3 Wheeling

Our journey towards 3 wheels for 3 began in 2020.

In fact, it started in our heads much earlier, I always had the possibility in mind for when the family grew up! I’ve always had a soft spot for this kind of machines.

When Emma was born, we thought about buying the sidecar when she would be around 2-3 years old. Before then, the muscles in the neck aren’t strong enough to support the weight of a motorbike helmet.

At the end of 2019/beginning of 2020, Juan, who is in charge of internet searches, started looking for sidecars in Ireland (North and South). There is a lot more second-hand market in France, but they don’t suit us because here the sidecar has to be on the left-hand side. We had previously contacted Dutch manufacturer EZS, who offered sidecars for both left and right sides, but we had to rule out the option of buying a sidecar new, as it wasn’t in our budget!

Juan found one, from EZS/Watsonian, but mounted on a Harley. And Harley is not my cup of tea… So he kept on looking… And a few months later, this sidecar was still for sale, but the bike had been sold separately. This was our chance! Juan contacted the seller and within 2 days the deal was done (we couldn’t travel because of restrictions so we couldn’t go and see it beforehand) and a few days later the sidecar arrived…

From then on, we had to be patient, very patient. Because life had other priorities and we had to wait for things to improve before going ahead with the project.

So finally, in September 2022, Juan found on the internet THE bike that matched what we wanted to attach to the sidecar: an XJR 1300. He called the seller, we drove to South Dublin and closed the deal. The bike was insured and the 5 of us were on our way home (Juan, the bike, Emma, me and the car). In the pouring rain the whole way.

So we now had in the garage:

-a sidecar on a pallet

-a motorbike

-some spare parts (a tyre, a rear-view mirror, a footrest…)

We contacted Watsonian in the UK, as we thought the side had originally come from them. They could attach the side to our bike.

So I looked for and found a transport company who would take the side on a pallet and the bike from our house to Watsonian, in a van. Of course, we had to go through a customs agent, thanks to Brexit…

The sidecar and bike were kept warm until all the components were ready for assembly, including the fork, as a modified one was made for better manoeuvrability.

Finally, it was ready, and I had to find a transport company for the return journey, a car carrier this time, as it was too wide for a van!

Here it comes, along with the rain… (rain that was to last all summer, by the way!).

Our long-awaited sidecar is back. A superb professional job!

But it’s not over yet! We had to finish the customs paperwork, then get the new logbook for the motorbike, which was now a motorbike + sidecar.

Well, that took us the whole of July and half of August (and a number of emails!).

When we got back from our holidays  (with the car…), we were pleasantly surprised to find the new vehicle logbook in the letterbox!

All we had to do was pay the insurance, which took us a good week longer, as our insurer here since 2015 takes a week to open the emails. So after switching insurers, we were ready on Saturday morning for our first test drive.

The first attempt was of about 1.6km, and we gave up… waiting for some training and recommendations gathered online before persevering.

We’d been told that riding a sidecar was different from riding a motorbike… and that it was better to take a training course, but there isn’t one in Ireland. So we looked online for official advice.

So you need to know that:

1- the sidecar is unstable: it’s normal for it to move

2- When you brake, the sidecar moves to the right: this is normal.

3- When you accelerate, the sidecar moves to the left: this is normal.

Armed with this basic but extremely useful information, Juan decided to do his self-training alone on the bike and with nobody in the sidecar, for our own safety LOL.

He started by going back and forth through the village, which has 2 bends and a nice straight stretch and a big car park to turn around. After a number of passes and a neighbour coming out of her house with her fist in the air (the exhaust was not original, so it made a lot of noise… we’ve since changed it for the original one, which is much quieter for the neighbours, the rider and the sidecar passengers)… he decided to continue on his way out of the village. We followed him in the car. First on a small road with no traffic and a dead end. Back on the road leading into the village. To get out of the village we had no choice, there were bends, one or two of them quite sharp, and to the left! So we set off on a short loop that includes a faster road (limited to 100km/h). To understand how it works and gain a bit of confidence.

For a week, Juan took the sidecar on longer and longer trips to get used to how it handles. When he gained confidence, the two of us got into the sidecar, and the 3 of us set off on a little sidecar tour! After a few short spins, we finally tried THE spin. All the way to Cork, to meet up with some biker friends and have them try out the sidecar as a passenger. Then off to Innishannon, just for some ice cream and a playground!

The second, slightly longer outing was to Lismore. A beautiful spin. The road wasn’t in very good condition at times, and the sidecar moved around quite a bit! Emma was happy, Juan was getting used to the driving (and there’s even a left hairpin bend, ideal for practising!). And in Lismore there’s also a playground!

We also took advantage of a few dry mornings to go for short spins with just the two of us (Juan practising his skills and me in the sidecar).

Taking advantage of the last few days of sunshine, we made another trip to meet up with friends in Courtmacsherry. On the way back, we stopped off at the brand-new playground in Bandon!

We also stopped off at a shopping centre car park, and I got to grips with the sidecar for the first time: accelerate, slow down, turn left, then right. Well, at low speeds and with no obstacles on the sides, everything was fine!

I picked it up again one morning in the village. I have trouble knowing where the sidecar wheel is, and I’m a bit scared on narrow roads (no white centre line to know where to position yourself) when a vehicle is coming the other way (especially a lorry or tractor). I went through the village several times to practise accelerating, braking, slowing down and turning. Without worrying about the neighbours’ ears this time!

Another morning, I drove (with Juan in the sidecar) to the next village and back.

On a Sunday morning that happened to be sunny, we improvised an outing to the service station where the bikers meet, then continued on to the Bandon playground, of course! On the way back we stopped in Blarney for a snack, then took the lovely back roads home (after stopping at a biker friend’s place on the way back).

We arrived pretty knackered, BUT it was the FIRST TIME in over 6 years that we’d had a ‘motorbike day’: in other words, we got on the bike, met up with other bikers and rode for miles with no predetermined destination, just to enjoy the spin. Well, now we’re adding a playground destination, and we’re lucky enough to have plenty of them!

Here we are, the sidecar was originally intended to enable us to resume our motorcycling outings. And that’s it! And here we are!

Another outing while the sun lasts to go again to Lismore and The Vee with 2 friends:

And a couple of Autumn short spins:

(Yes, Emma is able to read in the sidecar!)

We’ve still got quite a bit of miles to go to get comfortable on the bike. We’ll also be practising emergency situations in a closed car park. I need to keep practising on the road, so that I can use it too (just with Emma in the sidecar, Juan won’t fit with her). So if I drive, we’ll have to get the second bike too! For the moment, Emma prefers me to go with her in the sidecar. We all need to get used to it!

This is the first stage of our 3-wheelings dream, and we are looking forward to the next stages to come!

W’s!