Motorbikes & sidecars

[monabri]

https://www.watsonian-squire.com/

Those pictures are great!

- "Let the kids share the fun" - Take your child out for a ride....Wear googles ( sensible) and WWII flying cap
- "Lug loads more luggage" - load up your sidecar with a keg of beer
- "Carry your passenger in comfort" - take your blonde lady friend with long hair out for a ride
- " The coolest way to walk your dog" - handy for dog walking as well ( hope the dog doesn't jump out)

Might have worked 50 years ago!

[88V8]

Because they’re rubbish.
Cold, wet and dangerous like a motorcycle.
Stuck in traffic like a car.
Terrible in an emergency stop too.

Yes, makes sense! Motorcycles aren’t cheap any more. Some of the prices quoted in the link Bulldog posted would buy a nice car.

It's a niche enthusiasts past time now. The entire motorcycle market is dying as far as I can see. Cost has a lot to do with it, I think.

That and the roads being so crowded. And helmets.

I used to bike. London burbs and commuting into the City.
Pre-helmet. When Nanny State decreed helmets, I persisted for a year or so then gave up.
Helmets are dangerous in traffic. Restrict one's peripheral vision and muffle one's hearing.
So that was why I stopped biking. Which brings us to an anomaly, because one need not wear a helmet on a trike but one must on a sidecar combo....

As regards sidecars, yes the worst of all worlds. Can't wiggle through traffic, get cold, get wet.

For a few months in the early 70s I did have a sidecar on my Honda 50, during a period when none of my cars were functioning. It was made from a pram chassis, some Dexion, and the wooden lining from an old wardrobe.
The geometry was all wrong and it developed a violent wobble above 20mph, but it was OKish for scooting parts and bits & bobs around locally. The longest thing I ever carried on it was a 10ft long mahogany curtain pole.
I guess the police were more relaxed in those days.

There's a chap comes to local cars rallies has a combo in which he carries his dog as a passenger.

V8

[Redmires]

Besides being a biker myself, I wouldn't be seen dead in one

[DrFfybes]

There's a chap comes to local cars rallies has a combo in which he carries his dog as a passenger.

V8

Pah - amateur
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9uCo0rm2aU&t=62s

Paul

[csearle]

For a few months in the early 70s I did have a sidecar on my Honda 50, during a period when none of my cars were functioning.

A side car on a Honda50? Struth! It is all the poor engine could do to drag itself and the rider along, let alone a sidecar. No wonder you gave up! C.

[airbus330]

It's a niche enthusiasts past time now. Very much not family transport, cheap or otherwise. The entire motorcycle market is dying as far as I can see. Cost has a lot to do with it, I think. Go to anywhere where motorcyclists gather and the average age is about late 50's to 60's. Riders aged 70+ is pretty common. There's almost no interest in motorcycles amongst younger people as far as I can determine. So, side cars being a niche within motorcycling, they're almost extinct apart from the die hard enthusiasts.

Reports of the demise of the UK Mc industry are a bit more positive than you'd think. The glory days of the 19080's (when I managed a Honda dealership) are long gone along with 300k units sold a year. The low point was in the late 90's. Sales stabilized at around 100k per year and since then have steadily drifted up to a current 120k. even had a covid bonanza, probably with people unwilling to share air! The demographic for bigger machines is definitely for older riders, but top selling bikes for 2022 included the modest and trendy looking Royal Enfield's. Retro is on point and manufacturers are filling the market with reliable, handsome and modestly priced bikes. New blood is often going back to basics and biking as a cheap utility transport has grown. Obviously anecdotally, but I noticed on my annual visit to the NEC Motorcycle Show in November, heaving crowds and an increase in younger people.

[88V8]

For a few months in the early 70s I did have a sidecar on my Honda 50, during a period when none of my cars were functioning.

A side car on a Honda50? Struth! It is all the poor engine could do to drag itself and the rider along, let alone a sidecar. No wonder you gave up! C.

Hehheh... well I also had a Sunbeam S8, and a Greeves Scottish for commuting, but the Honda was less nickable when parked in the road outside the house.

V8

[gryffron]

trikes seem to increase (marginally) in popularity every year, but I suspect that says more about the demographic and failing strength.

I know 2 trike riders. Both are former bikers who now lack the mobility to get their leg over a bicycle. One due to old age and one due to a war injury. So yes, I suspect aging bikers are the main cause of the increase in trikes.

Gryff

[quelquod]

My one and only combination was a BSA Gold Flash (plunger of course - much more stable than a swinging arm) plus Watsonian sometime towards 1960. Nearly wrote myself off collecting it as it was a non-runner and I got a friend to tow me with his Panther combo. I learned pretty quickly that you can’t lean a combo but it took all the road to hold me for a bit as he hared off homeward!
Ever tried kicking up a Panther when you’re only 10 stone or so?

[airbus330]

My one and only combination was a BSA Gold Flash (plunger of course - much more stable than a swinging arm) plus Watsonian sometime towards 1960. Nearly wrote myself off collecting it as it was a non-runner and I got a friend to tow me with his Panther combo. I learned pretty quickly that you can’t lean a combo but it took all the road to hold me for a bit as he hared off homeward!
Ever tried kicking up a Panther when you’re only 10 stone or so?

Outfit towing an outfit! What could possibly go wrong. It'd be like tying a pair of shopping trolleys together

My neighbour restores Matchless singles and the like, very much a knack to start these old singles, one which I never had.

[redsturgeon]

My one and only combination was a BSA Gold Flash (plunger of course - much more stable than a swinging arm) plus Watsonian sometime towards 1960. Nearly wrote myself off collecting it as it was a non-runner and I got a friend to tow me with his Panther combo. I learned pretty quickly that you can’t lean a combo but it took all the road to hold me for a bit as he hared off homeward!
Ever tried kicking up a Panther when you’re only 10 stone or so?

Was that the single cylinder 600cc? My very small mate had one when we were skinny teenagers riding round the local fields on AJS, Matchless, Royal Enfields and his Panther. Nobody seemed to want them anymore and we usually either were given them or paid a fiver or so. I think more than once I watched him propelled into the air on the kickstarter when it backfired.

John

[MonsterMork]

Last time I heard I think there are around 1850 outfits currently road legal (ie: taxed, tested and insured) on the roads of the UK. Plus a squilion more in sheds, garages, back gardens under a tarp etc. Most fun I have ever had on two wheels is on three wheels

PilotMork

[quelquod]

My one and only combination was a BSA Gold Flash (plunger of course - much more stable than a swinging arm) plus Watsonian sometime towards 1960. Nearly wrote myself off collecting it as it was a non-runner and I got a friend to tow me with his Panther combo. I learned pretty quickly that you can’t lean a combo but it took all the road to hold me for a bit as he hared off homeward!
Ever tried kicking up a Panther when you’re only 10 stone or so?

Was that the single cylinder 600cc? My very small mate had one when we were skinny teenagers riding round the local fields on AJS, Matchless, Royal Enfields and his Panther. Nobody seemed to want them anymore and we usually either were given them or paid a fiver or so. I think more than once I watched him propelled into the air on the kickstarter when it backfired.

John

Yes the old sloper single 600cc. I mostly had twins back then which were easier on the leg though I did have a BSA Goldie 500 for a bit which took a good kick. Like a lot of ex-biker friends I’ve a substantial scar on my right shin from encounters with the kickstart.