Three Wheels Better – The Sidecar Guides

“Sidecarists” – One of the means of motorcycle transport we have sampled over the years was the joy of a motorcycle and side car – chair – combination outfit, when we became sidecarists along with our “normal” two wheels or should that be, we became in addition to travelling on two wheels, “normal” sidecarists.

Our normality of choice was a Watsonian two-seater attached to a Kawasaki ZZR1100 plenty of bike to haul us humans, the sidecar with boot and our large dog Sally the Briard.

The outfit had been well set up by the previous owner/builder so it rode/steered perfect from picking it up in England back to Northern Ireland via the Liverpool ferry, a mere 180 miles, only clipping two kerbs on the way back and getting lost in Liverpool. The Liverbird building looks lovely at night but that’s the wrong side of the Mersey.

But if only we had an informative guide on driving a sidecar (we did have David Hough’s excellent manual – Driving A Sidecar Unit and email advice but that was for right hand side cars) to help us on our way and an instructional guide on subsequent tinkering and farkeling of the unit.

Nearly ten years later such guides now exist in the form of the first new practical books written about sidecars for many years, The Sidecar Guide and The Sidecar Technical Guide published by Rod Young from Three Wheels Better.

We ran into Rod Young, owner of Motopodd Ltd where he designed and built sidecars in the UK, when we were looking for assistance as Right To Ride, on lobbying for proposals put forward in Europe for anti tampering and type approval technical regulations which included new rules for emissions, ABS (Advanced Braking Systems), AHO (Automatic Headlights On), mandatory OBD (On Board Diagnostics) in around 2011 as well as the L4e category vehicle (sidecars).

These proposals also included limitations for small series UK manufacturers e.g. Norton, Harris and CCM of 200 per annum down to 50 per annum, there was also a reduction of sidecar production (identified as L4e vehicles) from 200 to 100 per annum per company and also proposals for Type Approval.

However, we revealed that the Commission seemed to have mixed up the combination of L4e vehicles (motorcycle and sidecar) with stand-alone sidecars (defined by the Commission as a Separate Technical Unit – aka STU). i.e. a sidecar chair (STU) is normally produced and then fitted to a motorcycle, in reality the sidecar chair is a fitted accessory.

So with our lobbying and Motopodd’s help, a status quo still remains for riders who wish to fit a sidecar to their motorcycle and for manufacturers that produce sidecars either for sale or for fitting to their customer’s pre-registered motorcycle!

We have kept in touch with Rod who now lives in Croatia but where he still enjoys sidecars and offers help to sidecar riders worldwide and now producing his sidecar guides.

The Guides – The Sidecar Guide – Sidecar Technical Guide

Rod gives an overview of the guides – The Sidecar Guide is aimed at people new to sidecars as well as existing owners. It gives advice on choosing a sidecar or outfit, provides a full sidecar driving manual which comes directly from my experience of training hundreds of sidecar riders over many years. It also provides a full setup guide. Other chapters are written by specialists on new sidecar riders, dogs in sidecars and disabled sidecar use.

It contains everything you need to know about buying, owning and riding a sidecar outfit.

The Sidecar Technical Guide is a manual for people who want to get more involved technically. It contains chapters on how to build your own sidecar, with plans for frames and suspension.

A full chapter on sidecar electrics is included as well as a discussion on leading links and trail reduction, brakes and all other technical aspects of sidecars.

It includes the full setup guide as well, along with a troubleshooting table for handling issues.

The Guides are suitable for left or right handed sidecars.

The books are available in both digital and paperback formats.

Digital versions can be purchased directly from my website for immediate download.

Paperback copies are available from Amazon. Just search Amazon for The Sidecar Guide or The Sidecar Technical Guide.

Further information is available on my website, I also offer a Facebook Group where I offer free help and advice to sidecarists everywhere.

Information

The Sidecar Guide Books website: www.threewheelsbetter.uk/shop.html

Facebook Group: thesidecarguide and 3WB The Sidecar Guide

Check for up to date prices for – Digital downloads and Paperbacks.