Believe it or not the 37th running of the annual Griffith Park Sidecar rally was busted up by the cops, specifically the Park Rangers who apparently went into Homeland Security Mode when a record-breaking crowd of several thousand bike fans showed up for the event. Huell Howser's PBS KCET TV’s popular “California Gold” show spotlighted the event a couple days before so apparently the media lit the fuse. In any case, there was not one inch of parking space in the whole area and people in their cars trying to have their tofu barbecues and wedding celebrations freaked out. Thus the "camp cops" ordered the sidecar show shutdown at 1:00 PM. Still, call the event a major success, the largest gathering in its history.

The event was founded by Doug “Mr. Sidecar” Bingham, the nation’s leading force behind the promotion of the joys of sidecar riding. Back in 1969 Doug founded a company called Side Strider and began designing and building street sidecars. Besides production rigs from Harley-Davidson, Doug’s “Bingham MK-1" when introduced was the first sidehack made available to the public for literally decades, the event even marked within the pages of the December 1969 issue of Popular Science Magazine.

It was no surprise to see some racing “cars” at this year’s event since Doug himself was a racer having campaigned a BMW R60 production sidecar at the AMA National Sidecar Road Race at the Laguna Seca circuit in California, circa 1974. His hands- on experience with road racing sidecars and off-road outfits contributed to the success of his growing business. His reputation also garnered him, in 1972, exclusive U.S. distributor status by Watsonian, the world’s oldest and best known sidecar manufacturer.

More recently Doug was inducted into the National Motorcycle Museum & Hall of Fame for his achievements as a designer/inventor, as a racer and for his contributions to the advancement of motorcycling in general. Doug is also the Director of the Sidecar Industry Council which addresses standardized engineering, promotes a focused strategy for marketing and a greater cooperation with government agencies as well as the dissemination of information. In other words, if Doug puts on a sidecar rally, they will come. And they came in droves for the 37th annual event. He sums up the day with the following, “We overwhelmed the park. The Rangers had no idea how big this event was going to get, the biggest ever. Next year I’m going to take out a permit for the whole damn area.” If this year’s rally was any indication, Doug and the Griffith Sidecar Rally will need it for next year.

The pictures tell the story so enjoy the ride.

The dog’s name is Harpo, apparently a reference to one of the famous Marx Brothers who had a similar hair-do. Speaking of hair, the redhead is the lovely DeeDee Delsyer while the 1933 AJS with “boat” sidecar happens to her own machine that she’s owned for 13 years. “Harpo’s been riding sidecars for four years and he absolutely loves it,” says DeeDee. “It does wonders for fluffing up his fur.” Piloting the rig is veteran sidecar fan Paul Greenstein, himself the owner of several bikes.

Miguel Rodriguez from Montebello, daughters, sons and nieces all enjoy riding his 2008 Anniversary Edition H-D with a color matched Spaulding sidecar. He’s only being sidehacking for three months, but says, “It’s awesome, I love it and so do the kids. A sidecar lets your whole family enjoy motorcycling.”

Mike attached a Motovation sidecar to his very spiffy gold and black 2001 Centennial Anniversary Edition Indian. The trick paint and wheels were factory issue. “We painted the sidecar to match and were very lucky to find an additional Centennial wheel for the sidecar in an attic so that all three wheels match.

Based around a 750cc BMW “boxer twin” Harry Meeker built himself a Speed record chaser that’s blasted across the salts at both El Mirage and Bonneville. The turbo-charged and nitrous equipped vintage “flying chair” Established a record at 130+ mph at El Mirage and at Bonneville without the sidecar, clocked 138 mph. When asked if a passenger aka “monkey” rode along for the record attempts, Harry says, “No passenger…only ambulance service for one.”

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