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The Sidecar Side in the UK ~ a reminder by
Peter J. Ballard
“Once upon a
time, a sidecar could be fitted to either the left or the right of the
motorcycle ~ life with a ‘chair’ was good”
Then in 1981 a
law was passed (sneaked through) that was incorporated into the UK C&U
(Construction and Use Regulations) that required:- any motorcycle first
registered in the UK after August 1981 shall only have a sidecar fitted
to the left side of the motorcycle. Note this relates to the date of
first registration in the UK and not the date of manufacture of the
motorcycle, a source of great confusion for owners, police, dealers,
DVLA and insurance brokers/companies.
This law change
was a problem for the two wheel drive Dnepr outfits as then sold by
Neval Motorcycles, since they can not be converted as the sidecar wheel
drive goes to the sidecar on the right. This applied to a few MT12
(750cc SV) and a few MT16 (650cc OHV). However, it was possible and
seemed to be legal to register these Dneprs as ‘Motor Tricycles’, since
they were three wheelers and the UK regulations did not define the
orientation of the three wheels. All other conventional three wheelers
would have been ‘Reliant’ type (1 at front on centre line & 2 at rear)
or ‘Morgan’ type (2 at front and 1 at rear on centre line).
One owner of a
MT16 (sidecar on the right) was soon taken to court on the basis of the
machine being incorrectly registered as a motor tricycle where it should
have been registered as a motorcycle in which case the sidecar was
fitted to the wrong side (I think that was the accusation). The owner
won the case since it was demonstrated that with the sidecar removed
there was no power to the rear wheel of the motorcycle and thus it could
not have been used as a motorcycle.
In June 2003 the
EU spread its wings (or claws) further and I believe that all but two
C&U regulations (of which there were thousands) were scrapped to be
replaced by the ‘equivalent’ EU laws. The two that remained I believe
were that any sidecar shall be fitted to the left of motorcycle if
registered in the UK after Aug 1981 and that headlights of vehicles
shall dip to the left.
Now, the C&U &
EU regulations are managed by VOSA (Vehicle Operators & Standards
Agency) and vehicle registrations are managed by DVLA (Drivers &
Vehicles Licensing Agency). So when a vehicle registration application
is made to the DVLA for a new vehicle made after June 2003 they will
need the certificate that states that the vehicle meets EU law; no
certificate means no registration. This is why new motorcycles from such
as Ishevsk, Minsk or Chang Jiang can no longer be registered in the UK,
they are not built and Homologated/Type Approved to meet EU law
(requiring expensive testing and inevitable design changes).
However if for
instance a Ural M72 outfit from 1960 is presented to the DVLA with the
sidecar on the right then the chances are it will still be given an age
related registration number! The DVLA are not responsible for ensuring
that the machine complies with the law, that is the responsibility of
the owner. Hence there are many older sidecar outfits on the UK roads
with the sidecar on the right that although made before 2003 or indeed
1981 they do not comply with the UK law.
Two complications:
1. INSURANCE.
Valid insurance on a vehicle that does not meet UK law is difficult or
impossible to obtain. I was approached by a club member unable to get
insurance on his fairly new two wheel drive outfit (sidecar on the
illegal right). After many conversations with Carole Nash Insurance
brokers, they contacted all the insurance companies they use and none
would issue insurance cover, I quote directly from their letter to me:-
“Carole Nash nor
any other Insurance Company or Broker (to the best of our knowledge) is
able to insure a motorcycle with illegal modifications. ………Once again
Carole Nash are unable to provide cover on any vehicle with disclosed
illegal modifications. It is the policyholders responsibility to
disclose any modifications to the vehicle in order for us to issue terms
and cover……..I apologise that this is not the outcome I feel you
expected.. As this is the law Carole Nash as a company are unable to
negotiate with our insurers for a more favourable reply……John Garrard -
Business Development Team Leader.”
Note; Insurance
brokers & companies consider a sidecar as a vehicle ‘modification’,
hence the wording above. This insurance problem of course applies to
those new two wheel drive Urals and some newly imported Chang Jiangs
that are still being sold in small numbers in the UK.
2. MoT Tests.
For those two wheel drive sidecar outfits registered between 1981 and
2003 as ‘motor tricycles’, getting a MoT is now difficult. Things have
changed with the linking of MoT stations directly to the DVLA via
computer and the internet. Each MoT station is authorised to test
certain classes of vehicles. The class of each vehicle is held by DVLA
for each registration number. So if the owner of a two wheel drive
outfit that is registered as a ‘motor tricycle’ turns up at his local
motorcycle MoT station that is only authorised to test motorcycles,
there will be a problem. When the tester enters into the DVLA computer
system the vehicle registration number the system will prevent him from
testing that vehicle since it is not in a vehicle class that the tester
is allowed to test. The owner has to go away.
So the owner
goes to a MoT station authorised to test ‘motor tricycles’ which may
well be a car based or motorcycle based garage. The problems do not end
there though. There are certain test requirements for conventional three
wheelers such as Reliants and Morgans that are not applicable to a two
wheel drive outfit and so the tester will not physically be able to test
the outfit. I am lead to believe that these aspects include lighting and
brakes. So no MoT. Any MoT tester who tests outside the vehicle class
for which he is authorised risks losing his licence to carry out MoTs.
Other notes:
-
eBay – there
are many older Soviet sidecar outfits being offered for sale on eBay
either from the UK or Eastern Europe that have the sidecar on the
right. There is a review
http://reviews.ebay.co.uk/Right-hand-Sidecars-and-UK-law_W0QQugidZ10000000005300445
which is quite clear and was set up by a conscientious COC member,
thanks. I try to contact all these sellers advising them of their
responsibilities to tell the potential purchasers.
-
The C.O.C
issues ‘Dating Certificates’ that authenticates a motorcycle with
respect to make, model, originality and year of manufacture. These
are typically used by the owners to obtain age related registration
numbers from the DVLA. I have now added a final section on the
certificate that indicates compliance with the UK sidecar C&U
regulation. So if the owner uses the certificate to apply for an age
related registration number from the DVLA at least the DVLA officer
will see that the outfit does not meet UK law. It is then up to the
DVLA to advise the owner accordingly.
I am working
with MAG (thoughts of wading through treacle) to talk with the DfT
(Department for Transport) to discuss whether the fitment of a brighter
light on the mudguard of a right hand sidecar would be sufficient to
again allow sidecars to fitted to the right. MAG are also working along
the line that banning new right hand sidecars in the UK is restrictive
practice for the multitude of sidecar manufacturers in mainland Europe
making sidecars only for fitment to the right of the motorcycle. |
Englishman does at this point, I made a brew & the old adage of "tea
always helps" did & upon closer inspection, the pile started to liven my
imagination (either that or to much rum in the tea), so with the weather
turning, the parts were shoved in the garage & the frame was sheeted up
to protect it till another day. Another day arrived (about a fortnight
later) & I decided to start work on the heap, firstly I went through the
boxes but with not knowing what was what I decided to assemble it, so
with common sense & a trade picture I started, surprisingly all went
well, parts fitted into place & it started to take shape & after the
crud was removed from the silencers they were in really good condition,
which meant I'd save a pretty penny with not having to get them plated,
after a few hours work I had a ‘heap’ which resembled a motorcycle but
surprisingly it was 95% complete with the only parts missing being a
pair of indicators, internal mudguard, tank rubbers & the snow cowls, at
this point I had a eureka moment (no I didn't think I'll pass it on to
some other club member for a slight profit), no I decided to display it
on the forth coming stand at the Stafford show I've seen a lot worse on
other club stands) & all it really needed was a clean with the pressure
washer & the tyres pumped up, so the decision was made it was going to
go on display. As to getting the parts an e-mail to Tony Jones got me
the pieces within a week from a friend of his in Holland for £25 the
lot, all brand new, but he didn't have the snow cowls so I'd have to
keep an eye out for them, the best part was that Tony said he'd pick
them up when he went to Holland for the Utrecht showing December) so no
postage or changing money, so the game was a foot.
The
time arrived for the show & the bike was displayed on our stand in its
rough condition, & the heap generated allot of interest (so it shows all
bikes don't have to be in pristine condition), including meeting a
person who had a spare chain cover & a pair of down pipes which he sent
me for nothing except the postage (so somebody took pity on it, ah !),
also picked up a new silencer, mint headlight rim & a pair of new
indicator lenses I bust one while loading), so displaying the bike
seemed to be a good idea in the end. With the show over it was time to
start the rebuild & first I took some photo's then started to strip it
down & store it, after a couple of hours their it was in pieces, a lot
of pieces (it's amazing how when it's together how little there looks to
be of it), so everything was boxed up ready for the adventurous rebuild.
Within few days of stripping it, I got a message from Tony about a
sidecar he'd sourced out in Holland from a friend of the bloke who was
supplying my parts (the bike was classified as a combo & I'd asked him
at Stafford to keep an eye out for a CHEAP!! one), pictures were sent &
I liked what I saw, the price was reasonable so a deal was done & Tony
agreed to pick it up with the parts, the only thing was it wasn't a
Jupiter 3 sidecar it was a Jupiter 2 sidecar (but it will still look
great) & it had no holes so I was told, so in less than 6 weeks I had
two (possible) heaps & a Christmas to get started.. 