Sidecar motorcycles: a leisurely ride for two, or a sport for daredevils?

VINCENT TEETSOV

When it comes to niche sports and small vehicles, the sidecar motorcycle, or külgkorviga mootorratas, is a vehicular combination that doesn’t get much attention.

When it does, it’s often for comic effect. In a 2013 video for Comedy Estonia, British comedian Bill Bailey delivered a satirical monologue about motorcycles with sidecars being the future of public transportation. Interspersed with vintage footage, he joked about the city of Tallinn inaugurating a new system where “motorcycles with sidecars will drive the streets instead of buses, trams, and trolleys,” proving to be a much more enjoyable, athletic commute.

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Sidecar motorcycle champions A. Petrov and L. Denisenko, racing in 1949.

Photo: the National Archives of Estonia