Sore bums...

Ok... I've had a few little 'reds' tonight... no more though as tomorrow I'm off early on the bike to Mudgee for its service before hitting the asphalt on the way to Phillip Island in Feb...

Was showing my girlfriend some of the photos on the posts about the 'calendar' that Cameron is organising... the one of the maroon Bandit with the side car and trailer caught her attention and she commented 'hey that would be good'.... suffice to say I didn't agree... (I enjoy the cornering with the bike the way it is!) She continued and said 'well my bottom wouldn't get so sore in that'... my next comment was that she 'had' to get a sore bum to appreciate it! What do you think?? (Double meanings here by the way..) - As I said; I've been drinking and its taken me longer than usual to post this!!

Having owned 2 sidecars I love them. Cornering is all about sliding. Used to be able to keep up with solos in corners with both of my Virago outfits. Loved to watch the rider in front do the double take in his mirrors when he saw a fully loaded bike and side up his rear end. In the back I my mind is the thought that the Bandit would make a very good sidecar tug.

I'd be on a Can Am Spyder before an outfit and thats a long way off I hope

March 2009 after a bit of time not riding 3 wheels I got to sample it all again. In Bethanga stop over on the way toi Mitta Mitta for Horizons Unlimited Aussie meeting.

Show her those photos you keep in that black box to remind her how you soothed her sore bum last time

Whilst we might not be everyones cup of tea there is a fair bit that goes into making a 3 wheeled Bandit. PS the last shot is a ring-in but I don't think you would see too many of them around and it is sort of related:

Why is it I read everything the wrong way

dhula wrote:Why is it I read everything the wrong way

dyslexia

There was a place where you could pay for a ride in a RACE sidecar on the track at SPEED .I had a mate who organized it as a surprise to
his wife .He said it was no tour around the track .

I rode a Harley once with a stick shift on the tank .It want really for me, but it sure was a lot of fun and i could see why the owner was into it, like
your passenger Barry.

My daughters back when I had the outfit...

There are only 3 things a sidecar (outfit) are good for.

1. Carrying kids when you have too many to fit on the bike itself - the other alternatives are to either not have kids or only have two and have your wife ride a bike as well.
2. If you have lost the use of your legs
3. Racing - no I haven't raced sidecars, however I do enjoy watching the mad f**kers racing around the IOM.

gus wrote:There was a place where you could pay for a ride in a RACE sidecar on the track at SPEED .I had a mate who organized it as a surprise to
his wife .He said it was no tour around the track .

I rode a Harley once with a stick shift on the tank .It want really for me, but it sure was a lot of fun and i could see why the owner was into it, like
your passenger Barry.

MCRAWA hold open days over here at Barbagallo raceway every now and then where you can rock up and have a crack swinging for free. Unless you are nuts I think most people do a couple of laps and say it's not for me thanks

b12mick wrote:There are only 3 things a sidecar (outfit) are good for.

1. Carrying kids when you have too many to fit on the bike itself - the other alternatives are to either not have kids or only have two and have your wife ride a bike as well.
2. If you have lost the use of your legs
3. Racing - no I haven't raced sidecars, however I do enjoy watching the mad f**kers racing around the IOM.

And....

4. Somewhere for the dog to sit.
5. Not having to put your feet down at the lights.
6. Locking up either front or rear brakes and living to talk about it.
7. Keeping mum dry when it's pissing down with rain (it was hard enough to get her to agree to the bike in the first place)
8. A bigger profile (target ?) for cages to see.
9. Somewhere to put that 2nd broken down Harley rider.
10. Not having to worry about a side or centre stand ever again.

barry_mcki wrote:

b12mick wrote:There are only 3 things a sidecar (outfit) are good for.

1. Carrying kids when you have too many to fit on the bike itself - the other alternatives are to either not have kids or only have two and have your wife ride a bike as well.
2. If you have lost the use of your legs
3. Racing - no I haven't raced sidecars, however I do enjoy watching the mad f**kers racing around the IOM.

And....

4. Somewhere for the dog to sit.
5. Not having to put your feet down at the lights.
6. Locking up either front or rear brakes and living to talk about it.
7. Keeping mum dry when it's pissing down with rain (it was hard enough to get her to agree to the bike in the first place)
8. A bigger profile (target ?) for cages to see.
9. Somewhere to put that 2nd broken down Harley rider.
10. Not having to worry about a side or centre stand ever again.

Sing it brother sing it.

reddog wrote:
MCRAWA hold open days over here at Barbagallo raceway every now and then where you can rock up and have a crack swinging for free. Unless you are nuts I think most people do a couple of laps and say it's not for me thanks

Should try it on a dirt bike.
Did it in the dirt when I was younger (much, much younger) on a speedway track
Remember it as awsome but really really dirty fun.

barry_mcki wrote:

b12mick wrote:There are only 3 things a sidecar (outfit) are good for.

1. Carrying kids when you have too many to fit on the bike itself - the other alternatives are to either not have kids or only have two and have your wife ride a bike as well.
2. If you have lost the use of your legs
3. Racing - no I haven't raced sidecars, however I do enjoy watching the mad f**kers racing around the IOM.

And....

4. Somewhere for the dog to sit. That's what the tank is for
5. Not having to put your feet down at the lights. that's just being lazy
6. Locking up either front or rear brakes and living to talk about it. learn to ride properly
7. Keeping mum dry when it's pissing down with rain (it was hard enough to get her to agree to the bike in the first place) tell her to HTFU or stay home
8. A bigger profile (target ?) for cages to see. they can't see a big red fire truck, so how is adding a sidecar to a bike going to help
9. Somewhere to put that 2nd broken down Harley rider. F*ck the harley rider, his back up ute will be along shortly
10. Not having to worry about a side or centre stand ever again. Now your just being silly - if that's a problem, sell the bike and buy a car

A couple of good points however with a sidecar you can:

Re use that old combi sitting in the back yard


Have a choice of different ales:


Then with a skin full treat the rig like a normal bike for cornering:


And even check on your tire inflation whilst still moving:


Assist the local CFA in putting out fires:


And best of all you can make lots of new friends:

any body here lived with a trailer only? contemplating...if set up correctly,my way of thinking is it should handle alright, does it? any issues apart from possible parking and getting up on centre stand to lube?

mtbeerwah wrote:any body here lived with a trailer only? contemplating...if set up correctly,my way of thinking is it should handle alright, does it? any issues apart from possible parking and getting up on centre stand to lube?

There is a mob in Wangaratta called Ali-Lite that make bike trailers and can supply the hitches (at additional costs). They have two models (price when I checked was $2,995 and $3,195) with frieght and options extra. They come standard with the swivel tow hitch so can track behind a bike on corners pretty good:


I did look into the cheaper trailers from Easy Trailer, not sure about how robust they would be but prices were pretty good even with a swivel and roof top box:


I ended up getting a custom small flatbed with a 580lt Rhino roof box bolted to it. As I don't need to worry about the bike cornering issues the hitch is standard.


Tracking behind the Bandit is not noticeable, in fact I found I was checking my mirrors even more just to make sure it was still there. With a trailer pulling directly behind a "normal" bike it should be even better (mine is offset due to the sidecar). You will need to watch your width, depending on size the trailer will extend your road presence up to another half metre or so.

good info mate, i`d probably forget i was towing and try and dart up between traffic and have a major

mtbeerwah wrote: i`d probably forget i was towing and try and dart up between traffic and have a major

Was thinking the same thing!

I remember watching bikes with side-cars racing around Bathurst long ago... great for spectators; but not yet my cup of tea..

dhula wrote:

reddog wrote:
MCRAWA hold open days over here at Barbagallo raceway every now and then where you can rock up and have a crack swinging for free. Unless you are nuts I think most people do a couple of laps and say it's not for me thanks

Should try it on a dirt bike.
Did it in the dirt when I was younger (much, much younger) on a speedway track
Remember it as awsome but really really dirty fun.

Hey dhula, I think we all like dirty fun

On the subject of trailers, check out the Uni-go single wheel trailer if you really need something like that. No wider than the bike, so filtering would be fine. Just do a google search for it, there's a youtube bit on it too.