davekempmeister Posted September 3, 2018 Report Share Posted September 3, 2018 speechless. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mellow Yellow Posted September 3, 2018 Report Share Posted September 3, 2018 So... I am pretty fluent in anything related to cars/moto/etc.... what in the hell are those sidecar looking trikes starting around 9:30? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davekempmeister Posted September 3, 2018 Author Report Share Posted September 3, 2018 (edited) 1 hour ago, Mellow Yellow said: So... I am pretty fluent in anything related to cars/moto/etc.... what in the hell are those sidecar looking trikes starting around 9:30? fascinating teamwork with those things. first thing i did was look to see if they are tethered. no surprise, they aren't. the way they move around the thing, i suppose it would only be an obstruction and upset the balance and flow of things. i watch videos like these and am stunned at the level of skill and cool-headed responses. the whole course is a no fall/no crash zone. i have spent a fair amount of time on a small island in the Baltic (Bornholm, in Denmark) and there is a young Policeman who circumnavigates and criss-crosses the island all night long on a BMW 1200RT. he's federalized politi. he encounters some speeders, the occasional DUI, and the rest of it is just fantastic riding. awesome that he gets paid for that. thankfully, i have only seen him several times and not met him. yet. Edited September 3, 2018 by davekempmeister Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobD Posted September 4, 2018 Report Share Posted September 4, 2018 (edited) Sidecar racing, track, trials, and motocross goes back a long way in the UK. I think the reasons were economic. The cheapest transport for a family in the forties, fifties and sixties was a motorcycle sidecar combination. As guys were using their bike combos to transport their families, the accident rate was low. That lowered the insurance premiums if a sidecar was fitted ,making for greater economy. Each of the tree disciplines developed their own specialized bike combos. https://www.google.com/search?q=motorcycle+trials+sidecar&num=30&newwindow=1&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwip8MPmxKDdAhUMiqwKHY9QBcwQsAR6BAgBEAE&biw=1920&bih=943 https://www.google.com/search?q=motorcycle+motocross+sidecar&num=30&newwindow=1&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiv54n6xKDdAhUK0awKHXIqCVoQ_AUICygC&biw=1920&bih=943 Edited September 4, 2018 by BobD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allee Posted September 4, 2018 Report Share Posted September 4, 2018 The sidecars are my favourite thing on the island. I still remember watching footage of one guy swinging, catching his shoulder on a stone wall when his pilot cut the corner too close, and just getting ejected. The motorcycle riders are crazy, but the sidecar swingers have to take the cake. I can't imagine being that close to the ground, going that fast. I'm headed back there for the Classic TT next year, and I can't freaking wait. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jburk Posted September 4, 2018 Report Share Posted September 4, 2018 The sidecar passengers are listed as "co-driver", but colloquially known as the "monkey". For some pretty cool shots, see: http://www.testpilotwear.com.php56-17.dfw3-1.websitetestlink.com/blog/the-sidecar-monkey/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mellow Yellow Posted September 4, 2018 Report Share Posted September 4, 2018 this.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke Posted September 5, 2018 Report Share Posted September 5, 2018 Not a big fan of the sidecars. Motorcycles (and all two wheeled vehicles) steer in a peculiar way. Countersteering. It is pure magic to watch those bikes take those corners leaning so far over that they are sliding their knee pucks. Putting all that faith in a tire contact patch the size of a credit card. yikes. Not so with he sidecars. 3 wheels might as well be 4 wheeled cagers to me. Same reason the CanAms don't get the motorcycle wave . Ya, the sidecars are fun to laugh at. but....they just end up burning time that could be spent on the real deal. Jealous of Allee for having been there and for getting to go back there too. Please ask them this question for me.."why did you steal Sicily's flag symbol for your island?" 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruincounselor Posted September 5, 2018 Report Share Posted September 5, 2018 Sidecars steer very differently than motorcycles, it's true. I've owned several over the years and they can be a lot of fun. Due to the location of the third wheel they handle very differently going left or right; kind of like toe/heel on a carving board. Making things even more interesting is that they do countersteer as soon as the hack tire leaves the ground. I can't think of a more peculiar handling wheeled vehicle. All this makes for continually changing handling requiring a skilled driver to keep it upright and going in the right direction. It's a lot of fun the fly the chair at speed with a passenger! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allee Posted September 5, 2018 Report Share Posted September 5, 2018 12 hours ago, Duke said: It is pure magic to watch those bikes take those corners leaning so far over that they are sliding their knee pucks. Putting all that faith in a tire contact patch the size of a credit card. yikes. You want MotoGP then. Knee pucks, elbow pucks - pretty sure Marc Marquez is going to need an ear puck soon. I saw an actual-speed POV lap of one of this year's tracks, and my brain exploded after about 30 seconds. Soooo fast, and they make dicing at 300 km/h look easy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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