This 10 minute film is part instructional video and part adventure documentary, it’s hosted by Helge Pedersen who is one of the most experienced adventure motorcycle riders in the world, and he just happens to own a BMW 1200 GS sidecar rig.
Riding a motorcycle with a sidecar is a whole different kettle of fish to riding a regular two-wheeled motorcycle, cornering is completely different, there’s no counter steering as there is with a traditional motorcycle, and there’s a lot more upper body work required, but on the plus side it doesn’t matter if you forget to put the kickstand down.
Helge has been adventure motorcycle touring non-stop since 1982, almost 40 years, and he’s seen more of the planet’s surface from a motorcycle seat than almost anyone else alive. This makes him uniquely qualified to give a wide ranging introduction to adventure sidecar riding, Helge has ridden expensively on both two wheels and three.
In this short film he explains the major differences between two and three wheeled motorcycling, he also gives a great overview of his own custom-built sidecar combination, featuring the man who built it. If you’ve ever been curious about going places on three wheels this film is a must-watch, it’s an informative and fast-paced introduction to the art of sidecar riding, and there aren’t many people on earth more qualified to show you the ropes.
Ben Branch has had his work featured on CNN, Popular Mechanics, the official Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, and many more.
Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with millions of readers around the world and hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
The CCM Spitfire was developed by an A-Team division within Clews Competition Machines nicknamed the SkunkwerX – a hat-tip to the legendary Skunk Works team at Lockheed Martin. The Spitfire is very possibly the fastest selling hand-built production motorcycle in the world, when it was announced in 2016 with a limited run of 150 units it sold out…
All surviving examples of the Brough Superior SS100 are special, but some are a little more special than others. The Brough you see here is one such special motorcycle, though somewhat unusually it’s not special because it won races or was owned by a celebrity – it’s special because it belonged to a young lady…
This is the Triumph TR6SS Trophy that Bud Ekins rode to a Gold Medal-win in the 1962 International Six Day Trials in Europe while he was there with Steve McQueen acting as his stunt double for The Great Escape – including that iconic barbed wire motorcycle jump scene. Bud Ekins – California’s Champion Bud Ekins is…
This Honda ATC70 three wheeler was sent from the American Honda Motor Company to the Jackson 5 – 6255 Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, California on the 3rd of April 1973. The Jackson 5 and Michael Jackson in particular had a well-known love for motorcycles and there are many period images of the family riding bikes…
The Yamaha RZ350 Kenny Roberts Edition is a holy grail for fans of two-strokes, it was the last street-legal two-stroke ever offered for sale in the USA due to tightening emissions regulations, and the RZ350 remains so popular today that entire races are dedicated to them called “RZ Cups”. The Yamaha RZ350 Kenny Roberts Edition In order to…
The 1982 SuperBikers Race was a made-for-TV special event thought up by the team at ABC’s Wide World of Sports. In short, the race was a work of genius. Over the course of a single lap the riders would encounter road racing conditions on tarmac, flat track-style conditions, then motocross conditions before passing the start/finish line…
