'The Fed' – aka the Federation of Sidecar Clubs
This month Mick Payne reflects upon the benefits that ‘the Fed’ has brought to sidecar owners everywhere.
It was a welcome sign of the opening up of Covid regulations when I emailed John Hind, chairman of the Federation of Sidecar Clubs, for some comments. His reply was that he’d be pleased to help, but that he was currently at the West Midlands Sidecar Club rally. After the suspension of so many events, that was a pleasure to hear. Could this be the end of the virtual rally? Let’s hope so.
Sidecarists are very individual beings; perhaps the main reason for many to fit a chair in the first place is to involve the whole family although there are plenty of other reasons, too. Many ride them just for the love of the beast, others for carrying a pet dog or more camping gear. Because of these varied, yet common, interests, dedicated clubs soon grew up to cater for the sidecar fraternity. The oldest still surviving is the London Sidecar Club, founded in 1951 from a section of the Panther Owners Club and still affiliated to the Fed.
Soon rallies were being held purely to cater for this somewhat fringe activity. Often family oriented, they proved popular with riders. In 1958, an association was formed to combine all interested clubs, some of which were – and remain – quite small, under one banner. The Fed was born. Apart from anything else, this gave the sidecar owner a collective voice as well as the social side of sidecar ownership. Instead of a few local members turning up for a camping rally, the net was thrown nationwide, enabling more ambitious events to be planned. This finally culminated in the Federation of Sidecar Clubs Annual Rally, with this year’s event being held at Market Harborough at the end of August.
From experience I can say this is a great event; very different from the Satan’s Slaves meet I mentioned last month, you’re more likely to find elbow patches than the back variety. The rally usually kicks off with a meet and greet incorporating a buffet. There are also games for both children and adults and a run out to a local place of interest, all taking place over the course of a laid-back weekend, so no rush is the name of the game! All the usual advantages of club membership are available to Fed members and, although many of its members have joined via their own sidecar club, associate section membership is also open to non-sidecar club members. These include the bi-monthly Outlook magazine with technical, legal and touring advice as well as affiliated membership of the BMF. It really doesn’t matter what sort of outfit you ride – when I was last a member I rode a 250 MZ lightweight and a BSA A10 with a Meteor chair that eventually found its way on to my T140. There are usually outfits spanning from the vintage days, from a well-used Brough to rigs that push the realm of sidecar outfit to its extreme. All, however, have a common love: the ’Bit on the Side.’ For more details see: www.fedsidecarweb.com