Why Do We Drive Sidecars

Why Do We ÔÇ£DriveÔÇØ sidecars?

I have been riding Motorcycles for 45 years, BMWÔÇÖs for 35 years and a sidecar rig for 3 seasons. My brother has driven a sidecar for 20 years and I started to hang around other sidecarists for about 6 years ago. I have observed that there are four reasons people use sidecars.

1. It is a family thing that allows taking the kids along. I have observed 2 rigs, Mom and Pop and 4 kids,

2. A disability that requires more stability. I have been amazed at the adaptations that have allowed riders to contiue their riding.

3. Take the dog. I am aware of people that will not attend certain rallies because the dog is not welcome.

4. Weird, some sidecarists are just plain weird. Among a bunch of sidecarist there is no strangers but you have never meet a stranger bunch.

Why am I a sidecarist?

1. After 40 plus years of riding pillon, my wife really prefers riding in the sidecar and if we show up at the Grandkids house without the rig, they are disapointed.

2. If age is a disability, I am 71 years young.

3. I donÔÇÖt own a dog

4. I may be weird, however the truly weird are not aware of their weirdness.

I guess I really am not sure why I drive sidecars. I do know that at this point I prefer the sidecar. In the last three years I have put 20,000 miles on the rig and the two wheels has maybe 2000 miles in that period of time.

Do you know why you drive sidecars? Harold in Kansas.

I've riden two wheelers since I was 14. Never thought much about sidecars. A month before my 40th Bday, my son arrived, followed 17months later by my daughter. A you can imagine, my riding took a hit. I was not able to blame my wife. She was the one saying, 'go for a ride.'
Although I had her blessing to ride, my milage dropped from 25000km/yr to about 5000. When I went for weekend rides, I felt guilty, so the ride was 30min-1hr instead of 4-6hrs.
I started thinking about sidecars. I shopped for one with about the same enthousiasm as a sport car guy shops for a mini-van when kids are on the horizon.
I bought a basic rig ('77 GL1000/California) to see if I liked it. I DID! More important, my wife and kids loved it. As the kids continued to grow, I modified the California to sit the kids one in front of the other. This was but a temporary fix, and I knew within a yr or two, I would have to upgrade. Last fall, i spotted a K100/EML for sale in the flea market...great price...I bought it. Something had to go in order to pay for it. The Honda and The GS/PD went up for sale. The PD sold first. First time in 31yrs that I did have a two wheeler. Guess what. I have not missed it yet. I have over 500 000km on bikes. Not many challenges left.
I will get another two wheeler one day soon(under 400cc dual purpose), but I see no hurry. My wife prefers the tub to the back seat, so as long as she keeps me, I will keep the rig.

I also started riding at 14, and have been riding ever since except for some years in the Marines when the deployment schedule permitted little but getting ready for the next deployment.

Now the kids are grown and set out on their own. Just the wife and me, and she doesn't care much for camping or motorcycling. I like riding solo, but can't stand my own company when sitting around a campfire. And then it hit me. I have three dogs that love me, and ponder my every word like it's pure genius! And they cuddle better than the wife!

So I'm picking up my first hack next Saturday and riding it 200 miles home. Yeah, I'm a little anxious. Partly wondering if I'll like it as much as two wheels. Partly wondering if the dogs will like it as much as I hope they will. But fairly confident that with patience and practice, at least one of my three goldens will take to it and I'll have company on my trips. The trunk will fit my beer and his kibble, plus a few frisbees and tennis balls.

And frankly, the riders of the hacks I've passed on the back roads are some of the wildest looking human beings I've ever seen! I can't wait to attend a rally and meet some of them up close!

Pete

glefiddich...careful on that 200mile ride home. Lots of ballast in the tub...and read the 'yellow book' before you ride.
When picking up my first rig, I rented a double-wide snowmobile trailer to haul it home.
have fun, but be careful...remember, there is a learning curve, and some motorcycle reflexes can get you into trouble.

So far we have One for the Family and One for the Dogs.

Pete Check the USCA rally in Essex the summer and you will meet them all.

No. 4!

I started thinking about one after meeting a gentleman with a Ural Patrol several years ago. The thinking is over and after 46 years on two wheels I added a third wheel last month when I got my new Patrol.

angysdad said:

glefiddich...careful on that 200mile ride home. Lots of ballast in the tub...and read the 'yellow book' before you ride.
When picking up my first rig, I rented a double-wide snowmobile trailer to haul it home.
have fun, but be careful...remember, there is a learning curve, and some motorcycle reflexes can get you into trouble.

Click to expand...

Absolutely! I must have read the Yellow Book five times by now, have 150# of sand in the car ready to transfer to the hack, have pre-ridden the route looking for the least traffic and most bland way home, have identified several large parking lots in which to rest and/or practice along the way, and will be in full ATTGATT.

I'm soberly cautious about this trip, and that's probably a good thing.

I sent my USCA membership and rally registration in a couple of weeks ago and look forward to meeting old friends I've not seen before.

Pete

I guess it's just a bug.... I caught it when I was twelve. Together with a friend of mine and under the guidance of a mentor , we built a sidecar rig from scratch to campaign it in enduro and trial events.
The bike was a 250cc Viktoria, hopelessly underpowered and we were always drooling over our competitors' equipment, especially the R60 rigs. One guy even had hacked a R69S and operated Metzeler Block C tires on it.
When the opportunity arose, we purchased a NSU SuperMax that someone had already converted to a "dirt bike". We used that as a power source and retired the Viktoria. It was a little better, still nothing to propel us past the BMWs. At that time, I was the "monkey" and had my fair share of falling out of the sidecar and getting banged up.
It did not dampen my enthusiasm for sidecar rigs and after we split up when I turned 16 and started riding street bikes, I still kept my affection for the odd way to operate a motorcycle. I got into racing and lived close to Wetzlar, the home base of Enders/Engelhard (two names I should not have to explain here). I got into racing rigs and while attending technical college in Darmstadt, I got more serious about it and was able to obtain a Dieter Busch-built kneeler rig sans motor. Again together with a friend, I overhauled the rig and we found a hot-rodded BMW motor (we were dreamimg of a RS powerplant) and started racing. We did so for three seasons and were mildly successful as amateurs. and with a limited budget.
For a while I was sidecarless until I relocated to the U.S. and a HD FLH rig that was for sale locally re-ignited my passion. I bought it, dusted of my skills and I ride it on and off. It is a 1971 74 cuin (1200cc Shovelhead) hopelessly underpowered (see above) and a handful to drive. More work and exercise than fun. I am still hanging close to sidecars, especially modern performance rigs and my dream is a Krauser Domani - if I could find a way to get one into the U.S., I would seriously hunt for one. About six months ago, I bought a LCR racing rig, a "Langgespann" as they call it in Germany. It is Suzuki powered and I am working on getting it ready to race. Maybe Vintage Days at Mid-Ohio this year, if I'm lucky.

Is this the Krauser Domani?

pmdave

I believe that one of the primary reasons for getting into three-wheelers is learning about something new and different. Sidecars in particular have lots of quirks that cause lots of head scratching and scribbling on napkins. When I hear the question "but don't they make sidecars that lean around corners?" I know I'm listening to someone who is thinking perhaps about extra carrying capacity. Same for the rider who asks how easy it is to detach the sidecar (once he hauls the old lady to the rally grounds?)

At some point in the progression of the sidecar disease, the victim realizes that hacking is not just different, but very intriguing.

I caught the sidecar bug years before I actually got my first outfit. I saw a photo of Steve McQueen flying the hack with a wide-eyed passenger hanging on with white knuckles. At that instant I knew I'd one day have to learn how to do that. (fly the hack, not hang on with white knuckles)

I suppose you could take all the skill, knowledge and fun involved in riding a bike, and double it to measure the relative skill, knowledge, and fun involved in driving an outfit.

When we were first entertaining the idea of a sidecar operating book, we decided that "Herding A Sidecar" would be a good description.

Those poor unfortunates who refuse to consider anything with more than two wheels miss out on a lot.

pmdave

pmdave said:

Is this the Krauser Domani?

pmdave

Click to expand...

Yes. Unfortunately never offered in the U.S. Large number went to Japan.

Here's a Yamaha FJ conversion with what I believe is a Janiel Comanche sidecar. Correct me if I'm wrong about that.

This outfit is VERY fast. I've seen footage of a similar rig being driven through Deals Gap. The camera was on a chase bike, obviously a two-wheeler. For a wihile the chase bike stays with the outfit, although the rider starts making mistakes. Then the hack driver eases on more throttle and within a few corners simply disappears.

As I recall, this was from Roger Symington, a Canadian. If anyone has a link to the Deals Gap footage, it might be educational for any bikers who believe three-wheelers are slow.

A few years ago I organized a small group of friends to accompany me westward after the MOA rally in Spokane. At the time I was driving the Valdez, a K1/EZS rig, which I had loaded up with food and beverages for the group, in addition to all my own travel gear, so it was pretty heavy. I had enlisted the aid of a rider who knew the area, and our route followed some very twisty curves through the Colville Reservation and down to Grand Coulee Dam.

I wasn't trying to rush anyone, but my "scout" picked up the pace on his R1150R, and I just wicked it up a bit to avoid holding up the group. When we took a break after one reasonably aggressive segment, the "scout" kept muttering "I didn't know they could do that." I just didn't know they could DO that!"

The response I wish I had made would have been "they can't. It's all smoke and mirrors."

pmdave

Whoops, I forgot the picture.

pmdave

For whatever reasons, the Germans seem to like outrageous vehicles.

pmdave

pmdave said:

, it might be educational for any bikers who believe three-wheelers are slow.


pmdave

Click to expand...

If the sidecar driver knows how to break the rear of the bike loose in turns and uses this to steer the rig, you will have a hard time keeping up on a regular motorcycle unless you have above average skills.
I went on a comapny sponsored group ride in Germany a couple of years ago. I was on a rented R1200RT with ESA, two-up with my wife. One of the participants was on his K1 rig shown below and started a bit ahead of me. At one time, I tried to catch up with him. I passed a slew of other riders, never caught him.

Dave

Why are you getting ready to jump off?

pmdave said:

I believe that one of the primary reasons for getting into three-wheelers is learning about something new and different. Sidecars in particular have lots of quirks that cause lots of head scratching and scribbling on napkins. When I hear the question "but don't they make sidecars that lean around corners?" I know I'm listening to someone who is thinking perhaps about extra carrying capacity. Same for the rider who asks how easy it is to detach the sidecar (once he hauls the old lady to the rally grounds?)

At some point in the progression of the sidecar disease, the victim realizes that hacking is not just different, but very intriguing.

I caught the sidecar bug years before I actually got my first outfit. I saw a photo of Steve McQueen flying the hack with a wide-eyed passenger hanging on with white knuckles. At that instant I knew I'd one day have to learn how to do that. (fly the hack, not hang on with white knuckles)

I suppose you could take all the skill, knowledge and fun involved in riding a bike, and double it to measure the relative skill, knowledge, and fun involved in driving an outfit.

When we were first entertaining the idea of a sidecar operating book, we decided that "Herding A Sidecar" would be a good description.

Those poor unfortunates who refuse to consider anything with more than two wheels miss out on a lot.

pmdave

Click to expand...

hhshort said:

Why Do We ÔÇ£DriveÔÇØ sidecars?

Click to expand...

Why do we do anything?

No Wife.
No Kids.
No Dog.

Just me.

I like the attention while on the road.
The action word here is "Attention".

Ah hell... They're cool too...

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jim_popper/4684709824/" title="@ a Spada Lake boat launch. by GrafikFeat, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4051/4684709824_16574bb3c5.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="@ a Spada Lake boat launch." /></a>

They carry more beer too!

I've been interested in sidecars as long as I can remember. their different, and I like different. I bought Dave's book "Driving a Sidecar Outfit" and read it cover to cover several times. then I pulled the trigger for a 2010 Hannigan Classic, and had it installed on my Harley. Its now been 6 weeks and 2500 miles, and I love it. I should have done this years ago. Many thanks to all of my Beemer friends who gave me advice and helped steer me in the right direction. Kenny G. (no I don't play a Sax) LOL

Why my wife drives a sidecar.........

Why do I drive a sidecar? Not for the excitement; it wont lean and fly around corners like the 2 wheels; not for the heart stopping-sliding back in your seat accelerating from a stop,, it doesnt want to go strait when opened up; OK,,, that seems to be all I miss from my 2 wheelers I've ridden for 42.5 years,- I love the look, the carrying capacity, the locking trunk so I dont have to carry all that gear into work, the huge tub for luggage on road trips, the 'dog' seat, the not falling over at a stop because my foot is not where it should be, I love the space for all the stuff I tend to accumulate that overloads me and tilts me over at a stop when my foot isn't where it's supposed to be, I love the stability= on gravel, loose dirt, uneven back roads. I even enjoy riding in it!! It was a little freaky at first because it's so low to the ground I could see the other curb under the UPS truck,,, But there is loads of room to move around in there and plenty of air blowing by, and the older I get, the more important fidget room becomes when I'm not driving. I've taken it on the Blue Ridge Parkway and it was Awesome,,, havent been down Deal's Gap yet,, but working on that. The Great thing for road trips is that I can carry everybodies bags and it just makes me more stable, keeps our stuff dry, and they don't have to strap stuff to their pretty cruisers... So far,, the most rewarding thing about the sidecar happened one weekend by accident= we have a yearly "ride for kids" by the Pediatric Brain Tumor Asso. We went to show support and participate and when we arrived everyone got super excited to see the sidecar- it turns out that the Kids being treated can ride in a sidecar but not on a back seat- I got to carry one of the kids in the car and her brother on my back seat! It was really great! We'll be doing it again next year.......... I love my sidecar!!!!!!

pmdave said:

Those poor unfortunates who refuse to consider anything with more than two wheels miss out on a lot.

Click to expand...

Maybe that's why it wasn't until 2010 a sidecar forum appeared...

Here's that Deals Gap video you mentioned...


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I must say while the hack rider is pretty good... It may appear that way by the ineptness of the chase bike.
I rode much like that going to Mt. St. Helens...
My only worry were the frost heaves... Got a little hairy in places...

That ride from Omak to Grand Coulee is really nice.
Washington State is amazing if not for just the types of riding one can enjoy here.
Basically Rain Forest to High Desert in a day.