Federation News & Members' Ads
Vic Phillips
We are sad to report the death of Vic Phillips on 25th December 2025. He was Chairman of the Federation of Sidecar Clubs from 1998 to 2000
We are sad to report the death of Vic Phillips on 25th December 2025. He was Chairman of the Federation of Sidecar Clubs from 1998 to 2000
Harlan Lemon
Harlan’s funeral will be on 13th January at 11.30 in St Mary’s church in Wirksworth. Details are here: jepsonfunerals.co.uk/current-funerals where there is also a link if you would like to donate to Guide Dogs for the Blind. Please no flowers, but if you’d like to donate, using this link will help us raise money to name a guide dog puppy for him.
Parking is available at Ecclesbourne Valley Railway and we will go to Belper Rugby Club after the crematorium. Harlan loved sport and was a snappy dresser, so please come dressed smart, quirky or sporty. If you know us through motorcycling, there will be an escort from the church to the crematorium that you are welcome to join, but please only if you know Harlan or us.
Parking is available at Ecclesbourne Valley Railway and we will go to Belper Rugby Club after the crematorium. Harlan loved sport and was a snappy dresser, so please come dressed smart, quirky or sporty. If you know us through motorcycling, there will be an escort from the church to the crematorium that you are welcome to join, but please only if you know Harlan or us.
Watsonian at NMM
BSA Gold Star 650 and Watsonian GP
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Benelli Imperiale and Squire SB1
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At the recent Open Days at the National Motorcycle Museum in Solihull on 26 – 27 October, Watsonian Sidecars displayed a couple of new outfits.
One was an all-retro GP Sports paired up with one of the new 650cc BSA Gold Stars to produce a handsome traditional outfit which is both easy on the eye and easy to live with. I certainly wouldn’t fancy a Small Heath Goldie with a chair in today’s traffic!
However, it was the other outfit that impressed me - a Benelli Imperiale and Squire SB1. I think it’s the first Benelli I have ever seen with a chair. It’s a lightweight combination based on a 400cc air-cooled single with a basic Squire sidecar to make an ideal entry-level machine. This capacity class seems to be expanding at the moment and offers about the same power as the post-war five hundreds.
The bike is completely unmodified as it is intended for optional sidecar duty. The fittings are designed to connect this sidecar to this motorcycle and nothing else. They are not adjustable which not only ensures that alignment is maintained, but also makes them both lighter and stronger. All four fittings are straight with simple blade ends rather than the traditional blade-and-clevis type. Provided the correct bolts are used and kept tight, these fittings are entirely adequate for an outfit of modest performance.
The fitting system, the rubber-in-torsion suspension (like the original Squires) and the spartan sidecar all help to keep production costs down for an affordable outfit that won’t have a newbie struggling with sorting out the handling while learning how to ride. I reckon it would be fun for the old hand as well!
JRH 29.10.24
One was an all-retro GP Sports paired up with one of the new 650cc BSA Gold Stars to produce a handsome traditional outfit which is both easy on the eye and easy to live with. I certainly wouldn’t fancy a Small Heath Goldie with a chair in today’s traffic!
However, it was the other outfit that impressed me - a Benelli Imperiale and Squire SB1. I think it’s the first Benelli I have ever seen with a chair. It’s a lightweight combination based on a 400cc air-cooled single with a basic Squire sidecar to make an ideal entry-level machine. This capacity class seems to be expanding at the moment and offers about the same power as the post-war five hundreds.
The bike is completely unmodified as it is intended for optional sidecar duty. The fittings are designed to connect this sidecar to this motorcycle and nothing else. They are not adjustable which not only ensures that alignment is maintained, but also makes them both lighter and stronger. All four fittings are straight with simple blade ends rather than the traditional blade-and-clevis type. Provided the correct bolts are used and kept tight, these fittings are entirely adequate for an outfit of modest performance.
The fitting system, the rubber-in-torsion suspension (like the original Squires) and the spartan sidecar all help to keep production costs down for an affordable outfit that won’t have a newbie struggling with sorting out the handling while learning how to ride. I reckon it would be fun for the old hand as well!
JRH 29.10.24
Honda Sidecar Patent
A patent filed by Honda concerning sidecars is unusual enough to prompt investigation. The source article by one Ben Purvis was published on 6 September 2024 in the American magazine Cycle World.
Honda has apparently applied for, but not yet published, a patent for an electrically assisted sidecar that mitigates or eliminates some of the supposed handling problems of sidecars without altering the motorcycle.
There is little detail, but it seems to be an electrically driven sidecar wheel, powered by batteries in the chair, which can fulfil the functions of a differential. Load cells (172, 174 in the diagram below) in the two lower fittings (there don’t seem to be any upper ones) sense the direction and tightness of a bend and via electronics, the sidecar wheel speeds or slows accordingly.
The rest of the article is just fluff showing that Mr Purvis is ignorant of sidecars or prejudiced against them or both. The illustrations show Ural outfits!
I looks like a lot of weight, cost and complexity to solve a problem that we don't actually have and it doesn't appear to change the steering geometry. Honda's R&D initiatives are always worth examining, so I wouldn't discount this out of hand, but some ideas only lead down blind alleys.
A patent filed by Honda concerning sidecars is unusual enough to prompt investigation. The source article by one Ben Purvis was published on 6 September 2024 in the American magazine Cycle World.
Honda has apparently applied for, but not yet published, a patent for an electrically assisted sidecar that mitigates or eliminates some of the supposed handling problems of sidecars without altering the motorcycle.
There is little detail, but it seems to be an electrically driven sidecar wheel, powered by batteries in the chair, which can fulfil the functions of a differential. Load cells (172, 174 in the diagram below) in the two lower fittings (there don’t seem to be any upper ones) sense the direction and tightness of a bend and via electronics, the sidecar wheel speeds or slows accordingly.
The rest of the article is just fluff showing that Mr Purvis is ignorant of sidecars or prejudiced against them or both. The illustrations show Ural outfits!
I looks like a lot of weight, cost and complexity to solve a problem that we don't actually have and it doesn't appear to change the steering geometry. Honda's R&D initiatives are always worth examining, so I wouldn't discount this out of hand, but some ideas only lead down blind alleys.
Explore Iceland on your own outfit!
Freedom Moto Adventures has been running tours in Iceland for a few years and, having seen what outfits are capable of on the Land's End Trial at Easter, proprietor Jimmy Skowronsky decided to offer a tour next year specifically for sidecars.
He and his wife Naz organise bike trips to Iceland with guide, accommodation, backup vehicle, bike shipping etc.
A group of around half a dozen outfits will explore the amazing landscape of Iceland using both asphalted roads and unsealed 'F-Roads'. There will be lots of river crossings, so it's probably more suitable for a Wasp or one of the new Urals than a Merlin!
For more details, see their website: Freedom Adventures or contact Jimmy directly via email.
19.04.24
Freedom Moto Adventures has been running tours in Iceland for a few years and, having seen what outfits are capable of on the Land's End Trial at Easter, proprietor Jimmy Skowronsky decided to offer a tour next year specifically for sidecars.
He and his wife Naz organise bike trips to Iceland with guide, accommodation, backup vehicle, bike shipping etc.
A group of around half a dozen outfits will explore the amazing landscape of Iceland using both asphalted roads and unsealed 'F-Roads'. There will be lots of river crossings, so it's probably more suitable for a Wasp or one of the new Urals than a Merlin!
For more details, see their website: Freedom Adventures or contact Jimmy directly via email.
19.04.24