Why do you ride a sidecar?

[Boondox]

Originally Posted by SamM

I also have a 2005 KTM 950 Adventure. It would make a great tug and nobody has a hacked 950.

That would be awesome! You'd turn heads wherever you went!

[kshansen]

Why do I ride a sidecar outfit?

Could be several reasons. Got the first one because first wife suggested it after telling me the rear seat of the Sportster was nothing more than a Naugahyde Tampon! Then after getting lots of negative feed back from local Harley dealer after I had installed the first one had to prove him wrong. Well about 100,000 miles later and two sidecars on the Sportster in 2009decided he was right and took the sidecar off the 1988 and put a new Hannigan on the "new" 1992 Sportster. In the mean time I still had the old California Sidecar Companion sitting in the shed and decided to find a tug for it. Local independent shop owner suggested an XS650 he had and I traded a Honda 750SS for it. That has been my ride to work year round outfit for around 15 years. I only have about a one mile commute so I'm amazed at times that all those short runs with never a chance to warm up and the semiannual oil changes have not killed the 650. Asked many times why I would ride it in the winter in central NY I just say if I was to put it in the ditch someday it's a lot lighter to push out than my Chevy pickup!

[bmwhacker]

I originally went to three wheels for my wife's comfort and the possibility of hauling excess un needed camping gear around. We've had a lot of great times / miles in the past 5 years with the hack.
Recently I've been diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis and long distance solo riding has become more of a challenge. We plan on some more long distance hack rides this winter so hopefully I won't fall apart along the road somewhere......wish me luck.

[flattwin94]

To ride in the snow and we got none last year so am stoked for some this year

[Marvin and towser]

When the wife's mum died we inherited her dog ( a great little terrier) when he died 8 years later, the wife then wanted another dog. I wanted to get back to travelling to work by motorcycle hence...,.

[DirtyDR]

I ride sidecars because I like them.

[GreatWhiteNorth]

A blast to ride,



... and you can tear down gravel backroads with 'em (without fear of wiping out),



... and carry lots of gear when you travel



... to take you to cool places.

[SmellyGoatBoy]

So I can take my dog with me.

[ADW]

Wife is very short, so riding behind me on a bike had her looking at the back of my head the whole time. Not fun. So we tried a sidecar rig and she liked it much better.

[workerant]

I bought a sidecar because my dog outgrew her tankbag.

I don't have any cool pictures because she just curls up on the hack floor and sleeps.

[bmweuro]

Because I'm weird

[sidecarcrazy]

To get me to places like this


Via here


and home again

PJ

[GreatWhiteNorth]

You guys really live the MadMax lifestyle, eh!

I had the pleasure of spending 3 weeks on the coast south of Sidney (Nowra naval air station), got up to Sidney of course, and flew low level across to Melbourne for an airshow there. Pretty impressive outback I must say. The thought of potentially breaking down in such vast backcountry would always be in the back of my mind. You guys are the real adventurers IMO. Us Canucks have a little "backcountry" too, but pretty tough sledding in the winter - just snowed here (finally) overnight. Enter 6 months of cold & darkness.

[Biebs]

off road riding in loose sand is no fun on my R100 GS.

So this is a great way to have 3 wheels on the ground.

But riding a hack requires totally different style than a bike - body English is important -it's fun!!

Also see a lot of medical conditions that make a hack the only way to go.

My condition had a stroke in 2009 at the age of 49. Big dirt biker had 6 motorcycles.

Stroke is like a heart attack but a brain attack instead - spent a month in hospital relearning to walk / talk / use my arms.

Balance is an issue.

Started riding my bicycle after 3 months. So the sidecar is my mule gets me around is fun still different than riding my GS or any motorcycle. I can and do ride my on/off road GS most of the time and mountain bike.


Gotta ride so the sidecar is last resort - sidecars are great for off road stability.


That's why I ride / have a sidecar. Been riding motorcycles since I was 15 it's in my blood!!!


[IMG][/IMG]

[GreatWhiteNorth]

I think that's one of the cool things about trikes & sidecars is it gives people with medical conditions & disabilities the ability to keep on riding. I'm in the same boat with degradational arthritis. ...had a badly herniated disk (neck) that actually caused me spinal cord damage. It was a tough go for a while there, but as strength and motor skills returned, I bought a sidecar for my Goldwing... and then a KLR rig. I find it is so good for the spirits to keep on truckin'... I mean sidecarin'