Side car rental in UK and Europe?

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Roadsurfer_71
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Location: Maidstone

Side car rental in UK and Europe?

Post by Roadsurfer_71 »

Hi there,

Just wondering if anyone out there knows of a place I can hire a sidecar unit for a family adventure into Europe? My wife and I have done a fair bit of touring and travelling in the last few years and now bambino has arrived we see no need to stop.
However we still love biking and popping a toddler in the top box is frowned upon!
We want to complete an epic tour in Europe before he reaches school age. So ideally in about another three years. We don't have any exact plans yet but either Scandinavia or the Adriatic coast are our favourites, having done Italy and France a bit.
It would be epic to tuck little legs into the side car and set off on an adventure.
But I don't want to go to the huge expense of buying one as I'd have nowhere to keep it and no use after the trip so would end up selling it.
I've tried the usual searches on the Web but can't find owt.
OnHellas
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Re: Side car rental in UK and Europe?

Post by OnHellas »

You’ll be hard pushed to find someone that is renting sidecar outfits. They are nothing like riding a solo. Or any other vehicle come to that.

There used to be a bloke in Devon that rented out a Triumph Bonneville with a chair. Not sure if he’s still doing it and I’m sorry, but I can’t remember the name of the company.
He also rented solo bikes and had a riding school.

Sidecars are an acquired taste, I like them.
Good luck, let us know how you get on.
Roadsurfer_71
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Re: Side car rental in UK and Europe?

Post by Roadsurfer_71 »

Hi there,

Many thanks for the reply. I was starting to think it was a difficult option. I may have to get myself an old Ural unit and have it as a project. Just need to find the time. Got three years or so to rebuild one. Can maybe do it up, have our adventure and sell it on or rent it out for weddings?
herman
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Re: Side car rental in UK and Europe?

Post by herman »

This got asked on ADV a while back and apart from funerals, weddings and film hire I don't think anyone came up with a result in the UK.
The secret of a long life is knowing when its time to go.
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mark vb
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Re: Side car rental in UK and Europe?

Post by mark vb »

This link may be interesting for you:
https://www.boredpanda.com/romanian-fam ... hai-barbu/
I've thought about starting a wedding hire service with my outfit.....weddings appear to be big business with lots of quirky things now being offered, so there may well be scope for this!
Spike941
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Re: Side car rental in UK and Europe?

Post by Spike941 »

Have you tried Watsonian-Squire up near Moreton-in-Marsh? They advertise used outfits and you may want to consider, if you haven’t already, buying used and selling on again after you’ve finished.

https://www.watsonian-squire.com/
Jak*
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Re: Side car rental in UK and Europe?

Post by Jak* »

You may want to consider that European outfits have the chair on the opposite. You cannot legally run a right hand side outfit over here, unless it was registered before a certain date. Sometime in the late seventies I think. I have done thousands of miles on left hand outfits in Europe, you have to be careful of the camber and overtaking is fun. Be warned outfits can be addictive. I would recommend looking at the Federation of sidecar clubs website and maybe going along to an event near you and have a chat with owners. Ural outfits are great fun but as standard are not particularly practical for carrying young children any distance.
Laws in Europe also vary. In theory in some countries your sidecar passengers need seat belts and/or helmets, neither of which you need in the UK. Once when waiting for the ferry back to the UK, a Spanish copper pointed to my outfit and said ‘This is not legal here’. I never did find out want he meant as we were called forward to board then.
Good luck whichever route you take.
Cheers Jak
Roadsurfer_71
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Re: Side car rental in UK and Europe?

Post by Roadsurfer_71 »

Thanks everyone. Some great suggestions there. I will look into them. Luckily we have a few years to research and plan it all. So I am sure we can sort something.
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