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Motor bike and sidecar

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A common sight was the planks on the bare chassis for the learners!

The maximum "CC" a learner could ride then was 250cc...now 125cc....so lots bought a "sidecar outfit"( classed as a tricycle) with just planks on the chassis so they could ride a larger cc bike.There wasn't much traffic about then so they could usually keep up with the "two wheelers"..a different story nowadays tho' :)

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The maximum "CC" a learner could ride then was 250cc...now 125cc....so lots bought a "sidecar outfit"( classed as a tricycle) with just planks on the chassis so they could ride a larger cc bike.There wasn't much traffic about then so they could usually keep up with the "two wheelers"..a different story nowadays tho' :)

 

pre 1960, a learner rider could ride any cc he/she wished 1960/61 250cc limit came into force, a friend of mine was riding a Vincent 1000 for years as a learner.

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My one and only ride in a sidecar earned me an arse warming from dear old dad ,I was 5years old at the time!.One of our old boys mates came to visit one summers evening on his motorbike and sidecar,he parked it in our yard and went indoors for a natter with mater!.At a loose end and very nosey I climbed all over it ending up in the sidecar which was very comfy ,so I closed the lid and promptly fell fast asleep!.Next thing I awoke to the noise of the motorcycle engine in the dark bobbing around as it was moving,I kept quiet for what seemed ages until the bike pulled up and the engine turned off!.My dads mate nearly had a heart attack as I opened the sidecar lid and jumped up,"Wheres tha come from?"says he,"I don,t know!"says I!.He took me indoors where his wife gave me tea and a sandwich while he called the police,when they turned up my parents had reported me missing and I was reunited with them shortly to receive a right royal smacked arse as this was one of many times I had gone missing driving them to distraction!.I think I was born with wanderlust I should have grown up to be an explorer,anyhow that was my first and last encounter with a motorbike and sidecar!.

Edited by old tup
spelling error!

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Hi oscar2157 - yes, my dad thought the world of his old-style RAC badge - my brother still has it, carefully restored and on display in his house. RAC patrolmen, riding their own Norton combinations, also used to salute members in the 1950s.

 

Hi hillsbro and All,

 

My dad had a combination for a short while when I was about four in 1947. I have a vague recollection of Mother and me in the sidecar going into countryside and being aware of haystacks and cattle for the first time. I remember him having bits of gearbox apart in the bedroom on Adsetts Street and then never saw it again. Unfortunately he never had any other personal transport, other than a pushbike, either before or after and died in 1960 aged 49.

 

I have an AA badge similar to the one you mention. Here's a pic of my 1953 Ford Anglia which, I no longer have, which shows the badge along with others on a rather overloaded badge bar and grille :). I still have these, which are on display at home, all of which are relevant to me except perhaps the coronation badge.....

 

http://i1255.photobucket.com/albums/hh629/peterlaurence/Phone%20Downloads%206May07%20065_zpsmx7rn3ia.jpg

 

Peter

Edited by PeterR

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Loved your family photo Hillsbro, always enjoy your posts. Keep them coming please.

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Loved your family photo Hillsbro, always enjoy your posts. Keep them coming please.
:)..:)..:)..Here's a wider view of the same photo, and another family group. It's a pity that dad had to part with the motorbike and sidecar as we had lots of family outings. He and his brother Sydney also toured Scotland, taking with them a Scottish-born neighbour and her little girl so that they could visit relatives. Dad had actually bought the bike first without the sidecar, and with Sydney on the pillion went to Blackpool for the day. On the way back on a long, straight road with no traffic he opened the Thunderbird out at full throttle and, as he later said, "It freetened me to deeath!" :P That story is no doubt true, but I'm not sure about another one he told, about a workmate who was coming down Herries Road on his rickety Norton combination, and once through the Five Arches he turned right but the sidecar carried on....:rolleyes:

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A common sight was the planks on the bare chassis for the learners! (and some dubious left turn manoeuvres :) )

 

I'm not sure what dad would have made of THIS

 

.

 

My friend had a Panther sidecar outfit.He took the sidecar body off and we went and fetched an Ariel NH solo and fastened it to the sidecar chassis.Without the body or Ariel on it the chassis lifted very easily.We crawled around left hand bends with me stood on the chassis trying to hold it down.As soon as he hit a straight he wound it on leaving the traffic jam behind us until the next left hander !!!!!!!!

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That story is no doubt true, but I'm not sure about another one he told, about a workmate who was coming down Herries Road on his rickety Norton combination, and once through the Five Arches he turned right but the sidecar carried on....:rolleyes:

 

It might have been.

 

My Dad had a Triumph Speed Twin and sidecar. I remember being in it one day coming home from fishing. There was a car behind blowing his horn and flashing his lights, which my Dad thought meant he was trying to pass us, so he speeded up.

 

As he slowed down for a left turn, a wheel came past us, and all of a sudden I was sitting at 45 degrees and we screeched to a stop.

 

It was the sidecar wheel. The man behind was trying to warn him that it was loose. :hihi:

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Ah, those were the days! This photo was taken at Skegness in 1951. Dad Eddie is driving with mum Dora on the pillion. I'm the 3 year-old peering over the sidecar with big sister Valerie and brother Roy behind. Until I got too big (and a bit later, in wet weather) I used to sit on mum's lap in the front of the sidecar with Val and Roy squashed in behind. Happy days - all through the summer we would go to the east coast one weekend (Skegness, Cleethorpes or Bridlington) and the west coast the next (usually New Brighton via the Snake Pass and Mersey Tunnel). Few working-class people could afford their own transport at that time (dad had got some compensation for a wartime injury) and the neighbours on Low Road at Woodland View would come out of their houses to see us off. When we moved to Dykes Hall Road in 1952 there was nowhere to keep the machine and it was sold to a property repairer. He fitted a box-type sidecar for his kit. For the technically minded it was a Triumph 650 cc. 'Thunderbird' with a 'Swallow' double-adult sidecar.

 

My Brother -in-law Albert had several "combinations" and the last as I recall was an Ariel square 4 with a big sidecar.One of the family tales refers to them all (before I was born so pre 1948!!!) going on holiday, my mum and dad in the sidecar and my sister and husband to be on the bike.They set off after tea on a Friday night (after work) for Bridlington. They had been going a bit and it was pitch dark and Albert was not sure where he was so mentioned this to my mother who promptly re-assured him that they were on the right road as she could remember it from some time previous! This went on for quite a bit until Albert saw a signpost....they were a few miles from Grimsby. I believe the air turned a bit blue and my mother's excuse was that last time they must have been going to Cleethorpes!! It was a long way back to get to the other side of the Humber (no big bridge in those days) and they arrived in Bridlington very late.

I presume you know hillsbro that Swallow sidecars later became Jaguar cars.

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...I presume you know hillsbro that Swallow sidecars later became Jaguar cars.
Yes, I learned this only recently - quite a change!

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I just love this thread as my Dad had a motorbike and sidecar in the 60s and we travelled extensively in it.

It had a front and back seat and entered through the side door but can't remember it having a hatch on the roof.

It was a red sidecar and was pretty old then, maybe made in the 40s or 50s but the one thing I do remember is the smell inside the sidecar, I wish I could have a wiff at that smell today

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