Sidecarcross racing, also known as sidecar motocross, is a branch of

motocross Motocross is a form of off-road motorcycle racing held on enclosed off-road circuits. The sport evolved from motorcycle trials competitions held in the United Kingdom. History Motocross first evolved in Britain from motorcycle trials competiti ...

. Regular motocross riders use solo machines, but a sidecarcross outfit has a different type of

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle Steering, steered by a Motorcycle handlebar, handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: Long-distance ...

chassis A chassis (, ; plural ''chassis'' from French châssis ) is the load-bearing framework of an artificial object, which structurally supports the object in its construction and function. An example of a chassis is a vehicle frame, the underpar ...

operated by a team of two people, a driver and a

sidecar A sidecar is a one-wheeled device attached to the side of a motorcycle, scooter, or bicycle, making the whole a three-wheeled vehicle. A motorcycle with a sidecar is sometimes called a ''combination'', an ''outfit'', a ''rig'' or a ''hack''. ...

passenger. The earliest articles appear to show that sidecarcross started in the UK in the 1930s.

Sidecarcross outfits

Just as with road outfits, early sidecarcross outfits were little more than a solo bike with a sidecar^ Oxford English Dictionary (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press. 1989. "b. A vehicle designed to be attached to the (near-)side of a motor-cycle to accommodate one or more passengers. Occas. attached to a bicycle." attached to its frame by metal tubes. As the sport developed, sidecarcross outfits became more integrated, although most retained a tubular structure rather than a

monocoque Monocoque ( ), also called structural skin, is a structural system in which loads are supported by an object's external skin, in a manner similar to an egg shell. The word ''monocoque'' is a French term for "single shell". First used for boats, ...

chassis. Sidecarcross outfit configuration tends to echo national road outfits, with the sidecar fitted to the "nearside": UK sidecars are on the left, and European ones are on the right. Once riders are used to one arrangement, they seem reluctant to adapt the other layout. Many sidecar outfits (particularly the heavier ones) have leading link

swingarm A swingarm, or "swinging arm" (UK), originally known as a swing fork or pivoted fork, is a single or double sided mechanical device which attaches the rear wheel of a motorcycle to its body, allowing it to pivot vertically. The main component of ...

front suspension, as conventional telescopic forks are less capable of absorbing the

stress Stress may refer to: Science and medicine * Stress (biology), an organism's response to a stressor such as an environmental condition * Stress (linguistics), relative emphasis or prominence given to a syllable in a word, or to a word in a phrase ...

es incurred. Several sidecar manufacturers (for example VMC
Bastech
and EML) in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

make special chassis, usually with corresponding shocks, except for the engine, wheels, plastics, and other components from commonly available large-bore motocross bikes such as the

Honda is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a producti ...

CR500, Kawasaki KX500, and large KTMs. There are also specialised "monster-size" 2-stroke engines such as the MTH 630, and 700cc Zabel which are made just for sidecar motocross racing. The Zabel and MTH are currently the top engines in the World Championship. HOCOB manufacturer of VMC chassis won the FIM award for the best manufacturer motocross sidecar 2007.

Handling characteristics

Sidecarcross is carried out in the same way as regular motocross on broadly similar tracks. Just as with road outfits, the handling of sidecars is very different from solos, as the driver cannot lean the outfit in the turns to counter the

centripetal force A centripetal force (from Latin ''centrum'', "center" and ''petere'', "to seek") is a force that makes a body follow a curved path. Its direction is always orthogonal to the motion of the body and towards the fixed point of the instantaneous c ...

s. Instead, to ensure the outfit does not flip over, the passenger must lean out from the sidecar as much as possible in corners. The passenger (sometimes known as the "monkey") moves his whole body around continuously, and plays a much more physical role than the sedentary driver.

Sidecarcross racing

One of the most important aspects of sidecar racing is teamwork; the world's top sidecar teams have been racing together for many years. A

World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

is held over several rounds at top motocross venues throughout Europe, with a season-ending ''Sidecarcross des Nations''. The sport is very popular in Western and Central Europe, but the sidecarcross scene in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and th ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

is much smaller. The most successful sidecarcrosser in history is ten-time world champion Daniël Willemsen of

The Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. However, since Willemsen won six of his titles with four different passengers, the most successful team is Kristers Sergis/

Artis Rasmanis Artis Rasmanis (born 1971) is a retired Latvian sidecarcross passenger and five times World Champion. Rasmanis was part of the most successful partnership in sidecarcross world championship history, winning five titles with his driver Kristers Ser ...

References

External links

The Sidecar-Cross Racing Homepage

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sidecarcross Motorcycle racing by type Motocross Dirt biking Off-road racing

Sidecarcross outfits

Handling characteristics

Sidecarcross racing

See also

References

External links