The Missing Link?

Given the asymmetrical nature of motorcycle sidecar combinations, handling is always going to be a little interesting, and Mick Payne takes a closer look at how it can be improved.

- Mick Payne

Thetelescopicmotorcyclefork has been with us for a very long time. Well over a century, in fact. It was 1908whenAlfred Angus Scott fitted one to his groundbreaking two-stroke machines and the design has been developed ever since. It isn’t without its detractors however; expecting a pair of sliding legs to cope with steering and braking is a tall order, and add a constantly changing wheelbase and trail and there must be better ways of going about it?

Throw a sidecar into the equation and we can add side loads too and, if those forks flex, they are going to stick. WhenMr Scott developed his three-wheeled Sociable post-First WorldWar it is noticeable that he was a good enough engineer to realise that the single front wheel needed better location. He gave it conventional rack and pinion steering as used on ‘real’ cars; sadly, he seemed to have used up all his mechanical know-how on the frame and steering, leaving little to consider aesthetics or even fit for purpose. Perhaps inevitably his concept of melding car and sidecar came to very little, only around 200 were ever made.