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 1985 Daytona 200 was a significant race in the career of “Fast” Freddie Spencer, he pulled out a lead early in the race before a mystery engine problem forced him into the pits and out of the race – or so many thought. The engine problem proved to be a gremlin that would disappear…
UFO Garage UFO Garage was founded by Efraon Triana Lopez, one of the founders of both Cafe Racer Dreams and Pan Speed Shop, as a way to work independently and build custom motorcycles 100% to his own specifications. A native born son of Venezuela, Efraon left his home country at the age of 13 with…
We damn near had no film. The sinking sun gave us a hard out of around 6:10 pm and my watch read 5:30. Months of planning, a lot of money and the sliver of a reputation I had nearly joined the disappearing daylight.
The Billet Sting is a custom BMW R nineT with a bespoke honeycomb alloy chassis machined by CNC in 10 individual pieces, before being carefully welded together on a jig to create one of the most eye-catching custom motorcycles we’ve seen in recent memory.
This series of 26 images were taken in March 1993 by Matt Thompson and his family, on a special birthday trip to the Britten workshop near Christchurch in 1993. These photographs been completely unseen by anyone other than Matt and his family for the past 26 years. 1993 was a big year for the John…
The beautiful BMW cafe racer you see here is the work of Elemental Custom Cycles based in Neustadt, Germany just outside of Nuremberg. The core philosophy of the garage is “Life’s to short to ride boring motorcycles” – which sound like words to live by to me. This bike is the latest project from the German…
