1967 Sidecars - 3-Page Vintage Motorcycle Article

Description

1967 Sidecars - 3-Page Vintage Motorcycle Article
Original, vintage magazine article.
Page Size: Approx. 8" x 11" (21 cm x 28 cm) each page
Condition: Good
THOSE INCREDIBLE
CHARIOTS
In the following article, Britisher Ken
Craven discusses the thrills of sidecar
riding and the amazing capability of the
three-wheeled machine to negotiate al-
most any terrain. The author has long
been a two- and three-wheeler enthusiast
and his name in England is synonymous
with serious touring. He is president of
the Federation of Sidecar Clubs in the
United Kingdom.
BY KEN CRAVEN
Author Ken Craven drives, coached through water crossings by sidecar expert Bill Peacock.
Millions of minds the world over are
indoctrinated with their own coun-
try’s achievements and kept ignorant about
what has been accomplished elsewhere. My
topic, however, is not quite that momen-
tous and I therefore will state that, to the
best of my knowledge, Great Britain was
the first country to take seriously the
question of carrying a passenger on a
motorcycle.
But, before the English ever put the
passenger behind the rider, they put him
alongside. Oddly enough, that second seat
behind the rider had eluded the great
minds of motorcycling, or, more likely,
the lightweight frames were not strong
enough to provide a suitable mounting for
a second seat.
It is fitting, perhaps, that such a curious
appendage as the sidecar (also called hack,
chair, or, in toto, rig, outfit or combina-
tion) had its origin in a cartoon gag by
George Moore which appeared in the
British publication, Motor Cycling on Jan-
uary 7, 1903.
Well, Moore may have thought it was a
gag, but the Graham brothers took him
seriously, turning the artist’s fantasy to
reality just a few months later.
The cartoon appeared just at the time
when sales of the motorcycle trailer were
on the wane. That this rickshaw-like con-
veyance enjoyed even the briefest spell of
popularity was doubtless the result of prop-
aganda by those who owned them, who
wanted to ensure getting rid of them as
quickly as possible with minimum finan-
cial loss. Luckless ladies were trailed along
in a cloud of dust mixed with blue fumes.
It was a wrecker of romances, and dis-
gruntled maidens formed the first hard
core of hitch hikers, thumbing their way
home by other means.
Although the trailer may have been an
abomination to the passenger, at least the
assembled geometry was tolerable as a
vehicular design. But to attach a carrier
alongside the steed must have seemed
absurd. Not only was it unorthodox but
it wholly lacked symmetry in shape and
wheel layout, and both power and weight
were completely offset. Yet this weird im-
provisation prospered and spread to other
countries and into the realms of sport.
Nor did it perish with the introduction of
the pillion seat, which merely accommo-
dated one passenger; when the perched
peach fell victim to matrimony, the side-
car was an inexpensive solution to the in-
evitable increase in passenger requirements.
For over half a century, the sidecar was
to flourish in Britain but in recent years
there has been a marked decline in total
registrations, and an even greater reces-
1 sion in new ones being sold. The automo-
bile has replaced it as a family convey-
ance and, at the risk of being burned at
the stake for heresy, I can well under-
stand the preference. My first outfit was
obtained in 1950 for domestic conveyance.
My wife and I had our own solos for pri-
vate and pleasure use. When fully laden,
the device was about as maneuverable as
the Rock of Gibraltar and not a great
deal faster. Nor was it a sociable vehicle;
mother and daughter in the hooded chair
were isolated from pop and son .who, like
as not, were being lashed by the rain. My
family three-wheeler passed unlamented.
With the passage of two more years,
my enduring pillionist began to suffer on
our long continental tours as the result of
an old knee injury sustained while playing
hockey — a savage game which is com-
pulsory in expensive English girls’ schools.
Once more a three-wheeler entered the sta-
ble, though this time it was a neat little
chariot hitched to a more potent piece of
machinery. At once I began to appreciate
the unique virtues ascribed to the combi-
nation. Here was a sporting road vehicle
that deserved to survive, and quite pos-
sibly regain its lost appeal in other coun-
tries.
The acquisition of this road burner in-
spired me to persuade sidecar master Bill
Peacock to give me a course of advanced
tuition. Bill had been the most famous of
trials men and stunt riders and it is
doubtful if he has ever had an equal.
Admittedly, a solo trials motorcycle in
the hands of an expert can tackle terrain
which is beyond the scope of any other
type of vehicle — combination included —
but it is a highly specialized mount second
only to the mountain goat in agility. With
this exception there is no rival (among
normal road-going pieces of machinery)
to touch the sidecar outfit for traction and
versatility.
Bill sat in my standard sports chair
commanding me to perform most improb-
able feats. I had asked for his instruction
and I got it! First of all. I had to cross
a wide stream with a knobby stone bed
and steep, three-foot banks on either side.
. “Right!” he called out. “Ease her down
the bank slowly. The moment the exhaust
pipe goes under water, open up. Don’t let
the engine stall whatever happens . . .
Now! Open up — hold the throttle steady
. . . more revs . . . control your forward
speed by letting the clutch slip. Let it
slip more, and go slowly, or you’ll have
water right over the engine.”
As soon as my front wheel was about
to touch the far bank, he shouted, “Pull
back on the handle bars at the same time
you let go the clutch and open up hard.
That’s right, now lean forward, or you’ll
have the whole device falling over back-
wards!”
I was then asked to drive up the wall of
a gravel pit, which 1 would have regarded
as unsafe for an agile small boy on his
hands and knees.
The exhausting day came to an end at
a farm track, half a mile long. This was
after a wet spell, and the deep slime would
have caused hardship to a tractor. Here
the technique was to leave the clutch en-
gaged after selecting second or third gear,
the highest practicable, blipping the throt-
tle rapidly from open to closed, at the
same time bouncing up and down vigorous-
ly on the rear half of the dual seat Al-...
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