We were invited to come along to a Sidecar Motorcycle meet up on Sunday, and the thought of being able to shoot the ride whilst sitting on my arse was all too good to pass up.

The bikes began to gather early in the morning at Kawa café in Surry Hills, with there being great turnout of sidecar motorbikes. There was everything from vintage and modern Urals, as well as Royal Enfields and Harley Davidsons. A bunch of riders from Sydney Café Racers came along as well, almost like as escort as they zipped alongside the much less nimble Sidecars.

The plan for the day was to ride up to Wollombi Tavern, with a couple of stops along the way. With there being a huge thunderstorm in Sydney the night before, the weather could have gone either way. Luckily for us the Sun made it’s illustrious appearance and the bikes made their way up the coast, with everyone who witnessed the convoy of bikes giving off a great array of smiles and waves along the way.

Manoeuvring the twisting corners was a ton of fun, even as a passenger. I’d chuck the camera down and lean out to either side, giving the bike a little bit more stability. The left hand corners were the best of course, as my chauffer for the day Jono aka “Batman” was no stranger to lifting the sidecar around corners, and sure enough I turned into a giggling idiot around many a turn.

Being the middle of winter it was a pretty brisk day, and as soon you were out of the sunlight the temperature seemed to drop a few degrees. Even the English Ex-pats that were on the ride were talking about the cold. About half our numbers peeled off after a pit stop and recharge at Jerry’s Café, with a few riders having mechanical difficulties. One rider had their entire set of keys fall off the bike along with the ignition.

If found please contact us, or alternatively continue to use your amazing locating skills to track down the Lost Ark, Atlantis or maybe a Collingwood supporter with a full set of teeth.

It was a huge day, and after a couple of beers at Wollombi Tavern (and stocking up on Dr Jurd’s Jungle Juice) we got a tip that there’s a great 7km run behind the road we came in on. It was an awesome little change to the pace, being a dirt country road with some flooded paths to cross. The sidecars came into their element along here, and they took to the water naturally. You can see why these machines have such a long military history.