a sidecar; they went and purchased a BMC Mini.

These ays seeing a motorcycle with any form of sidecar is unusual. The market in
the United States although limited still caters to a number of companies
that manufacture chairs suitable for H-D and other machines.

Then too there is the climate, they in the south in places can ride year
round, unlike here. And
as others have noted, some of us are just too darn big and tall to fit
comfortably in any small vehicle be it a sidecar or a Mini.

A Ural is out for me, the motorcycle is physically small, and too so is a
Harley-Davidsom.was surprised when a then friend of a few years ago
allowed me to sit on his then new Ultra Glide. it was tiny! In comparison
to my somwwhat large Honda Gold Wing.

Given the continuing recession in the USA, H-D removing sidecar production is as mcuh
perhaps an economic factors of the times as anything.

IN the meantime, understand a sidecar is be a shell in which to
accomodate one's butt, supported with a form of frame and related.

There shall be sidecars of one shape or another around for years to come;
they just will not be a primary mode of travel.

[Gummiente]

There shall be sidecars of one shape or another around for years to come; they just will not be a primary mode of travel.

I think, though, that the market will be ever shrinking and some manufacturers will not be around even five years from now. Harley pretty much nailed it with their trike, as they can't keep up with the demand, while Can-Am seems to have hit a home run with their Spyder. Victory has a Lehmann trike available as a factory option and I wouldn't be surprised if Honda jumps on the bandwagon and finally recognises the growing market for three wheeled conversions of their Gold Wing.

Sidecars will never completely go away, but I think that eventually they will become rarities much like the original VW Beetle.

[Sidecar Bob]

Something else to keep in mind: Harley hasn't sold an actual sidecar outfit since EPA regs for motorcycles came in. Harleys barely meet EPA on their own and when you add the sidecar they do not pass. Up to now you have been able to buy a Harley bike and a Harley sidecar and have the dealer mount it for you.

When there are no more Harley sidecars in stock those who want them will have to buy Liberty sidecars instead and that will help keep Liberty in business so it all evens out in the long run.

[Gummiente]

Harleys barely meet EPA on their own

I gotta call bullshit on that one. They meet EPA regs with no more problems than any other manufacturer and, unlike BMW for example, do not need to employ catalytic converters to do so. HD's are set up to run lean and hot - just like every other bike, including our beloved Urals. Which need catalytic converters, btw.

[Sidecar Bob]

The problem with the Harley sidecar outfits & the EPA (as I understand it) is that while the bikes pass without sidecars, when you add a sidecar to any bike it burns substantially more fuel. For example, Mr.H normally went well over 250 Km on a fill up without a sidecar (if I took it really easy 290+) but with the sidecar the best I have been able to get was a bit over 200 with an average around 195.

Not many bikes would pass the EPA tests while pulling a sidecar so not many bikes come from the factory with one. Urals pass while pulling sidecars, probably only because they have the cats.

Oh, and Harleys do have Cats. They have been putting them in California spec & CVO bikes for a few years and starting in 2010 they are in the whole line (look it up). This has become necessary as the EPA tightens up their regulations.

[Gummiente]

The problem with the Harley sidecar outfits & the EPA (as I understand it) is that while the bikes pass without sidecars,

Once again, you're going way off on a tanget. My post was specifically directed towards ONE of the comments you made - I even quoted at the beginning of my response. Hoping against hope that you would see that and stay on topic, but nope.

No argument about them not meeting EPA standards with a sidecar attached, but I hadn't addressed that point yet. Don't really have to, because it's a no brainer anyway - add a sidecar, burn more fuel.

As for cats on the 2010 lineup, well no shit. But you didn't mention a specific year, only a generalisation. And show me ANY bike that meets or has met California specs - which are separate from the EPA specs that your original comment was about - for the last 5 years without requiring cats. Which still has bugger all to do with the comment of yours that I had addressed. You know, the one I quoted at the start of my last post?

[Sidecar Bob]

Harleys barely meet EPA on their own

I gotta call bullshit on that one. They meet EPA regs with no more problems than any other manufacturer

I didn't say nobody else had to work to meet the regs. Reducing emissions is hard work and costs a lot so Harley (like everyone else) works as close to the limits of what the law allows at the time of manufacture as they can and when a sidecar is attached they no longer meet the regs. Unfortunately, sidecar sales don't account for enough volume for it to be worth the cost of improving emissions to the point where an outfit meets the regs so they simply stopped selling outfits from the factory.

unlike BMW for example, do not need to employ catalytic converters to do so.

As I said, HD needs cats to meet the 2010 regs too.

HD's are set up to run lean and hot - just like every other bike,

Including my '84 and '79 engined Hondas. They have been doing that since EPA regs were first enacted. But as time went on the EPA tightened the regs so that now it isn't enough and cats are becoming more or less standard equipment.

including our beloved Urals. Which need catalytic converters, btw.

I would not be surprised to learn that a solo Ural could pass without the cats....

Anyway, Harley has considered sidecars to be just another accessory for a long time now and it isn't too surprising to heat that they have decided that they don't sell enough of them to merit the costs of the shop space required to make them. As I said, Harley owners who want a sidecar have other options so the total number of sidecars sold for use on Harleys probably won't decrease significantly because of this.

BTW: Don't ask me why, but converting a bike to a trike has about half of the effect on fuel economy that adding a sidecar does.....

[Marauder_Pilot]

When it was obvious that the US couldn't avoid becoming directly involved in WWII, the US Army put out a tender for a vehicle suitable for transporting up to 3 soldiers + gear over any terrain. The finalists were an early prototype Jeep from Willys and a sidecar outfit from Harley. Trials were held (observed by the people who were to make the final decision) in an overgrown ravine near a military base. The outfit ended up towing the jeep back to the base after it broke down.

They decided to buy Jeeps instead of sidecars anyway because they took less skill to drive.

That's not entirely true. That particular trial was done with a Bantam BRC, the predecessor to the Jeep (Bantam was the only company to respond to the call for a lightweight, 4x4, 4-person-which disqualifies a hack right there-truck, but didn't have the production capability to produce enough. The contract was opened up again, and Willys, using a derivative of the Bantam design that would become the Willys MB and Ford GPW, the actual Jeep, won), and wasn't done to determine what was better overall-Jeeps did a million things during WWII that a hack could never do. I don't mean in terms of driving performance, I mean just not physically able to do, like be converted to an ambulance, comm vehicle, ammo carrier and a million other things.

[/Jeepgeek]

Anyways, I didn't even know Harley still made hacks, I thought Ural was the only way to get a hack in Canada.

[Sidecar Bob]

Ural is the only manufacturer of sidecar outfits that sells their products in Canada, but there are a number of companies that sell sidecars that you can attach to your bike.

[kenjh]

I have my harley sidecar,didn't know they made a trike!! wouldn't buy one from them anyway....still looking for a chair for my neeper'..an to he** with a new bike and injectors and cat'sI will stay with my old repairable vintage toys ...I have the tools and the books to screw the bike back together....I hope..

[nc tank girl]

I've gotta agree with Kenjh...I'd like to see anyone fixing one of those harley trikes on the side of the road, by yourself with only what you're carrying!!! Can't see it happening