What's your unusual biking pleasure?

[jabmotorsport]

The best bit about biking for me is accelerating up hills, any hill, any speed, just the sense of gathering speed as you defy gravity's best efforts always brings a smile  

Even better if some corners are involved on the hill too  

What that man said ... plus 1

[Fatbelly]

A sidecar is a kit for turning a motorcycle into a car.

[Andy M]

A sidecar is a kit for turning a motorcycle into a car.

You've never driven one then? A sidecar turns a bike into an asymetric vehicle like no other. The power to weight ratio should still be high and stability low. The operator is required to differentiate between corners that will lift the sidecar and those which will cause it to slide and also allow for the effects of throttle, camber and gradient. There are plenty out there who can ride a bike or drive a car but can't do the mental gymnastics involved in operating an outfit.

There is a particular pleasure to going round the outside of sports bikes on rain covered left handers with the chair wheel just lightly showing a bit of daylight between itself and the road. It's better when the dog gives them the "What are you strange person who dresses like my crewy toy Power Ranger and makes noise like wasps in a jam jar - I now seem to be above you in lifes pack and shall henceforth ignore you as unworthy" look.

The only likeness to a car is the amount of gear you can carry and the fact they still work in foot deep snow.

Andy

[Keith Cross]

Outfits are weird to ride.  Crashed everyone I have ridden.

Keith C

[Petrust]

as we're discussing sidecar outfits, this used to be my unusual biking pleasure




It's me and my mate scrambling a Triumph TR5 outfit, probably at Pirbright in the late 1960s. We used to trial it aswell, and later raced a Tribsa grass track outfit. In this particular photo I am enjoying the ride in the "chair"

[2112]

Outfits are weird to ride.  Crashed everyone I have ridden.

Me too ! Thankfully I've only ridden the one - a vile Jawa 350 combo. I hit a gate post with the sidecar and flew over the bars like 'Mary Poppins the Vegas years'. Ohh the shame...

[Fatbelly]

Nope, I confess I have never ridden one. Weird thing is that when I was a Certified Motorcycle Instructor a long time ago my DSA certificate said I was qualified to teach people to ride with a sidecar even though I had never been on one in my life!

[Tusker]

I sat on a road race version at the Stafford show last year,, you have to be deformed to race them..

[mjc506]

My new biking pleasure is sitting at a stop during a wet trip watching all the horrified faces of the car drivers, who have noticed the steam billowing around me from the hot engine.

[jabmotorsport]

That feeling when your doing some amount of miles an hour and you know you don't have to pedal

[applecrossraider]

Happy New Year ALL. Arranging to meet MX5AVO (stuart) at Squires cafe on new years day only to find it closed so made our way to Red Beck cafe where it never is closed ( rumour is it can,t close cause there ain,t no locks on the doors) .

[mx5avo]

Happy New year..I havnt been riding for 2 years and on NYs day I realised why I had gone back to it and on a new strom..out with mates on a nice fresh day taking it easy and having great fun n cafe chats...Ken is correct the Redbeck ain't got a lock and has never had one since it opened in the early 60s I am told as its never shut. Even open Christmas day !!
mx5avo Stu
 

[russ]

looking at the collection of splattered bugs with a cold beer after a long ride

or

filtering through traffic, it doesn't matter how expensive your car is, it'll still be 20 mins before you get through the lights

[MartinW]

I will never forget overtaking a bright yellow Lamborghini, my good old Strom only in first gear and with the back brake partially on, but the Lambo couldn't keep up.

[medic5]

as we're discussing sidecar outfits, this used to be my unusual biking pleasure




It's me and my mate scrambling a Triumph TR5 outfit, probably at Pirbright in the late 1960s. We used to trial it aswell, and later raced a Tribsa grass track outfit. In this particular photo I am enjoying the ride in the "chair"

Oh my, take it you must have done the old Boxing Day scrambles. Mud, rain, wind, more mud.
The old Noton sidecar out fits, then along came the New KTM bikes.
This is we're I cut my teeth as a young medic all those years ago. When the bikes went down we used to wade into the race area, you blokes would keep racing, we would try and patch up the poor bugger with the # what ever, carry them off the track with out getting run down our selfs, no flipping H&S crap in them days. Just dam good fun and the smell of bikes.

[Gassoon]

Happy New Year ALL. Arranging to meet MX5AVO (stuart) at Squires cafe on new years day only to find it closed so made our way to Red Beck cafe where it never is closed ( rumour is it can,t close cause there ain,t no locks on the doors) .

Must be this one? https://www.google.co.uk/maps?q=&layer= ... =0CJIBEKcf

Looks good! Is it in the list for satnavs by Drycounty, in the Ride out section?

[cabra]

Especially when you are all hot and bothered. mmmmmmm

[russ]

russ' wife

going out on the bike to find some wonderful place, Only to find pendle hill three times, NO matter witch way we took haha.

smiking to self as husband thinks I can't hear him singing badly

the georgous views

time to think, no work, no kids, no husband NO NAGGING

[Andy M]

The choice of song to sing badly deserves a thread of it's own. Attempts at light opera for example are best carried out twenty or thirty miles from the nearest habitation while wearing earplugs and accompanied by a two-stroke with a racing exhaust. Certain Rugby songs are only suitable outside 30 limits.

Andy

[Moorsie]

That post reminded me of a trip to Holland with my mate Jon.  At the time, we were both using AutoCom systems with radio comms between the bikes.

Riding along through Belgium, I was listening to "Being with You" by Al Green and sang along to the whole song, giving it loads in my usual terrible style.

After I had finished and drawn breath, Jon says over the radio "That was lovely!", I had inadvertently flicked the handlebar switch to VOX mode, so unbeknown to me, Jon had listened (suffered) to my entire performance.

At least no-one can see your blushing when you're wearing a crash helmet