Hi,

I live in Britain, about as far East as you can get, not that I am trying to get as far from America as I can. This is a Brit observation purely. Maybe I should not actually type anything that might be deemed a criticism, but from where I sit, perusing the Trike Talk threads, it becomes abundantly clear that our style of Sidecar outfitting etc, is way different to the American way. I read one thread where somebody asked if brakes had to be fitted to a sidecar..?? Over here, if a sidecar has a fitted brake, then it has to work correctly. If on the other hand no brake is installed then obviously it does not matter. The one I am currently building has no brake at all, and for that I am eternally grateful. I am not too sure about modern sidecar theory, or practice, so when I saw a thread post that said Brake Pads wear to quickly if the weight was wrong..... Brake Pads, I only remember them having Brake Shoes inside a drum. My experience of them was for an unexpected emergency stop resulting in an exploding brake drum, the shards of the internal mechanism destroying the wheel spokes in a single hit, which meant the wheel rim etc shooting off into the field...!!!! at least I did not get a puncture....

I guess the Brit way of things is far removed from that vast nation U.S.of A.. In comparison, I think we may be still living sometime in the middle of the 1970's as far a sidecars are concerned. I really enjoy doing it all myself, that is the way I learnt from an early age. If I could not afford it, I made it, altered it, swopped it, bartered for it and so on. To buy and have it done for me is anathema to me, that is why I am designing, renovating, manufacturing the entire thing myself, It is going to be so dated looking. I plan on making the box something like my avatar, but without the top bit apart from a screen. I intend to make it long enough for me to kip in with a sheet over the top, not fitted covers etc...... I really do not want a tent structure, just a sleeping bag, maybe a blanket, and a prayer for fine weather. I have always been like that, its the Davey Crockett in me...!!

Perchance it is all down to the finance, years back there was/is a great big scenario of vans all tricked out with carpets of fur, psycho lighting, sound systems, weird windows, high rise suspension and so... by the same token, over here we got a beat up old Ford Transit delivery van, with rust of prairie proportions, a mountain of fibreglass that never got sanded down until it fell off the wings. Big holes gashed into the side panels for porthole windows that never got purchased. Smaller diameter wheels to lower the suspension ??? or a welded chain steering wheel. We biker types watched these things come to fruition until a MOT test failed the sorry carcass, and it got scrapped....... the money that was squandered on them was tremendous. Shops abounded with all the tat that were bolt on essentials apparently. Not many purveyors survived the period...

To be fair, there are some very credible outfits/trikes around, but not many in comparison. There was an old Harley Servicar around for a while, but that got sold to a Japanese guy, oddly who lives in Japan... we have a guy lives around the back of me somewhere, who has a Glide of some sort tricked out into a trike, okay it sounds good, the front looks good, the radio?? sounds good in that "look at me making a noise" manner in a housing estate...!!! The back end though is a shocking display of hand painted angle iron, incorrectly installed guards, and a brace of saddle bags, S/H ones at that, bungeed onto the rear of the seat.... Mein Gott it looks so cheaply done....!!!

All power to your elbows over there in America, you are showing us the way to produce uniqueness..... for myself, I am going to keep my head under the parapet and build a 1940's sidecar outfit with a 1982 Harley........