I am going to talk Uk side of the road. Chair mounted on the left. Driving on the left side of the road.
Just like a normal car taking a left hand corner very quickly, the passenger is thrown towards the driver. All of the weight is on the right hand wheels.
The sidecar, being much lighter a much easier way of throwing itself towards the rider, there is relatively little weight, it can just swing up over his head.
This happens with very little effort. Put the bars on full lock left and set off even slightly too quickly, the sidecar will lift. Especially if it is empty.
I used to keep two small concrete paving blocks in the boot of the sidecar.
it is quite a dangerous situation, you’re steering left because there’s somewhere on the the right that would rather not be. Oncoming traffic; a bollard; the hedge on the other side of the road. The only way you can get the chair back down again is either to steer right into oncoming traffic, or get your weight over the sidecar. That is a clever trick if you can do it - you are already off balance.
So mostly, riders of unloaded sidecars will enter a left hander very cautiously. The smoothest way is to accelerate slightly so that the bike is going faster than the sidecar, to make the turn easier. So you have to slow down more so that you can do that.
Right hand corners are much more fun. There is no way that the bike is going to lift over the sidecar. Well, not much. You’re supposed to slow down so that the chair can go round the bike. But where’s the fun in that ? Much more fun not to slow down at all. The front wheel has massive understeer, ie it slides sideways to the left, so you have to steer more to the right. And it has a safety mechanism built in because take it too fast and the bike does try to go over the chair - the rear wheel lifts off the ground so there’s no drive.
It’s expensive though. The tyres wear rapidly if you do that, and if you have spoked wheels, the rear spokes are forever breaking.
Mostly, riders and pillions have a very exaggerated lean when turning left, or use the sidecar stays as a footrest so that they can transfer their weight.
It’s not difficult. It is different, but weird when you first ride one expecting to lean and/or counter steer - something that you do without thinking. It is natural. Sometimes you push on the left bar and the bike goes left. Sometimes you turn right slowly and you are pushing on the left bar. How does the bike know what to do? And if you are thinking about that as you approach a bend, I guarantee that you won’t get round it. That is what it feels like when you first ride a combination. Weird. But it doesn’t take long to have both skills.
Note the missing spotight and mudguard... victims of the corrugations on the west east saharan road!
