Eddie, congratulations on your record. In my book you have set a record with a wheel on a stick. The excuse of if it has four seats then you should carry a passanger etc, is baloney. You are racing a motorcycle sidecar. All RACING MOTORCYCLE SIDECARS carry passangers, roadracicng, motox, pikes peak, speedway, etc. just because you are RACING in speed trials does not exempt you from being a RACING SIDECAR. Come out to the BUB event at Bonneville and carry a passanger on your RACING SIDECAR like we do.
^^Rubbish! You sound a lot like Bob Bakker : - )
That's probably because he buiilt the sidecar that I race. Now to the point, Fasteddie is aboard a racing sidecar, my point, obviously, is that racing sidecars carry passangers. If the best you can do is "rubbish" then I am correct?
Rubbish was an opinion. A friend races a '29A roadster. It originally had seating for two (or three in a squeeze) but I've never seen him make a pass with a passenger. The F.I.M. don't require a passenger. Ballast yes but not a passenger. A passenger for road racing is a necessity as he is more than just ballast. Although with the "car" type of GP sidecars he is more just a lump hanging on for dear life. John Robinson described himself as an "infinitely variable center of gravity". But he was from another era when passengers did more than curl up on a tiny platform.
That might be where we differ greatly. The passengers on todays GP outfits seem almost redundant. I would love to see front exit outfits return. To see a passenger hanging out and being part of the outfit. Shifting slightly to help provide a bit more traction or get the back end to slide a bit more. Rose tinted glasses perhaps.
But I'll stick with what I've said to Bob in the past. Its LSR, a passenger is not a necessity.
After all this all I have to say is..............YES your sidecar is faster than mine!
That's not so much. Fast Eddy is only 100 MPH above my speed across S.Dakota in 2005. Heavy home made sidecar with leading leg hack wheel and a legend body tugged by a V-Star 1100.
After I got to Port Townsend Wa. I put the rig on the scale at the paper mill before unloading it. Total weight WITHOUT me on board was 1350 pounds.
I will dig out a photo from the trip and scan it and put in bike pics then I can post it here. I no longer have that machine.
Phelonius
Hoof, your friend with the roadster is in a RACING car which does not carry a pasanger when RACING. The only racing that carries a passanger are rally cars (gotta have the traditional navigator) and sidecar racing. Actually the FIM does allow a passanger OR ballast in land speed racing. We choose to carry a passanger because we believe in the true meaning of RACING sidecars. Passangers have always been an integral part of the sidecar racing disipline. Especially today with the state of the art formula 1 and 2 outfits. With the engine and chassis technology the outfits are so close to "the edge" the control of the outfit is largely dependent on the passanger. I will try and find a very informative video that explains the relationship and post if I find it. Is the passanger on a land speed sidecar a neccessity, probably not. But I believe racing sidecars, in what ever disipline, is a unique form of racing and should incoprarate a passanger to keep it true sidecar racing.
Found the video this is an excellent explanation of the importance of the passangers job and the team work involved. As I said in my last post, is the passanger necessary for land speed, probably not. But to keep the sidecar racing expierence true I believe that a passanger should be part of the team. Team work is what sidecar racing is all about.
Hmmmmm. My BMW K1200LT has a top speed of about 120 mph. Without a sidecar!
Loren
Hmmmmmm. My 500cc sidecar has a top speed of 125.715 (so far). With a sidecar!
