Pete takes me across fenland roads in his BSA A10 Combination. I have never felt so vulnerable than my hour in his wonderful 1960s combination. I enjoyed the experience. However I will not be rushing back for a second go....
You were lucky mate, I bought a sidecar second hand and already had the brackets on my BSA A10 in 1962, so me and my mate fitted it at the side of the road, where the vendor had it for sale. It was a watsonian single adult with fixed hood ) An hour or so later, we set off and the sidecar seemed fine, the gearing was OK, and we drove back to my Mum's house where she lived in Rochester, at the bottom of a steep hill. Feeling very confident in my riding by this time, I took the bike up to 40mph, and approached the bottom of the hill where I needed to brake fairly hard, and suddenly the entire body of the sidecar, took off ahead of me with my mate sitting in it, travelling at thirty miles an hour, until it ground to a halt against the kerb, leaving the entire chassis still attached to my bike. The four coach bolts holding the body to the chassis were staring at me on the chassis, but the wood bottom had rotted away, leaving fragments still on the chassis, it was lucky that there was nothing coming the other way, or my mate would have been in trouble. We laid the sidecar back on to the chassis, and finished the journey with my mate on the back seat of the bike. A lesson learned the hard way .!!!!
@@Anotherflyonmyvisor Your video brought back memories of my Great Uncle Harry.. I don't think he ever passed a car test and when I was a kid (late '70s) he was still running an A10 coupled to a bloody gigantic 'Double Adult' sidecar that dwarfed the bike.. He originally had a rigid 500cc A7 hooked to it but my Dad was in the motor/motorcycle trade and sometime in the 1960s he found Harry a late '50s swinging arm A10 at the right price, apparently he was so impressed with the A10 that it was like giving a jet fighter to a caveman !.. Somehow Harry would get my Great Aunt on the pillion and their THREE sons in that sidecar ! - He wore an old black 'Corker' style helmet with a peak and goggles (so did my Aunty when she rode pillion, and the obligatory headscarf when in the sidecar..) and a pair of enormous flared gauntlets plus an old WW2 Despatch Rider mac - It was a real slice of classic 1950s rolling down the road !.. Harry did eventually give in to modernity a bit, he bought himself a Barbour !.. Then in the very late '70s he finally threw in the towel and bought a Reliant Robin ! (though he still hung on to the outfit for years afterwards..) I was only just starting Secondary school when he bought the Reliant so I can't remember him riding the outfit that much but we've got old black and white photos of the family all loaded on/in it and my Dad filled me in on the rest as soon as I started showing an interest in bikes at the age of 16..
Oh, Ye of little faith, I had an Ariel 500 with chair as we used to call them back in the sixties, going up a hill in Frodsham I passed a milkman, and without warning he turned right across my path hitting the sidecar. When we finally stopped I asked the farmer why he did that to which he replied "I always turn into this street", the sidecar was completely demolished, and the road was littered with black-coated plywood, the only thing that stopped me from tipping over was my toolbox now standing naked on what remained of the floor.
This is how me, my sister, mum and dad went on holiday or indeed anywhere in the late 60's and most of the 70's, loved it inside the sidecar or on the back of the bike.
Brilliant 😊😊 made me laugh but I’d love to be in that 😊the A10 sounds beautiful…, how families did it god knows but that as you say was the way it was 😊😊 Never been in one wasn’t born till the end of ‘62 Well done 😊😊 Phil
Ahh, such fun! I owned several sidecars over the years, really wish I still had one. Rallies, touring dirt roads, an absolute blast in the wet or on loose surfaces...Memories!
I've been a passenger in an open top Steib, and it was good fun. Being a sports sidecar there was a greater sense of involvement, and you have the option of wearing biker clothing and a helmet. These offer a sense of protection, even if it's largely notional. Enclosed sidecars look more claustrophobic, especially the multi-occupant varieties.
Bang on mate - I was sat on a domestic cushion, and with no protective clothing. I felt very exposed mate - thanks for your post. Great to read others experiences in sidecars mate. I think they would have been deemed a lot safer a long time ago. All the very best mate.
The video brought back memories of my dad's combination which was an Ariel with a Watsonian double adult sidecar and as I watched the video I could almost smell the inside of that sidecar. Thanks
In the 1950`s this was how my father used to take my mother and me from Doncaster to York to visit family nearly every weekend we even went to London one year back in the days befor all the places on route were bypassed I can remember waving to my dad whilst I sat inside looking at him outside in the pouring rain
my brother had a 1938 BSA m20 2 ww bike and had a wooden box as a side car it was just sides and a bottom that was it no seats no windows your head and shouders were sticking out of the top and i used to love going in that. it was great. life in danger give me a break its great fun
I have a friend who has an M21 with an open box sidecar. I've also a friend who has a coffin as a sidecar ! thanks for commenting - great memories mate
I grew up riding inside my dads sidecar. WE would refer to it as getting into the side car . As a whole, we referred to the bike and side car as the combo. I was very accustomed to long distance travel in the sidecar and would sleep very easily. Dad had a S120Panther hooked up to a Busmar double adult sidecar with a canvas sunroof. I was never travel sick until dad part exchanged the Panther combo for a 1961 reliant regal mk 3 whereupon the familly discovered that I couldnt travel in a car any more than 30 miles before feeling queezy and any more than 50 miles without throwing up. Dad passed his car test quickly and never got another bike! Riding in a chair is a real live thing! they are noisey, draughty and every bit as much fun as riding the bike. We wore outdoor clothes including hats in the sidecar unless the weather was very good but even then our coats and hats would be slung over the back of mothers seat. My dads brother had a black shaddow with a watsonian " bungalow" attached to it. my cousin still rides the shaddow but the bungalow never made it. Things to remember about chairs: make sure that the chair brakes work, check the geometry very regularly and learn how to set it. Change the gearing on the bike to suit the load. Adjust the steering damper to suit the speed and always always always be in the right gear.
Anyone with a motorcycle license could add a sidecar, then also drive a three wheeled car, such as Reliant, or a bubble car, which came under the same category of driving license in the UK. 3 wheelers were extremely popular, eventually being replaced by a younger generation of 4 wheeled license holders. Many, if not most custom trikes were constructed from Reliants, having been originally registered as 3 wheelers too.
Had an A10 and double adult sidecar when I was 18, brilliant machine, I had no trouble riding it whatsoever. Great fun and could carry a shit load of stuff. 😀
Bought a mint 650 neval com in about 1981. Crashed it on the way home! Ripped the chair off the bike and I was lucky to walk away. Reattached the two and rode it for six months before selling it. Twenty years later I put a chair on my m 33 beeza. And it was a very light body, so I spent an hour in an empty carpark, until someone came out and told me to Fvck off! learning to go round in circles pick up the chair, do figures of eight and generally get on top of it. Stood me in good stead as I really enjoyed using an outfit after that. But I bought a 1200 gs down in Dorset and the the seller picked me up from the station and drove to his in an R80 comb. I was a tight fit in a sports sidecar and I really didn’t enjoy the ride!! Trapped in a canoe whipping up behind cars then jinking into an overtake.
I had a 650 BSA Golden Flash with a Busmar double adult sidecar. The guy I bought it from was only short and I didn't realise that he'd altered the set up. Him being short. he'd moved the sidecar cabin further back on the chassis so that when he looked left he could see over the curved body of the cabin. One day going up Rosedale Chimney Bank ( very steep hill, 1in 3 ) I gunned the combo a bit as I came up to the sharp bend. What happened next was alarming, the weight of the sidecar body being further back and the steep gradient meant the steering became very light. So much so that the front wheel was in the air and the back of the outfit was hitting the road, fortunately backing off the throttle was enough to get the wheel back on the ground, laughed afterwards but not at the time. Another thing of note with sidecars is going over speed bumps, now that does give the outfit a rocky ride 🙂.
A fantastic story mate. So many RU-vid friends have recounted their experiences in a sidecar. To be honest it ain’t for me. I think it’s the feeling of total loss of control and not trusting the wooden framework
luxury for some people back in the day. who couldn't afford a car. the only sidecar i haD WAS IN 1986. ON MY 400 SUPERDREAM ON L plates with the wife on the back. it was called a side winder. a plastic tray which you could lean over in bends. ride it on a provisional licence.
As a young un i traveled many miles and had many holidays with my mom and dad in various combinations in the 50s/60s. To be fair we knew no different and had many great adventures picnics camping etc. Would i do it now maybe not. But at the time it was freedom and probably set me on the road as a biker .
A fantastic memory mate - thanks for sharing. I think they were an excellent way of carrying more than two people. It was certainly a different time pal.
The misery of my first 9 years of life comes flooding back. Squashed in the back of a sidecar next to my twin brother with my oversized mother taking up the whole front section. The thumping single cylinder 500cc Norton engine at ear level deafening us both on interminable rides in the country every weekend at 35MPH and of course with no ear protection provided. The time came when one of us growing boys, (specifically me being considered the 'more sensible child'), would have to ride on the pillion in future. It was not even a proper seat, more like a small, rectangular pad. I tried it once for half a mile. Never again! Wisely my father gained some sanity and bought a car. Oh, the luxury of an Austin A30, (with four doors)!
50 years ago briefly had a worn out plunger A10 with just as bad Steib open sidecar. Problem was no suspension on the third wheel so on left handers there was no warning of the wheel lifting. Hazardous. Scrapped. Still got one of the pistons.
I had a Jawa 350 with a Velorex sidecar. It was terrible. The sidecar was really light, and the bike was not powerful enough to keep the sidecar wheel down on left-handers. I couldn't go anywhere without carrying a load of bricks around (or a crazy passenger).
That was NOTHING!! Try being put into an open single seat sidecar strapped to a Honda Goldwing 1200, Piloted, and I use that word deliberately, by a chap I later found out was nicknamed MAD HUGHIE!!! He lifted me and the sidecar over kerbs topped 100mph on one straight road and generally frightened the life out of me!!!
I once demo'd a BSA outfit for a prospective buyer back in 72. Prospective buyer pillion and his wife in the sidecar. I'd never driven/ridden one before and nearly turned it over coming off the A3 in Kingston. Needless to say they didnt buy but went for a Reliant off our sister company over the road. I've never ridden one since. 😊
I remember back in the early 80s I had motorbikes but my friend was a mod and he set up his vespa with a open sidecar and I wanted to try it out ,it was terrifying,I was in the side car,screw that never again
Brilliant mate - I once saw a scooter with a sidecar on they called it a bambino. As you say sod getting in a sidecar ever again. Perhaps back in the day the roads were better and certainly quieter. Thanks for the comments mate.
