How to transport kids
 

Hi,

how do you transport your kids?

On the back of the bike, in a side car, or do you travel by car?
Also, what ages where your kids when you took them on a trip?

Our son is just about two, the second one is still cooking ;) We like the idea of a couple of sidecar outfits.

Cheers ;)

A sidecar outfit is a completely different vehicle to any other. You need to get to drive one before you decide. Some enjoy the challenge, others hate the fact the thing spends half its time trying to kill you or rip your shoulders out of the sockets. Ural dealers may be helpful.

I hear outfits are great for kids old enough to enjoy the ride. I've had the nieces and nephews in the chair, but have no intention of getting any you have to keep for more than an afternoon. The dog travels well. I wouldn't be too sure about kiddies still at the runny/ sticky stage, I think you might damage hearing, have their first words sound like a wheel bearing on its way out etc. The nephew was five.

Can be great fun but IMHO you can't plan until you are sure they are for you.

Edit to add: don't mean to put you off and happy to answer any question

Andy

Good fitting helmets will cut down on the noise - ensure a good fit around the ears. Good luck getting a true motorcycle hat to fit at a very young age.. some use a bicycle helmet .. not noise protection with most of them.

If riding on the back ... some places legally require that the feet sit on the pegs... some simply make new brackets to raise the foot pegs up.

---------------------------- Costs?
A sidecar is more expensive than a car per km/mile travelled... a couple of sidecars would be too much. You can get sidecar 'chairs' (the bit on the side) that are wider .. and should fit 2 kids side by side.

As above .. try one before you commit! Even a short ride will give you some idea.

Thanks for your inputs so far.

I didn't realise that a sidecar outfit ends up more expensive than a car? How is that? Do you mean that it's more thirsty? Or does that include all the costs of registering, building, shipping...?

Definitely something to keep in mind, thanks!

My husband and I would both prefer the sidecar option over the car option, just because it's "cooler" :cool4: in terms of you are more out there, more exposed, it's something different. On the other kind, maybe with two little-ish kids a car would be more sensible or comfortable.

I am not overly keen on the idea of having them on the back, although I haven't even looked into the legal side of things.

We have a good friend who runs a sidecar club, met him again briefly at a bike expo yesterday. He offered us to come down to the club and have a closer look at all the different outfits and test drive any of them as often as we like. That's probably what we're going to do next.

Realistically we're looking at a time frame of 5ish years. That would give us heaps of time to acquire and (re)build the sidecars - my husband is a qualified motorcycle engineer and an expert welder - and get acquainted with them. And of course take short trips to see if the littl'uns actually like it :)

PS: If money wasn't an option, I'd go for an oldschool vw bus :)

Let us know how the test ride goes. It'll either have you hooked or wondering why they aren't banned.

My current outfit is a Moto Guzzi V7 with a light, simple chair. £6k for the bike, £4k for the chair. It does 55 mpg and will sit comfortably at 60 mph. So far so good, but adding the chair and taking it off each winter doubles the cost of my insurance, experience says the £130 rear tyres would last 3000 miles if I only ran as an outfit. For the £4k I could get a decent car and avoid the rest.

I had a BMW k outfit which only cost £4k and ran car tyres. Trouble is, it was 25 years old and getting the custom made exhaust past the annual inspection was a nightmare. I once did 18 mpg into a headwind! Wheel bearings lasted 2 years and identifying which car the sidecar brake was from in order to buy pads was a fun. If the clutch had gone that swine would have been off the road for months while I removed chair, subframe, exhaust.....


A new Ural costs £14 K. You could get a lot of VW camper for £28k.

You could buy a pair of 1990's Dnepr's for £800, but would need to develop serious patience to deal progress measured in miles per week as you dealt with the mechanical strain lugging 3/4 of a ton about with a1930s 25 HP machine produces. A decent melt down and new engine will make a car look good unless you really do love the way they handle. Serious foilheads would love this, personally I want to go not fix.

If you like the mental and physical gymnastics involved sidecars are brilliant fun. I love driving on snow when every other motorcyclist is stuck indoors. I love camping with a dog, fridge and tent you can stand up in.

Starting now with a plan to have an outfit able to carry a pair of 5 year olds in 4 years time sounds entirely possible. If you like the test drive I would suggest you need a working outfit now to practice your flying etc. While you get to work on the travel outfit in parallel. You won't know what features you like or need until you get into this.

Is your trip about going places or going places by sidecar? If the former you don't need the chair, if the latter you do!

Andy

Hi Andy,

no it is simply to get there and to see places. We are just looking for the best/safest/most sensible option with kids. In an ideal world, I'd like to ride my own bike, but that won't happen. So I'm currently exploring all options and have just started to reserach into a Land Cruiser car.

I am (without ever having ridden one before) a bit hesitant if I would be able to handle a sidecar offroad and long distance and dealing with the responsibility of having my toddler in it, in case I screw up, can't handle it in corners, lose control.... A car would be easier to drive than a sidecar.

Safe, sensible and best?

They are no more unsafe than a solo bike if you have the skill level and know your limits. They are as unforgiving as a solo bike if you don't. Off road is just another skill set. The world seem to be split into those who can turn on this skill set and those whose brains see handlebars and go into rider mode, but once you know you can learn the rest.

How could anything that skids one way and flips over the other be described as sensible!

Best is in the mind. If you love the combined physical and mental task that is getting an outfit to perform they could be best. I use one out of choice for this reason. When I fancy just following the vehicle in front and listening to the radio I try and borrow the wife's car :innocent:

I think you should try and get that test drive. Keep the land cruiser plan going too though.


Andy

What you need is one of these :)

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