A sidecar rig is a different because you have a normal motorcycle suspension but then you have a third wheel and quite a bit of extra weight off to one side. The off balance situation causes your motorcycle to act odd. A Harley-Davidson like my 92 model has a rigid sidecar wheel and the chair itself is mounted on two leaf springs. The wheel becomes a fixed point that the rest of the bike pivots around as the suspension is working. When you first start to ride, the sensation is kind of like a truck with bad left shocks. When you hit a bump with the motorcycle, your suspension compresses, the whole rig pivots around the sidecar wheel and you get shoved slightly to the side. It kind of feels like you are about to fall off the bike - but you get used to it.
Most (if not all) after market sidecars have the sidecar wheel sprung. You reduce but don't totally get rid of that "truck with bad left shocks" sensation, but they still suffer from every other problem (or maybe is it challenge?) that my Harley-Davidson has.
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