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Monkeys with bad Knees?

chuter

New member
My wife has bad knees, probably needs one replaced now, the other in several years, although the doctors like to put that off as long as possible.

My previous bike was a Royal Star, which she rarely accompanied me on, since it was hard for her to get on, and she felt her knee was "exposed" while riding. So I bought an F800 ST, preferring the lighter weight. If she's not going with me, I might as well ride what's most comfortable for me, right?

I've been wondering if a sidecar might be easier for her to get into, as well as the enclosure making her feel less exposed.

I'm curious what experience some of you have had.
 
It depends

on the sidecar.

The Ural sidecar with the soft sides are pretty easy to get in and out of.

My wife's Velorex Jawa sidecar is a PIA to get in and out of!!!

The EZS sidecar isn't too bad, as there is a step in the frame and the front lifts up somewhat. But i wouldn't want to do it with bad knees.

I have seen some Hannigan's that open up pretty much so that it wouldn't be too bad to get in and out of.

But i would say that any sidecar (other than perhaps the Ural takes a fair amount of upper body strength to lift yourself up from that legs out straight position.

YMMV
 
I've seen a sidecar with a motorized seat that raises up to make it easier to get in and out. Don't remeber the brand but I'm sure a little googling would find it.

Also saw a home made Gold Wing rig that the whole front of the sidecar was on slides, the rider pressed a button on the handlebar and the front slid forward and a step popped out. The passenger could pretty much walk right up and sit, then close the front.

My EML Speed 2000 isn't the easiest to get out of. My main monkey is my youngest son who is wheel chair bound. As he gets bigger and I get older its getting harder to get him in and out of the sidecar.
 
My wife also has bad knees. She will rarely pillion on the ST1100 and would not ride the K100LT because of the difficulty of getting on and off the bike.

We rented, on one weekend, a CJ750 so she could ride the chair. She found it comfortable to ride, and tollerable to mount and dismount.

"CJ750" = Chinese version of an early Ural.
jim
 
My wife has a bad hip. When the lid on our Hannigan is opened the fender is flat. I've had it covered with the plastic stone guard used on cars so she can sit on it and swing her legs in and out of the hack.
 

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Thanks for the input. I'm clearly going to want to find examples and have her try them on before we buy anything!
 
You know you've been riding for a while when the first image for "Royal Star" to pop into your head is:

bsa-royal-star-500.jpg
 
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