If you use your motorcycle as your primary form of transportation or if you often have a guest riding with you, you might need a sidecar. This one-wheeled attachment can be added to a number of different motorcycles and gives you an extra seat for a friend or cargo space for your groceries or other items. But where did the sidecar come from, and how many people actually use one?
The sidecar wasn't created by a motorcycle engineer or rider. Instead, the idea came from cartoonist George Moore, who did cartoons for Motor Cycling, a British newspaper. In the January 7, 1903 issue, he drew a motorcycle with a sidecar. A few weeks later, W. J. Graham of the Graham Brothers company received a provisional patent for the sidecar. He and his partner Jonathan Kahn created the first sidecar later that year.
While these first sidecars were permanently attached to the motorcycle, in 1913, American Hugo Young created a new sidecar design that could be connected and disconnected from the motorcycle. It could also be raised and lowered, making it more comfortable for the passenger and the driver. His company quickly became the largest sidecar manufacturer in the world.
While sidecars were very popular right after their invention and up to the 1950s, they haven't been used as much following the mid-50s. However, several companies continue to produce sidecars, including Harley-Davidson, Wasp Motorcycles, and Hongdu. Note that the passenger is usually seated on the off-side, just like in cars. This means that in the U.S., the sidecar is on the right, while in the UK, it is on the left. Importing a U.S. right-hand sidecar is actually not legal to drive in the UK and Australia because of this.
