No more factory Harley sidecars

HARLEY -DAVIDSON have announced they are ceasing sidecar production due to a lack of demand.

However, this announcement won't affect the UK market, as factory Harley sidecars have the sidecar unit fitted on the right, which is illegal in the UK.

Harley say the company will end sidecar production upon completion of remaining 2011 model year orders. Effective immediately, no new sidecar orders will be taken.

The sidecar was first made available to Harley-Davidson customers in 1914. We spoke to Robb Warr of Warr's Harley Davidson who said: "This news won't affect sales in the UK one bit. We last sold a sidecar around 25 years ago and had to have the Harley factory unit converted to the left-hand side setup anyway. The advent of the Mini meant sidecars ceased to be a cheap way of transporting your goods. We'll still sell trikes, but these remain a niche market for us."

Despite Harley reporting a 5.5 percent drop in worldwide sales, their financial status has been upgraded from 'Negative' to 'Stable' by credit rating comapny Fitch.