[hazeii]

Every year the Pioneer Run goes right past my door, lots of pre-1915 motorised bicycles and motorbikes going from London to Brighton. It's always a riot, and amazing to see these old machines on the road - I've taken many pics over the years, but here's my favourite sidecar one from 2004.

[0] http://hazeii.net/images/2004/pioneer/p25l.jpg

[elliekelly]

Is the sidecar made of... wicker?

[hazeii]

Yes, lots of old superstructure was made of wicker/wood/whatever was to hand. There will be a metal frame under it, of course, but wicker is perfectly strong enough (ever been in a hot air balloon? The baskets are usually wicker, and strong enough to hold 8 people of more).

Here's another pic of wicker usage on an old bicycle/motorbike:-

http://hazeii.net/images/2004/pioneer/p16.jpg

Very amusingly, it's possible to check the numberplate of that bike on the UK gov. website vehicle MOT page [0]. That bike was registered 31st December 1913 - so it's a mere 108 years old now.

[0] https://www.check-mot.service.gov.uk/

[elliekelly]

Neat, thanks for sharing! The motor(?) on that one is super interesting, too!