Bikers Coming With Sidecars as Sidekicks

Hundreds of motorcycle enthusiasts are expected at Travel Town this weekend, with half coming along just for the ride.

It’s the park’s 23rd annual Sidecar Rally.

Event organizer Doug Bingham expects at least 300 motorcycle sidecars of various vintages from as far away as England and Japan. It is the oldest sidecar rally in the country and one of the biggest, he said.

In past years, the vehicles on display have run the gamut from specialized racing machines to World War II German sidecars--complete with camouflage paint--as well as examples of the enclosed sidecars that were popular in Britain during the 1950s.

Plenty of modern sidecars are expected, all attached to motorcycles.

Bingham is bringing one of the custom rigs he built for television crews to cover the Olympic marathon.

“It’s a Harley-riders-meet-BMW riders-meet-British-riders kind of thing,” said Bingham, who won a national championship racing sidecars in 1968. “It has always been a family-type activity, with the parents riding on the bike and the kids riding in the sidecar.”

The main rally and picnic will take place between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. Sunday. The Mineral Wells picnic grounds can be reached from the Forest Lawn Drive exit from the eastbound Ventura Freeway.