Is It Hard To Drive A Motorcycle With A Sidecar?”
/The answer to this question is a resounding no! It’s not hard to “drive” a Cozy Sidecar and motorcycle rig… but it is different and requires some practice. We strongly suggest that our sidecar customers take their new Cozy Sidecar to a large empty parking lot and practice using some of our suggestions.
Let me tell you about my first sidecar experience.
I had a Royal Enfield motorcycle attached to a Cozy Euro model. I was setting up our booth at Daytona Bike week and had just rolled it out of the trailer. I thought “how hard could this be” and took off on the motorcycle-sidecar rig. I had not gone 200 feet and the right-hand side of the sidecar had taken out a mailbox. After paying a nice man for his mailbox I slinked back to the hotel and proceeded to practice.
You will forget how wide your motorcycle is with a sidecar attached to it, but that is really not the main reason to practice. When you ride a motorcycle you are on two wheels and lean to turn. When you attach a Cozy or other brand of sidecar to your motorcycle you suddenly have three wheels and a machine that will not lean so in effect you are now “driving” your sidecar, hack, or other nicknamed rig.
Leaning is of no use.
This is the point where most authors will give you a long detailed explanation on the physics of a motorcycle and sidecar combination. Those explanations make my eyes glaze over so we’ll keep it simple.
Because the third wheel is offset you have to manage asymmetrical drag. It manifests itself as the sidecar wanting to pull to one side or the other as you accelerate or brake. A well aligned sidecar will travel in a straight line but there may be small amount of pull while accelerating or deceleration. You will get used to it and will adjust so it will become second nature.
Turns can be of greater concern. Although it seems counterintuitive, while making a right hand turn the wheel of the sidecar will try to lift. There are many factors, but the amount of weight in the sidecar and the speed are the most prominent. Driving with the wheel of the sidecar in the air is called “flying the chair”. It is a useful skill because it will give you a better sense of control when you've mastered it. When the chair lifts you are suddenly on two wheels instead of three and the steering dynamics change. You will have to manage your speed as you take turn in a sidecar rig and practice will teach you this.
In a left-hand turn, the nose of the sidecar can dive as weight shifts and in extreme cases can cause the sidecar to tip over. Again practice makes perfect.
Take your motorcycle and sidecar combination to a large empty parking lot to practice.
It might help to put some ballast in the sidecar to simulate with weight of your grandchild, dog etc.
You will want to practice driving in a straight line while accelerating and braking.
Next practice figure 8’s. Start slow and then increase your speed as you become more confident. Practice lifting the sidecar wheel off of the ground in the right hand part of the figure 8.
Lastly, set some cones up and weave back and forth between them at varying speeds. Also set them up in two parallel rows about the width of your rig and practice getting used to the width of your sidecar.
After some time spent practicing you will gain confidence and be a better “driver”. Don’t become overconfident which is easy to do. Go out and have fun!
We know sidecars and are happy to answer questions about the Cozy or sidecars in general. No pressure, honest advice. Give us a call 1-623-512-0377 or email us at: customerservice@classicmotorworks.com
We know sidecars and are happy to answer questions about the Cozy or sidecars in general. No pressure, honest advice. Give us a call 1-623-512-0377 or email us at: customerservice@classicmotorworks.com
Jay Leno owns several of our sidecars.
