Do ya think, to make electric biking a more practical mode of trans, they better do side-cars? So there can be more than one person?

How fast is safe for an electric bike with a side car?

Safety issues? Prolly tires would need to be wider.

Dan Howitt

This idea is probably pushing the limit. There's enough problems with getting the bike moving properly with good batteries, the inherent dangers of a side car....

See the electrified Xtracycle bike in the photos thread (sticky thread) on this forum.

Xtracycles are designed to carry two adults - one rider and one passenger.

I see very few motorcycles with sidecars and motorcycles haven't stopped being used because they aren't practical enough.

hehe... I reread your post and man, what kind of legs would a person need, you'd have frame issues, width issues and on and on and then never mind the electric motor... you might want to go easy on the pipe...

Hey, play nice!

Maybe the idea wouldn't work, but no need for insults. Plus, there are people who build crazy alternative and recumbent bikes all of the time. Some work, and some don't. But all the variations on bikes that we have came from someone who looked at things a little differently.

...Personally, I wouldn't want a side car, as I feel it would impair my ability to turn as I like. It's different on 2 wheels alone. ...I kind of like the detachable tandem things that I've seen. With a motor, a couple of folks could go far.

huh... I didn't think I was harsh, maybe sarcastic!! After some other posts around here, I was plain polite...lol

You have to admit, it's a wicked idea...anyways... to each his own I guess.

Yeah, I've seen some severe rudeness around here as well. There are a few difficult folks in the forum, and I think there are some trolls out there who come around just to throw out comments that instigate stuff. Also, there are some folks who have interacted a lot and can joke sarcastically without true malice. But there are also lots of nice folks who come here to chat about bikes and life and life with bikes.

...Honestly, if what you said was absolutely horrible and I thought that you were hopeless, I probably would have ignored and gone on. It just seemed a bit harsh for a pretty new member (check his newbie status) who was just throwing out an idea. I'd hate to see us run somone off with a smart alecky comment.

...Now I'm done with my hijack.

yeah, true that, life goes on and what's most important is riding and having fun.

Definitely. Riding is just such a pleasure.

Um...... a lot would depend on what you were wanting to haul about.

Check this out.......
I've been away for a while due to being needed elsewhere by the Church. I hope everyone has played nicely in my absence.

I always enjoy seeing creative minds putting ideas into reality.
Your bike sidecar shows you put a lot of thought into it, and I really like when
someone can recycle old bike parts into something usefull as this.

Keep up the good work!!, I especially like the wooden chain guard.

Interesting. Thanks much for the video!

Aside from being wider, the main safety issues with bicycle sidecars is that a lot of home-built ones don't incorporate proper braking.
In short: the sidecar wheel needs a brake.
You NEVER see a motorcycle sidecar without a brake, and there is a good reason for that. With no brake on the sidecar wheel, under hard braking the sidecar tends to push the bicycle's front-end to the opposite side. The harder you brake, the worse the steering gets.

If you don't want to use (or can't use) a dual-cable lever, then it is probably better to disconnect the bicycle's front brake and route that lever/cable to the sidecar wheel.
~

Good points.

I have seen gasoline powered bicycles with sidecars here in P.R. China. The bad news is that I saw them in Wuhan. For some reason gasoline powered bicycles seemed to be more popular there; where I am they all seem to be electric (but then, I am in a, geographically, smaller city).

The rear wheel of the bicycle was driven, not the sidecar wheel. The sidecar had no brakes. The sidecar was used to haul goods, not people. (sorry, no picture)