When I get to where I cant hold one up , I'm going one or the other ..

Always liked the hack over the trike myself ..

I almost had the HD hack put on when I ordered the '88 FLTC ..

I "know" several here who I have spoken to a bit about the hack , but only actually know one person who has a hack and he doesnt ride it very much .. I've played with his hack a little but not very much ( 92 Ultra ) ..

My questions are :

Fuel mileage ?? still decent or is it poor ??

Tires ?? I have heard that the hacks are pretty hard on tires , true or no ??

The trike conversions : any besides the HD that is a true three wheeler ??

Tire life on the rear tire on the trike ??

 

I have a 96 FLHT with a HD side car the fuel mileage is about 30 MPG It is hard on the rear tire about 5000 to 6000 miles. I don't know about the trike.

 

I would like to see if anyone has went the 'dark side' route and installed the Dunlop 195/60HR-16 tire on the rear of the bike. Or if it would even fit.

 

Best fuel mileage I've gotten is 36 puttin' around on back roads. Interstate travel is about 30. Rear tire mileage is around 6500. Correct setup (toe-in and bike lean angle) is very critical for mpg, tire wear and handling.

 

I cud live with your fuel mileage cause thats never been a real issue with me ..

Did you have a raked triple tree installed or do ya have the stock triple tree ?? I would think the raked would be much easier to steer ..

What kinda learning curve ( without giving a step by step lesson here) did you go thru learning the hack ??

 

The tree is stock and I don't have any problem with it trying to run off to the right of the road except in very highly crowned roads. On a good level road, or for example in the passing lane of an interstate, I could even turn loose of the bars (not recommended) and it would go straight. My first hack was set up per H-D specs and I had to readjust the lean and toe-in to get it to handle right. Many people swear by the raked trees though, so they must help, but I've never used them.

Took me around 50 - 75 miles to get comfortable with my first one and longer than that to learn my limitations, like taking a hard right hand turn. There are some good books out there that give good pointers. I personally like the one by David Hough, "Driving A Sidecar Outfit". Here's a link to a much newer version than I have:
http://www.whitehorsepress.com/produ...oducts_id=6043

Here's another link to some free manuals that are great:
http://www.sidecar.com/links3.asp

Didn't mean to get long-winded but hope this helps.

 

Not long winded , this stuff is just what I'm looking for ..
Thanks

 

some of the nicer touring sidecar rigs i have seen have converted to a leading link frontend, and car tires all around.
the car tire thing makes sence when you think about it. the bike never leans, so the round profile is pointless. car tires have 50,000mi warrentes, bike tires=no warentee at all. (sorry i cant spell).