SIDECARING, and SIDECARISTS!
The good points, the bad
points, an overview of sidecaring
© Copyright, 2011, R. Fleischer
sidecarbasics.htm
sidecar section, item 1A
Sidecars have been around for a very long time, probably since the late 1800's. Today, to those who see them, they OFTEN carry with them a mixture of emotions, perhaps nostalgia.
Sidecar rigs are used for commercial purposes, and for basic transportation, and for just plain fun; all over the world, and that INCLUDES in the USA.
Sidecar rigs in Asia, India, and China, are MUCH different than in the West. Typically those are a SMALL engine (low displacement) motorcycles with a platform sidecar, and are designed and built to haul the entire family AND a LOT of goods, all at the same time, as cheaply as possible.
One image in the USA, where motorcycles are typically not workhorses, but typically toys of some form or another, is that a sidecar rig is a substitute for motorcycling, for old or handicapped folks not capable of handling two-wheeled motorcycles. There can well be truth in that idea...but it is hardly the full story. Sidecars carry more, including the spouse and/or family dog. Many put their motorcycles away in the Winter; many sidecarists enjoy driving them in Winter...after all, sidecars don't 'fall down' when in snowy, icy, muddy conditions.
Sidecars were always popular in Europe, but not so much in the U.S. In the U.S., 'trikes' were used for many decades for all sorts of things, including delivery of mail, goods, pizza, whatever. The Harley Davidson 'trike' was fairly popular, with its "45" engine, in the Eastern Seaboard areas; but was also used out West, for traffic/parking control by the police, and sometimes for a delivery vehicle. There have always been a hardcore group of sidecarists in the U.S., but, in the last decade or so, sidecars are becoming more and more popular, and this trend is likely to continue. Vastly more sidecar outfits are on the road today than just a few decades ago. COMPLETE sidecars rigs are manufactured by only a few world-wide companies today, and complete sidecar outfits, from the motorcycle frame and engine, right to the finished drivable product are produced in China, Russia, and by Harley Davidson in the USA (prior to ~2009, HD only supplied the sidecar and the bikes, the HD dealerships mated them). In fact, HD is again producing trikes (but modernized).
A motorcycle with a sidecar attached is called many things, and
sidecar folks themselves use terms like:
Rigs; hacks; chairs; outfits; combinations....heck, even sidecars!
Gespanne is used too.
Sidecar rigs have been designed, built, and ridden in almost every sort of imaginable way. Some rigs have the motorcycle still capable of leaning. Some have two wheel drive. Some are double wide, some 'chairs' are hearses, or other types of cargo carriers. MANY more types. There are pros and cons to every type.
Having a sidecar will, in general, require the motorcycle to be serviced more often, due to the loads, strain, etc. This need not be excessive, and properly done sidecar rigs do NOT have excessive maintenance requirements.
Sidecar outfits do NOT handle like cars, do NOT handle like motorcycles, and CAN be dangerous for the novice.....far more than a motorcycle, in some respects. Novices at SIDECARING, whether very experienced motorcyclists or not, should take instruction, preferably formal.
In general, countries with road driving on the right, as in the U.S., have sidecars mounted on the RIGHT side of the motorcycle. The reverse is also true, sidecars are mounted on the left in England, etc, where driving is done on the other side of the road. Having a sidecar mounted on the 'wrong' side in a particular country can be more dangerous, as your field of view is poorer the closer you are to the vehicle in front of you.....as an oncoming car might turn in front of you, 'just past' the end of that truck, bus, etc., in front of your sidecar rig....because they did not see you easily enough. SO... sidecar on right or left, do not drive close to the vehicle in front of you. This is good advice in general for a motorcyclist too. An experienced sidecarist can easily transition from one country situation to another; and same for 2 to 3 to 2 wheels.
Sidecar driving places a lot of forces onto a motorcycle that
the motorcycle may well not have been designed for. These forces,
considerable as they are, must be taken into account during the design of the
frame, attachments, suspension, tires, etc. Some motorcycles will require many
modifications, including a subframe. One could write
many tens of thousands of words on all the variations, and how a sidecar
operates, and how to drive one. (One is said to RIDE a motorcycle,
DRIVE a sidecar outfit). This is not an article on how to
drive one. GOOD articles on that are available in booklet/book form;
as well as free on the Internet from such as the Ural folks, and from Hal
Kendall. Information later on those, herein.
But, a few ideas, to give you some food for thought:
The sidecar creates a noticeable drag
component. This comes from air resistance as well as the sidecar tire
friction with the surface. Hence MUCH more horsepower is needed...or,
rather, being used, when driving with a sidecar, for the same speeds and
conditions; and, thus, gas
mileage will decrease, often quite radically. A
rigidly-mounted sidecar rig is
VERY susceptible to moving to one side of the road or the other, due to the crown and slope of the road,
and while
some sidecar rig designs are adjustable for such, even electrically via a
control on the bars, most are not. Thus,
handling CAN be constantly changing. Sidecars have been made from very
small ones to fit something like an older Vespa scooter, to something as large
as the largest Harley-Davidson or Honda product.,,,and sidecars have been made
that are capable of carrying half a dozen kids! As an example, the school-bus
types, see http://www.sidestrider.com
When one rides a motorcycle, the handling on a flat road is the same, left and right, with variations due to camber, but the basics are the same: countersteering and leaning, and throttle on and off, etc., gives the same general sort of response. NOT so on a sidecar rig.
When one drives a sidecar rig, one will find that the faster one goes the greater drag the sidecar has, which tends to make the rig TURN!...which YOU must compensate for, by electric lean, more muscle, or some other method, depending on the setup. Most sidecars are aligned and set up so that at the normal speeds and loads used, they track, more or less, straight down the road.
In its more basic driving description, one steers a sidecar rig just like a
car...(up to a point)!
When the sidecar outfit is making a turn towards the
sidecar,
if the turn is tight enough, and/or fast enough, forces will eventually cause
the sidecar wheel to come off the ground. This is
really just normal driving. At some point, especially
if the wheel comes WAY off the ground, the motorcycle with the sidecar
attached, will want to GO THE OTHER WAY! If carried to QUITE AN EXTREME;
where the sidecar wheel is QUITE far up in the air, it is now a two-wheeler motorcycle, and you are riding slightly
to one side of center of the tires....and leaning ....just as in
motorcycling! You have a counter-steering reversion now. This can be extremely
dangerous for the INexperienced.
NOTE!!....It is VERY UNlikely for the normal average sidecarist to ever get even near that much of
an angle.
However, a sidecarist can get into trouble with just the
sidecar wheel raising a small amount, if one is not
well-trained and if this effect is allowed to get fairly gross and happens whilst you have opposing traffic coming
towards you! Certainly you can and will learn to
compensate, and most probably even to do it on purpose.
Many folks describe any time the sidecar wheel is not in contact with the surface, as
"Flying The Chair", but in truth a REAL flying of the chair is way way over, to the almost
tip-over point, the center of gravity being, at that point, over the line
between front and rear wheels of the tug. That is highly
unlikely. But, Flying is the word used, generically, for any time
that the chair wheel is off the ground any amount. It is wrong to use it
that way, but that is how it is used by most.
Just the sidecar wheel bobbling a bit on and off the ground is not TRULY flying the
chair though it has some similar effects in a very modest way....in
which case backing off on the throttle provides instant re-contact....but there
is NO steering reversion, contrary to what some learned book writers would have
you believe. THEY ARE WRONG!!! A sidecar rig, with the
sidecar wheel off the ground in normal such usage, is 'steered' normally,
NO steering reversion. See later herein, with my disagreement with
ONE small section of some published booklets.
When you turn away from the sidecar, if the speed and turn is
sufficient, you could cause the sidecar nose to dig into the ground, causing a
spectacular flip and serious accident. If you picture this in your
mind you will see that as the sidecar outfit is steered away from the sidecar, the motorcycle rear suspension will EXtend and depending
on various factors such as how much the sidecar wheel axle is ahead of the
motorcycle rear axle (if any, some Harley rigs do not have 'lead'), the
motorcycle rear wheel may lift off the ground a bit before you dig in the
nose. Having an excessive amount of weight at and behind
the motorcycle rear axle, such as a passenger on the motorcycle seat rear area,
will add INERTIA, and one must be very very careful, and it is best to always
avoid a situation like that, best to put passengers in the sidecar, where their
weight HELPS handling (especially on turns TOWARDS the sidecar).
Sidecar wheel leads of zero to 12 inches are common. The more LEAD the sidecar wheel is forward of the tug rear axle, the more the tire wear, due to scuffing on turns. As in ALL sidecar things, the lead amount is a compromise.
Quite frankly, driving a sidecar rig at some speed, vigorously, and competently, will require more skills than motorcycling. But, lest you might be told or believe otherwise, a competent driver with a very high performance 'rig' will likely outperform a solo motorcycle, even in the twisties. Most folks learn to handle a sidecar rig competently, decently, and safely, after just one weekend of practice/instruction. They won't be competent for very brusque and fast driving, but they will be safe, and be having fun.
Sidecars are a LOT OF FUN! They carry more than a motorcycle. They don't fall down on slippery roads. In fact, most sidecar outfits do just fine on slippery, even snowy roads. Sidecars do not carry the stigma that motorcycling in general carries with the public. The public LIKES sidecars, WANTS to stop and chat, WANTS to have you take them for a drive! MOST sidecars have QUIET exhausts, and the public LIKES that!
Some sidecar outfits require a fair amount of muscle and energy to drive, particularly in the mountains or other twisty roads. Thus, some can be especially tiring on trips, and you may well find that your usual motorcycling road speeds will be reduced, for a variety of reasons. You may find that if 700 miles is a limit day on a solo bike, that 300-400 is a limit on a sidecar.
Sidecars can be fun, useful, you can even carry the kids and the family dog. Spouses may prefer a sidecar to the rear pillion of the bike. It is quite possible that your riding season will be extended to year-round.
Do not enter into the world of sidecars without a LOT of pre-investigation, pre-planning, and reading and talking a LOT! Try to get rides in several types of sidecar rigs, and try to have a few people 'loan' you the sidecar rig, whilst they sit in the sidecar, and talk you through some mild driving.
Here are some GOOD resources...places to start, and I heartily suggest you join the SCT Sidecar LIST; subscribe to Hack'd, join the Association and get their magazine, and obtain the two books shown.......DO ALL OF THESE THINGS!...you will learn MUCH FASTER.
Obtain the book: Driving a Sidecar Outfit
Obtain the book: Driving the Ural Sidecar Motorcycle, most any Ural Dealer
has one, it is worthwhile....but the essence is also available on the Internet.
Hal Kendall has a CD available, and the information is also on the
Internet at sidecar.com.
Go to that site and join the United Sidecar Association (USCA).
Obtain a copy of "Riding with a Sidecar"
Here is a link for the training folks at Evergreen: http://www.esc.org/
NOTE: I have some
disagreements on a FEW points in some of the above books, and with that
organization, Evergreen, and its policies. The best information is
available free for reading OR downloading; Hal Kendall's writings, at www.sidecar.com.
However, you can also get Hal's stuff on CD if you want that
format, contact him directly at hkendall1@houston.rr.com
Hal's a good guy, with tons of experience over many many years.
My PRIMARY disagreement with the Yellow Book, as it is called due to the color of the cover(s), and the URAL book, which is practically the same thing.....is ...on early versions of the books (at least)...David Hough's wording and descriptions on steering reversion (and, generally, no disagreement at any other place with these books)....I feel the way flying the sidecar and reversion is presented is deadly wrong. Other than that, these are GREAT books, and WILL help you quickly learn how to handle a rig. This may be fixed in a later edition...but I do not know, presently.
Yahoo Groups has a very active sidecar list
called SCT2...I HIGHLY ADVISE YOU JOIN!
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/SCT
NOTE! See the following page sidecartech.htm on this website for some URL contacts, etc....for the literature you WILL want...
Revisions:
Initial release: 03/09/2004
05/24/2004: add link to sidecartech.htm
05/26/2004: add esc link
09/04/2004: update
10/26/2004: URL's
07/21/2005: minor editing
07/24/2005: correct Hal Kendall's e-mail address; and expand on my
comments of driving with the sidecar on the 'wrong' side; minor other editing.
04/26/2006: Update Hack'd information
01/15/2010: Remove Hack'd information, as Hack'd is no
longer published. Clean up a few other areas, for clarity.
© Copyright, 2011, R. Fleischer
Return to Technical
Articles LIST Page