Today the sight of a motorcycle combination - bike and sidecar - is almost as rare as a horse-drawn carriage. But John Wheeler looks back tosimpler days when a 'combination' was as good as it got . . .
These days the sight of a motorcycle and sidecar, a "combination", is rare indeed. Time was, mainly from the 1920s through to the early 1960s when combinations were an everyday sight.
Adding a sidecar to a motorcycle greatly increased its carrying capacity. Growing families could be transported, goods and services carried easily and they were the standard transport for AA and RAC patrolmen.
Behind this seemingly strange adaptation lies economics. These were times when perhaps only the priest, doctor, local solicitor and the "gentry" had cars.
For the working man who could afford more than a push-bike the motorcycle was really the only affordable personal transport.
Wives and girlfriends appreciated the sidecar because they could dress more becomingly than when riding on a pillion. As soon as children came on the scene the family could still remain mobile.
Combinations started to disappear around the time that mass produced, relatively low-cost cars became available. The introduction of the Mini was the final death-knell. It was priced about the same as a motorcycle and sidecar and was a lot more comfortable.
My introduction to sidecars happened when a Labrador puppy was becoming too large to nestle inside my jacket.
I came across a 175 cc BSA Bantam with a small sidecar attached: the perfect solution. Soon after, with the acquisition of a fiancée, I changed it for a larger BSA M 20 with a Watsonian Avon sidecar.
With an addition to the family pending the sidecar body was exchanged for a "double adult" model.
More than merely a practical solution to the need for more space, I had as much, if not more fun, with sidecar outfits as with solo machines and, but for Dublin's traffic - where a sidecar is held up as much as any car - I'd have one today.
Of all the forms of powered transport, a motorcycle combination has to be one of the most exhilarating and idiosyncratic forms of transport.
It requires what at first is a disconcerting driving technique. Accelerate and the bike tries to overtake the sidecar, brake and the sidecar tries to overtake the bike thus requiring a different technique for left and right corners.
Fitting the sidecar to the motorcycle is something of a black art where getting the right degree of 'toe-in', 'lean out' and 'lead' (the amount by which the sidecar wheel is ahead of the rear wheel spindle) is a matter of trial and error.
Once properly set up the "outfit" has amazing versatility, it can do a 180-degree turn in little more than its own length and its ability to tackle adverse conditions is at least equal to any four-wheel drive vehicle, and it copes well with icy roads.
This off-road ability made them extremely versatile military transports. Once I crossed Dartmoor in foot-deep snow when, so the radio said that night, all the villages I passed through had been cut off all day.
In the sidecars' heyday some manufacturers produced bikes which were specifically designed with sidecars in mind; the BSA M20 and M21, 500 and 600 cc single cylinder side valve engines, the 600 cc Panther and Norton ES2 and 16H, all redoubtable "sloggers" with massive torque, were amongst the most favoured machines.
For those of a more sporty inclination a 1,000 cc Vincent with a bullet-shaped Stieb sidecar was the ultimate choice.
Nowadays there is a handful of sidecar specialists in the UK, and more in Germany and the Netherlands. Virtually any kind of motorcycle, from a modest scooter to extreme sports bikes such as Honda's Blackbird can be fitted with a sidecar.
The Germans are now the leading exponents, their better road network means that the extra width of the outfit does not restrict progress as it would on Ireland's narrow main roads.
The bike's performance obviously suffers. What once were popular choices were often hard pressed to do much more than 50 mph, but then few vehicles went much faster.
Today a modern "outfit" can have every bit as good performance as the majority of cars. In the Iron Butt Associations recent European rally, a German rider covered 1,502 miles in 24 hours in his sidecar outfit.
Given the need to carry more - be it people or baggage for a Trans Africa expedition, or just a comfortable camping tour around Europe - or simply if you hanker for something "different" a motorcycle combination enjoys all the delights of motorcycling, and more.