Right Side Sidecars

[David75j]

Hi All,
I recently saw a few photos from the 80’s and there seemed to be quite a few sidecars with the platform on the right hand side. I was just wondering why we don’t see these made or racing anymore, were they banned or did they simply fall out of favour with riders/passengers?
Further to that, does anyone know who was the last rider to race one at a world championship level?

[ianw]

Hi david, I think you'll find that all circuits in the UK are clockwise???, so a left hand sidecar would have an advantage over the right hand sidecar. So all riders in the UK have had & still have left hand sidecars.
A lot of the continental drivers also had left hand sidecars but then some of them prefered right hand sidecars, mainly Germans.
Rolf Stienhausen, Werner Swartzel, Sigried Schatzu, etc all had right hand, you may find that Rolf Stienhausen was the last to use a right hand sidecar at GP level???

[lang]

I think that Rolf Steinhausen was the last to race a right hand sidecar with any success at Grand Prix level,(1989) he was the last person to be world champion using a right hand outfit in1976, the immaculate Busch Konig that he still rides today, this must be one of the best looking outfits ever built ?

[steve-e]

Not at worlds but when I started in Euros in 1995 there was one at Schleiz. I remember it was quite offputting following him through the twisties down to the town, it looked like it was going to fall over.

[ianw]

Kenny Arthur passengered Herman Schmidt on his left hand sidecar & then the following year passengered Rolf Steinhausen on his right hand sidecar,
in the GP's. How hard is that!

[Fanch]

I'm afraid that the real reason is only the side of the road used to drive a sidecar … before racing.

On the Continent, we use to drive on the right side of the road. So the chair is on the right side of the motorcycle.

On the British isles, you use to drive on the "not-right" side of the road . So the chair is on the left side of the motorcycle.

And the one who made the most numerous number of racing sidecars, being a Continental, did the biggest part of his production with chairs on the left side because it was easier to product the same chassis and the chain drive was on the left side of the engines, between the chassis and the rear wheel.

[ianw]

Got to disagree with you Fanch.
The era that saw the most left hand sidecars racing against the right hand sidecars was the 60's & 70's & the majority of drivers were using the same Rennsport BMW engines. So the drive had no bearing on wether the sidecar was right or left.

[Fanch]

I only wrote it was easier to build such left HS chairs with modern race engines, the Japanese one.
And Mike Richards build brand new chassis for BMW … with left HS chairs.
I think he only built a right HS chair with a Ducati. I visited his workshop when he did it and he had some … difficulties with that.
And during the 60’s and 70’s, German and Swiss people were the most numerous racing riders of the World Championship.

[ianw]

Rolf Steinhausen on a right hand long one.

[Dan]

Hi david, I think you'll find that all circuits in the UK are clockwise???,

Not often I disagree with you Ian but every time I rode at Oliver's Mount I went in an anti-clockwise direction , fortunately so did everybody else . I know there have been no meetings there this year but so far racing hasn't completely been abandoned yet and, hopefully, it will be on again in the not too distant future

I will leave it to you and Fanch to 'discuss' the ins and outs of RH and LH sidecars

[ChrisWells]

There are a few tracks in the US that run counter-clockwise (off the top of my head Loudon and Laguna Seca). AFAIK all the rest of the major tracks in the US and Canada run clockwise (although some such as Grattan occasionally run race weekends "backwards"). Thus left-hand chairs are predominate except in the vintage USCRA club which races mostly at Loudon where I think all the members have right-hand (I think P1-ish) rigs. I believe all the clubs in North America allow either left or right hand chairs. Speaking from personal experience, encountering a right-hand chair BMW sitter while on a 1000cc F1 leads one to be hyper aware of what may be around the next corner

[ianw]

Hi Dan, hope your well?
That's why I put the ??? in, the memory isn't so good now a days.
Is Olivers Mount the only counter clockwise circuit in the UK????

[Dan]

I realised you had put the ??? in Ian, but couldn't resist the smug feeling of knowing more than you for once

I can't think of any other counter clockwise circuits other than Knockhill when they have occasionally run a meeting 'the wrong way round'.

What about the Irish? I would have thought they might try running races where they start off in a clockwise direction then when they have done half the laps turn round and run the remaining laps in the opposite direction . It is the sort of thing those lads (and lasses) would call fun

I am not keeping too bad, thanks for asking, except the legs still won't let me sit on an outfit for more than a few minutes . I hope you are still well but isn't it time you got back out racing? Or at least build another masterpiece.....with three wheels

[ianw]

aah, thanks Dan, with me it's the shoulders that are shot, too many years with a British twin. I've been buiding solo's recently.
Talking about running races in the opposite direction, the Hutchinson 100 at Brands Hatch was run for many years in the opposite direction, end of season meeting I think. Absolute full grids, solo & sidecar for that race.
Had some great times in the 90's racing, especially in the Clubhouse at Cadwell!!! How's Stu Mellor these day's?

[David75j]

Thanks for the insight, it makes sense now given that most UK circuits are clockwise direction.
I had thought that you might still see the odd one racing in Europe(not sure of the circuit direction) but assuming the majority of sidecars would be sold in the UK, it stands to reason that LCR, Seymaz etc (can’t imagine Terry Windle would have any need to build a RH Sidecar) would stop building them.