LOVING THREE WHEELS
“...A MOTORCYCLE RIDE FROM THE UKRAINE TO ISRAEL UTILISING DNEPR MB650 SIDECARS...”
Riding around the ACT and neighbouring NSW on a Suzuki V-Strom 650 XT with a bright-yellow Watsonian GP Manx sidecar attached always attracts attention. Complete strangers at service stations come up and ask, “Can I take a photo?” or offer compliments: “Wow! that’s so cool”, “I love it”. “Hey! Can I have a ride in that?” a lady in a car next to me at a red light once yelled.
The outfit attracts even more attention with my lifesize Pink Panther riding in the chair – especially when dressed for the Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride or as a Christmas elf in the MRA Xmas Toy Run. Fellow members of the Veteran Vintage and Classic Motorcycle Club who have witnessed the progressive ownership of three totally different sidecars over the years often ask “Why sidecars?” or “How did you get hooked on sidecars?”
If you discount the period in my infancy when Dad owned a Harley-Davidson Knucklehead with a side box attached, it was well into my motorbike riding career before I developed any interest in sidecars. I had learned to ride in Darwin in 1968 on a friend’s Yamaha 80cc machine, which led to the purchase of a 90cc Honda for local commuting. Subsequent purchases included a Russian Cossack
