I wanted to share some pics of "Le Pew", our 12' Skunk and share the "story" of what it took to make it happen. I've ridden sidecars since 2004 when I recovered from a sever Femur break that had me in surgery from the fall (off a ladder) in 2002 for three surgeries over three years. I don't have the ability to hold up a rig "reliably" anymore and we considered a trike. My wife and I were at the International Motorcycle Show in Chicago and saw Sidecars. She said...."Let do that instead"...and the rest was history. My first bike was a 92' Heritage with a Legend Sidecar (Which I still own) and I love my HD, but our touring rig was a 2005 Goldwing with a Hannigan GTL Sidecar for the last 8 years.
At the MOTOGP Races in Indianapolis in 2012 and MoCo had their show trailer set up. I walked up to the SKUNK and MY KNEES BUCKLED! I texted my wife with a pic of me sitting on it and asking "what the limit on our credit card" was. Fast forward about 5 months....I bought a used one with 3K on it. Sold the Goldwing.....and this is our new "touring rig".
Everyone on this forum has been super helpful and the information has been invaluable! I wanted to share some of the experiences I've had with the build of my rig and what I've went through to get it here.
The original plan was to deliver the bike to Hannigan Motor Sports at the beginning of May and pick it up for Memorial Day to ride to Rolling Thunder. We missed the deadline by 3+ weeks. The main issue was the paint. They struggled though 3 different attempts to match the paint. They used a PPG regional paint center and still had issues. To their credit they REFUSED to deliver the bike until it was perfect, and it is. Then next problem was the "Ghost Flames".....to accomplish this they found an 80 year old SIGN PAINTER to show them how to do it. AGAIN...PERFECT! Some of the things Hannigan did for me:
- Chromed the sidecar wheel, then powder coated the insides black to match the Agitator wheel.
Matched the front of the Sidecar with a "Willie G Skull" I provided them.
Ordered a "clear" tail light (from a Goldwing) with red LED's, then they smoked it to match the CVO lenses.
Embroidered the Sidecar interior stitching with my wifes road name.
I've added:
- GADS: #1 under the turns and the LTTD (Dog dish deflector)
Daymaker Headlights HD
Custom Dynamics LED SPOT/TURNs for the front turns: Turns the signals into white running lights.
Custom Dynamics Magic Strobe tail light flasher
Mustang Saddle (on order): Mustang's "AMI" worked with me to do contrast stitching so it will look similar to the stock seat. I needed a backrest and the seat is just not good for a 240# 6'2" guy.
Done by the previous owner: 12" Apes with chrome controls, Hidden Antennae, 4" Rinehart Classic duals.
We've put about 2500 miles on it since pick up and love the combo. Hannigan is HANDS DOWN the best sidecar rig on the market. I've owned 4 Sidecars and Hannigan has the best engineered and comfortable rig on the market. In discussing my set up with them they told me they do about one CVO per year. I've seen some other CVO rigs on other websites, etc...and just wanted to share.
A few common questions that I answer:
- How does it ride? You don't ride 3 wheel rigs, you drive them. Left is left....right is right, etc....you don't "counter steer".
Does it lean? No.
Does your wife ride on the back? almost never. Only if we have a passenger in the Sidecar that isn't her. The main reason is you have a weight/balance issue if all the weight is on the bike. Physics.
How much did is cost? The sidecar starts about $8K and with paint and options it was a little over $10K. Trikes usually start about $16K
What do you do when it rains? The sidecar has a "clam shell top" that sits behind the seat. There are "Jeep" style snap in windows. My wife doesn't own rain gear. We ride with the top off unless it's cold or raining.
Does the passenger have to wear a helmet? Depends on the State. In TN if the sidecar is "enclosed" you do not, but most police don't know that. I keep the law in with my insurance, but she usually wears a helmet regardless.
Does it have A/C? Ours has a high powered fan, but it is an OPTION....they use a "swamp cooler" style ice and forced air system. I've only seen one rig in the "wild" with that option.
If anyone has any "Sidecar Questions" I'd be happy to help. I'll post pics as I can.
Sidecar Dan
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Topic: 12' Skunk w/Sidecar (Read 12511 times)