I grew up racing Glen Helen raceway & to watch these dudes rail around one of the roughest, most gnarly tracks of all time on a big bore smoker is just truly incredible!! haha these guys are awesome!! No doubt 😀😋
Teddy F It's a whole different beast. When you launch your first big tabletop or make a perfect drift around a corner with one of these you'll understand ;). It's also teamwork. The forks are like that because you don't lean in corners. Conventional forks get very heavy forces applied from the sides, which they aren't constructed for. That said, there has been successful bikes in the past with conventional forks but they had advantages and disadvantages and was ultimately deemed not needed. The sidecar wheel has suspension yes and it's also tilted heavy to the inside and slightly inwards to help with cornering in left hand corners when alot of forces are applied to the sidecar wheel. The engine is a 750cc, double sparkplug, 100+ hp beast called Zabel.
damn thanks for this reply! the only thing i have to say about it still is " When you launch your first big tabletop or make a perfect drift around a corner with one of these you'll understand" What about a regular dirtbike? isn't that fun and badass enough? They had to go and make it harder, slower, and more dangerous? Still thanks for the reply that sums it all up!
Teddy F It's a totally different thing. First of all it is a team effort, which you don't get on a solo bike. Also it's a very special feeling when you wrestle something that heavy and powerful. It's much more like a gladiator horse race. There's tons if bumping and rubbing on the racetrack. I can't really explain it but I've competed in both solo and sidecarcross and they both have things that make them special. You'd have to try it to understand
Teddy F something from the other side of the world. It's a privilege USA is seeing this bro.. a new challenge from when people take them all: Enduro among other things .....
Its a Zabel 700cc 2 stroke (basically an old KTM 500 engine with modifications). Making around 100hp. (check zabel-racing.de for more info) 3rd wheel has suspension. Why do this; no idea ;). It's fairly popular in the Netherlands for example, and don't underestimate the speed these guys are going. Not a big fan of sharing the track with them, they create ruts beyond your imagination.
Original Zabel are 700cc, to have have a 750cc you must make some preparations and modification in it ;) I'm 18 years old, I'm french and i practise sidecarcross since 4 years now. Check that : facebook.com/SidecarTeamPrunier/?ref=bookmarks
Tanner Collier while obviously it isn't as fast as the fastest dudes but generally while it's naturally slower in a straight line due to it's weight and the fact the the traction surface is the same as on a normal dirtbike, corners these things are quite fast, especially flat corners
Two questions... What engine, a Maico?! If you were doing this sidecar racing where would you prefer to be... The pilot or the sidecar? I choose sidecar.
As other people have said it will be the zabel motor As for your sidecar choice. I was at my local motocross track back in my early twenties just messing about on my crosser , the motocross bike dealer where i lived, his son turned up(who i knew from shop ) he had just bought a 550 kawasaki 2 stroke engined sidecar to race and was out to get some practice laps in his sidecar partner was my friend and after they had done a few laps and they had pulled in for a rest he egged me on to get in the sidecar and he would ride or drive it as i think they say i had heard these sidecar drivers were superhuman ,the fitness people in the world. i jumped in he set off, within half a lap not even that i couldn't grip/hold on at all ,all my strength had gone . i was begging him to stop ,obviously he didn't, he was just laughing and carried on. we did a couple of laps, i was just a passenger trying to stuff myself in the corner ,hoping to not get thrown out i have never done anything so hard or exhausting in my life before or after that. within yards i was gone totally if you ever get to chance go for it
Adam Keating it is a custom chassis, and it looks like it is a 700cc crate motor from the motor manufacturer MX Zabel. It is a full on purpose built bike with minimal donor parts (basically plastic and a few miscellaneous items)
