7 ms·
What happened to sidecars?
- thanatos519 5y agoThe Netherlands says: hold my beer https://www.bakfiets.com/ https://www.bakfiets.com/
- aequitas 5y agoNo we say, hold my bierfiets: https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bierfiets https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bierfiets
- marton78 5y agoOh God, we have those in Berlin, too. They're almost exclusively used by British beer tourists.
- zohch 5y agoNot aware of thins being unique to Netherlands.
- fogihujy 5y agoFreight bicycles are also in extensive use in Denmark.
- ramchip 5y agoIn Japan: https://www.pattyyuan.com/blogv5/eco-friendly-delivery-service-in-japan.html https://www.pattyyuan.com/blogv5/eco-friendly-delivery-servi... I often see those in Tokyo.
- OJFord 5y agoAlso very popular in Cambridge - which really just supports the point someone made in another thread that they're still common in regions that use motorcycles predominantly practically as opposed to sport/luxury/hobby. (Cambridge & NL have high bicycle density in general.)
- dmux 5y agoCambridge, MA too!
- bartvk 5y agoTalking about the Netherlands: when I got the theory part of my motorcycle license, I had to learn (and got tested on) all sorts of crazy traffic situations involving sidecars. Of course, I have never seen one in my entire 4+ decade life.
- sublimefire 5y agoIsn't the idea that it is for the main passenger? These days you can comfortably sit behind a driver when a rear luggage acts as a back of a chair. Or when there is an actual chair at the rear (google "honda goldwing").
- hermitcrab 5y agoOr "Honda Leadwing" as they are referred to by other motorcyclists. A bike that massive seems to defeat a lot of the point of having a motorcycle IMHO.
- bennyp101 5y agoMore for long distance touring, rather than speed or everyday usage. Cruising around in an armchair taking it all in
- baybal2 5y agoThem being dangerous, and undrivable was what has happened. I think the biggest nail in the coffin was the militaries abandoning motorcycles around the world.
- taneq 5y agoExactly. Let’s take a vehicle designed to steer by leaning, and stop it leaning. Yay!
- baybal2 5y agoThis is why I tell people it is very impractical to engineer tricycles, as: They are less stable than motorcycles Putting in all kinds of complex leaning system makes them either even harder to drive, or so heavy, and complex that all the weight, cost, and part count advantages over 4 wheels are lost few times over.
- _ph_ 5y agoIt very much depends on the design of the tricycle. Tricycles with two front wheels are rather stable. And they offer several advantages vs. motor bikes, as you don't have to lean before you can steer, recovering from a loss of grip is also more likely. I am driving a tricycle (2 front wheels) recumbent bike and am very happy with it, especially on slippery ground. I also like having 2 front disc brakes for quick stopping - basically as fast as a car.
- taneq 5y agoYeah, they're very much the worst of both worlds. All the physical peril and discomfort of a motorcycle, none of the bonus mobility.
- mcguire 5y agoIn one direction. It can lean in the other. :-)
- pellias 5y agoNot gonna lie, i thought something happened to the Apple Sidecar
- conjectures 5y agoSidecar pattern in k8s here ;)
- Tepix 5y agoThere was also an Amiga Sidecar released in 1986 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amiga_Sidecar https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amiga_Sidecar
- dm319 5y agoThat's fascinating. How did the software work with that? Were they native apps flagged to run on the different processor, or was DOS booted on a screen (can't remember what they were called in workbench now) and programs run from there?
- Tepix 5y agoI never had one but my guess is you'd boot DOS on the x86 part and everything except for the screen is separated with no ambiguity where to run what code.
- AnthonBerg 5y agoWhat happened to them is that they are being raced on motocross tracks. It's called sidecarcross! It's a bit of a niche sport; Here are a few pictures of a sidecar built on a Husaberg 650 (which is a completely ludicrous machine in its own right): https://www.facebook.com/dirtyman36/posts/for-sale-vmc-2013-husaberg-650reluctant-sale-due-to-other-commitments-ex-brown-g/1321645107972500/ https://www.facebook.com/dirtyman36/posts/for-sale-vmc-2013-... Heh, this also seems to have happened to them: https://www.bikeexif.com/ducati-sidecarcross https://www.bikeexif.com/ducati-sidecarcross
- noir_lord 5y agoStill have them at the Isle of Man TT as well, utterly insane in an already insane(ly brilliant) event.
- hermitcrab 5y agoHere is a video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFkjzf8HYKU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFkjzf8HYKU
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- david_allison 5y agoAlso at the IoM Southern 100 Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9wvcCJSOSk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9wvcCJSOSk
- jquast 5y agoIn 1969 it was called “sidehacking”, https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sidehackers https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sidehackers
- 2OEH8eoCRo0 5y agoInfamous MST3K episode. >The writers were unaware of the film's darker content when they selected it for the show, only watching it in its entirety during their usual joke-writing sessions. They were horrified to discover the scene in which Rommel's girlfriend Rita is raped and killed, juxtaposed with shots of Luke and Lois' children playfully roughhousing.
- gigatexal 5y agowho clicked this thinking they were talking about container sidecars int he docker/k8s sense :sweat-emoji:
- BossingAround 5y agoI was thinking "Oh? Another pattern that's apparently going out of style?" and was very surprised when I clicked the article :)) I'm probably working too much with Istio.
- pantulis 5y agoI dont work with k8s/istio and was expecting the same!
- zabzonk 5y agoI remember round about 1960 one of my Grandma's neighbours had a motor-bike and sidecar - it always looked very dodgy to me, and the neigbour looked on enviously at my Dad's Hillman Minx, but then the bike never lead to a near-death experience: http://www.rafjever.org/93sqnpic142.htm http://www.rafjever.org/93sqnpic142.htm
- hermitcrab 5y agoThe 'forecar' in the article looks terrifying. Imagine that strapped to the front of a modern sportsbike!
- dsr_ 5y agoThat's not what it would be for. It's for taxi services, where most trips would be in urban traffic, at a top speed of about 20mph, and not going further than 3 miles.
- hazeii 5y agoEvery year the Pioneer Run goes right past my door, lots of pre-1915 motorised bicycles and motorbikes going from London to Brighton. It's always a riot, and amazing to see these old machines on the road - I've taken many pics over the years, but here's my favourite sidecar one from 2004. [0] http://hazeii.net/images/2004/pioneer/p25l.jpg http://hazeii.net/images/2004/pioneer/p25l.jpg
- elliekelly 5y agoIs the sidecar made of... wicker?
- hazeii 5y agoYes, lots of old superstructure was made of wicker/wood/whatever was to hand. There will be a metal frame under it, of course, but wicker is perfectly strong enough (ever been in a hot air balloon? The baskets are usually wicker, and strong enough to hold 8 people of more). Here's another pic of wicker usage on an old bicycle/motorbike:- http://hazeii.net/images/2004/pioneer/p16.jpg http://hazeii.net/images/2004/pioneer/p16.jpg Very amusingly, it's possible to check the numberplate of that bike on the UK gov. website vehicle MOT page [0]. That bike was registered 31st December 1913 - so it's a mere 108 years old now. [0] https://www.check-mot.service.gov.uk/ https://www.check-mot.service.gov.uk/
- elliekelly 5y agoNeat, thanks for sharing! The motor(?) on that one is super interesting, too!
- tener 5y agoI was hoping to see more in-depth explanation, but the article provides just this: > But as the decade passed, and cars became cheaper and smaller, consumers moved toward travel on four wheels.
- bin_bash 5y agoI mean the safety risk has to be astronomical compared to being in a car with airbags. I’d be surprised if there was a different reason.
- stickfigure 5y agoThe safety risk is astronomical even compared to being in a car without airbags. Also compared to being on a (normal) motorcycle. Hacks are dangerous.
- daitangio 5y agoThey ended up in K8s pods :)
- hahamrfunnyguy 5y agoSidecars are alive and well. You see a ton of them in Southeast Asia. They are frequently used by street vendors selling various kinds of food. I've also seen them used for hauling cargo and people. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ice_cream_street_vendor_-_Honda_scooter_with_sidecar,_Thailand.JPG https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ice_cream_street_vendor_-...
- rob74 5y agoYeah, the article is looking at things from a "western" perspective. I would say sidecars were (or still are) for people who use a motorcycle for practical reasons. In countries where motorcycles are mostly a "lifestyle accessory" or a hobby rather than a practical means of transport, sidecars have vanished.
- travisjungroth 5y agoI’ve lived in Colombia and Peru about a year total. I’ve seen countless motorcycles and not one sidecar. I think it’s more of an Asia thing.
- throw0101a 5y ago> I would say sidecars were (or still are) for people who use a motorcycle for practical reasons. One major advantage of motorcycles/scooters that it's very easy to do filtering and lane splitting, which helps in more crowded urban streets: * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lane_splitting https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lane_splitting With a sidecar you'd lost that ability and be stuck in traffic just like a car.
- bloniac 5y agoI wouldn’t get into a sidecar for all the money in the world.
- optimiz3 5y agoOT but what a toxic cookie acceptance dark pattern. The prompt (which takes up half the screen) doesn't go away unless you click accept all on Brave mobile. Configuring cookies causes it to stay visible.
- oefrha 5y agoGuidelines explicitly ask you to not post this type of complaints unless the author is around https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
- klik99 5y agoThere was a group of expats in Shanghai who were commonly riding classic motorcycles, often with gorgeous restored sidecars - never looked into it but I assumed they were probably cheap, given the cosmopolitan history of the city and the current cultures emphasis on the new
- narag 5y agoMy father had a Vespa with one of those where my mother used to sit, before I was born. I haven't seen many of those on the wild. The image that's still fresh is the pair of serones (esparto panniers) in the back of peasants' motorcicles. One containing the hoes and ropes, in the other a happy greyhound looking around. Edit, I found a photo: https://www.elespartero.es/articulos/albums/userpics/005%20a~0.jpg https://www.elespartero.es/articulos/albums/userpics/005%20a...
- ehnto 5y ago> panniers It might be common knowledge, but I was elated to find out that the word pannier did actually arise out of the word for bread. > c. 1300, paniere, "large basket for provisions," from Old French panier, paniere "basket," from Latin panarium "bread-basket," noun use of a nerter adjective meaning "pertaining to bread," from panis "bread," from PIE root *pa- "to feed." Transferred sense of "frame of whalebone, etc., used to distend the skirt of a woman's dress at the hips" is by 1869.
- narag 5y agoI found it in a dictionary as a "sera" translation. In Spain I doubt many people even knows the word. In my hometown it was "serón" (a big sera). Those words are quickly becoming relics. It was funny to see the thing, that was originally used with mules, adapted to motorbikes.
- jshprentz 5y agoHarley-Davidson stopped making sidecars in 2011 according to a 2016 Washington Post story [1]. The DC police owned more sidecars than motorcycles, but recent Harley-Davidson motorcycles were built without a way to attach the sidecars. [1] https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/could-iconic-police-motorcycle-sidecars-be-taking-their-final-rides/2016/03/18/5ccb2efa-e546-11e5-b0fd-073d5930a7b7_story.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/could-ico...
- imglorp 5y agoUrals are alive and well. Some have 2-wheel drive and are unstoppable offroad. https://www.imz-ural.com/gear-up https://www.imz-ural.com/gear-up
- ibdf 5y agoThat’s what happened to sidecars… for 17k you get a brand new car.
- throw0101a 5y ago> for 17k you get a brand new car. US$ 17K isn't actually that expensive for a new motorcycle on the high-end.
- voxadam 5y agoA Ural with or without a sidecar can hardly be considered high-end.
- imglorp 5y agoHah. I asked my mechanic would he help if I bought one and he said he'd refuse to work on it.
- chunkyks 5y agoThe way I understand it, they're a lot better nowadays. Even switched to EFI a few years back. I anticipate getting one of these if they ever bring it to fruition: https://www.imz-ural.com/electric https://www.imz-ural.com/electric I saw that "concept" at the Long Beach bike show a few years. It's literally the guts of a Zero bolted into an Ural frame. At least one of the things that I personally find exciting is the idea of having a huge stack of batteries in the sidecar. Would be great for both capacity, and handling when you don't have a passenger. You could even add a teslaesque "ludicrous" mode and not worry about running out of battery.
- 5y ago
- chunkyks 5y agoI have a sidecar attached to my Honda shadow. It's a weirdly fascinating thing ; riding a sidecar is as different from riding a bike, as riding a bike is from driving a car. The dynamics are all different, handling is absurd, etc. A pretty good overview of the weirdness is as [1] It's definitely not my daily ; I can't lane split, which means it takes as long to commute with as the car. But every time I'm riding it, I can't help but grin under the helmet. [1] https://www.rideapart.com/features/255154/how-to-ride-a-sidecar/ https://www.rideapart.com/features/255154/how-to-ride-a-side...
- dm319 5y agoThose instructions are hilarious and terrifying!
- chunkyks 5y agoThe first time you're turning right and the wheels come off the ground, it's truly terrifying. Because the first time it happens you literally have no coping mechanism and simply careen forward in a straight line, because no intuitive steering input is capable of making you turn right. But once you get it down, it's a genuine hysterical fun thing. I very much recommend the yellow book by David Hough, if you want to get into it. https://www.dmcsidecars.com/yellow-book/ https://www.dmcsidecars.com/yellow-book/
- f6v 5y agoIf you haven’t been in one of those without a helmet or any other protective gear - you missed a lot. But to answer the question: Germans stopped putting MG42 on sidecars, so they lost their utility [1]. 1. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Twee_duitsers_op_motor_met_machinegeweer_bevrijdingsfestival_Brielle_2015.jpg#/media/File:Twee_duitsers_op_motor_met_machinegeweer_bevrijdingsfestival_Brielle_2015.jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Twee_duitsers_op_mot...
- dmitrygr 5y agoThere are still a lot of these in the former USSR in daily use. When I came to USA first I was kind of surprised to see none of them here since they were so normal there.
- Pokepokalypse 5y agoOh. I thought this was about kubernetes. My bad.
- gregors 5y agoI really enjoyed reading about the adventures of a family that toured the US on their BMW and sidecar. https://advrider.com/f/threads/bakery-quest-a-year-hacking-the-us-with-our-kid-and-dogs.1180951/ https://advrider.com/f/threads/bakery-quest-a-year-hacking-t...