JD/VL sidecar

[Jerry Wieland]

These are pictures of a Harley sidecar that came with the 1925 JD that I am building to run on the 2012 Cannonball. I have looked all over and do not see a serial number in any of the usual places. Can anybody id it as to model and year. The wheel is a 19" drop center which implies VL but the rear mounting bracket is JD. Surprisingly the wheel spins quite freely even after sitting outside in Wisconsin weather for almost 50 years. The frame is very solid. The homemade bracket are a mystery.











Jerry

[c.o.]

Jerry,

I may be out to lunch but it looks to me like you may have a JD sidecar frame with an updated wheel.

[Robert Luland]

6001-24 1924-27 LT frame.

[Sargehere]

I agree with both of the above. A bare frame bought from the factory as a replacement part had no numbers, which makes sense. And, it's a dash-24 LT frame.

[bselph]

Here are some photos of my 34LT sidecar. The number is on the crossbar that runs between the wheel and the rear connection ball.

[Jerry Wieland]

What distinguishes this from a 1923 and down sidecar. I assume the brake is on a 1928 and up sidecar. I have a couple of rough earlier frames with elliptic springs up front and curved spring in the rear.

Jerry

[Robert Luland]

Jerry, Everything changed in 24. The factory beefed everything up. 23 and down had 3/4" ball joints where 24 and up had 1". Since the tub was totally changed so were the springs and checks. Here's a pic of an earlier that about to be painted tomorrow. Bob L

[bselph]

Can anybody tell me what the toe in should be on a VL with a LT frame?

[sswaney]

http://www.antiquemotorcycle.org/bbo...idecar-Chassis.
No brake for one difference.

[Sargehere]

Can anybody tell me what the toe in should be on a VL with a LT frame?

"Very little or nothin'" is a good rule of thumb. Toe-in goes hand-in-hand with "lead," as in modern sidecars. The Harley's sidecar wheel is almost in line with the rear wheel of the bike, so you never need much. The VL and LT were built to go together, and "factory" toe-in is built in, as it is in EL/UL and LE combination, and you shouldn't have to worry about it. If you want to, you can increase toe-in with a couple of big washers between the rigid frame and the rear sidecar mount. I've never HAD to fool with it, tho for fun I've spacered it out as an experiment before:

I just put a thin nut under the top of the sidecar bracket, here, to make it the same as the rear crashbar, which few people run, with a sidecar.

You can adjust it once you attach the sidecar to a running bike. I'd start with no extra spacers, and look for "about an inch" or less width at the bike's front axle than the rear, between two straightedges set up full length, blocked up off-the-ground about 6 inches and touching the sidewalls, front and rear, of all three tires.

You can get a feel for it by going straight down the road and in turns. Toe-in may help a little in left turns (the reason you need it as a function of "sidecar wheel lead," how far the sidecar axle is ahead of the bike's rear axle), and it shouldn't be so much that it scuffs the sidecar tire tread going straight.