I learned to ride my first sidecar motorcycle the hard way-by bouncing off things. It was an ancient BMW paired to an equally ancient and decrepit Ural. I had bought them both over the phone, sight unseen, from Poke’s Motorcycles in Seattle and my brother Andy hauled them to Hood River for me.
I read what I could find and bolted them together. On my first ride I clipped a light pole, careened off the corner of the shed, and stopped inches from plunging into the pond. I scared myself to death and I never got it out of first gear or left the backyard. I did get better and soon I was obsessed with three wheels.
📷Several years and six sidecars later, I was at a party in Vancouver. I had just built a new Triumph Speed Triple rig, black and shiny, with a deck of aluminum diamond plate. My friend Jack convinced me to let him take it for a ride around the block. It seemed like he was gone for a long time, when Amy asked, “Why is your bike in the back of that truck?” My heart sank. Jack had gotten to the first turn and felt the sidecar get light. He grabbed a handful of front brake and the rig pivoted into a ten-inch curb in the median. The bike was totaled.
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When an opportunity came up to become a certified sidecar driving instructor, I thought about these experiences and decided I had a calling. And so, Adventure Sidecar was born. I spent nearly a decade introducing people to sidecars, training them to use the quirky asymmetry of three wheels to their advantage and shepherding them on tours through the wonders of the Columbia Gorge.
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I enjoyed every minute of it and felt like I was doing something good. But I did miss having my weekends to myself without always being tied to a class schedule. The time came for a transition; I sold the bikes and shut the business down. Now I use my free time to camp and hike and hunt for mushrooms. Sometimes I reminisce and sometimes I write. I still enjoy sidecars and ride nearly every day, year-round.
This web page lingers on. Instead of using it to promote sidecar classes, it now features stories; adventures, musings, recipes, and yes, sidecars. I look forward to sharing these with you and, perhaps, to meeting you somewhere on the road.
Visit Adventure Sidecar at our website: https://adventuresidecar.com
