Line #14 Main/CoolSidecar


1	[[quoteright:300:[[Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Last_Crusade_cool_sidecar_755.jpg]]]]
2	[[caption-width-right:300:Two {{Badass Bookworm}}s in nice hats, on a CoolBike, with one of these. What more could you want?]]
3	->'''Mariner''': A sidecar? Even in your fantasy, you're not driving?\
4	'''Boimler''': Driving's scary. I'm a natural passenger.
5	-->-- ''WesternAnimation/StarTrekLowerDecks'', "Mining The Mind's Mines"
6
7	{{Badass Biker}}s with their {{Cool Bike}}s that aren't part of a gang, are usually stereotyped as [[IWorkAlone loners]] thanks to the fact that their rides are usually good for about 1 or 2 people. Some nix that though, and add a Cool Sidecar as an option for their rides. Allowing them to have another passenger or at least let their current companion have something more comfortable to sit on. Still loners have the option to just use the sidecar as extra storage, mainly because there's only so much cargo a bike itself can carry.
8
9	When some good old blood-pumping action is required, passengers of these sidecars [[ChaseFight have to fend off pursuers hot on their tail]] or people on the front trying to blockade their escape, letting the biker focus on making sure they don't crash along the way. There's also the good old GanglandDriveBy too. Usually the rider of the sidecar has to be armed in some way, most of the time they are just armed with some kind of firearm ([[MoreDakka preferabbly a rapid firing one]]), although some wield a melee weapon instead for some unorthodox MotorcycleJousting.
10
11	Some bikers however, take an extra step and decided to mount some guns on their sidecars. Allowing the passengers to be their gunner. Usually the mounted armaments is a type of [[MoreDakka machine gun]], mostly because motorcycles are naturally made for HitAndRunTactics with some good old spray-and-pray. Although in some rare cases however, the sidecar itself is turned into a weapons platform with no need for a gunner.
12
13	The idea of mounting weaponry on sidecars was popularized way back in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, thanks to UsefulNotes/NaziGermany of all people. They got the bright idea of repurposing their BMW motorcycles, by sticking a sidecar onto them and turning them into light reconnaissance vehicles. Thus, expect [[CoolBike BMW R75 or the competing Zündapp KS 750]] with an [=MG42=] machine gun-bearing sidecar attached for good measure, to make appearances in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII-related media, usually being rode by [[ThoseWackyNazis those Nazi Bikers]]. Although just because it's used by bad guys doesn't mean it ''has'' to be exclusively for them. Sometimes our heroes decide they want a piece of that action and commandeer one for themselves, using [[HoistByHisOwnPetard the mounted MGs on the Nazis themselves]].
14	----
15	!!Examples:
16
17	[[foldercontrol]]
18
19	[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
20	* ''Anime/TheBigO'': Norman's bike's sidecar has a missile launcher.
21	* ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'': Officer Jenny from Viridian City briefly uses a police motorcycle with one of these to get Pikachu to the Pokémon Center.
22	* ''Manga/AhMyGoddess'': Keiichi Morisato's Beemer, the only luxury he owns, has one. Curiously, it was [[ContrivedCoincidence installed to the bike long before]] Belldandy, its only seen passenger, came to his life.
23	* ''Manga/HyperPolice'': Natsumi's Police Trike is a motorcycle with an integral sidecar.
24	* ''Anime/TwoCar'': is all about 2-man kneeling sidecar racing. The sidecars are an integral part of the bike.
25	* Vash is frequently seen riding in Wolfwood's sidecar in ''[[Manga/{{Trigun}} Trigun Maximum]]''.
26	* In the ''VideoGame/FatalFury 2'' TV special, Terry has a bike with a sidecar for [[TagalongKid Tony]] to ride along with him.
27	[[/folder]]
28
29	[[folder:Comic Books]]
30	* ComicBook/{{Nightwing}} has a sidecar for his Wingcycle that has gone through some rather unfortunate appearances over the years, but generally matches the CoolBike it belongs with. Also, as a Batfamily vehicle, it is generally stocked with some very neat gadgets.
31	[[/folder]]
32
33	[[folder:Fan Works]]
34	* ''Fanfic/PokemonResetBloodlines'': Johto Elite Four member Karen owns a customized motorcycle that includes a sidecar for her Umbreon to ride.
35	[[/folder]]
36
37	[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
38	* In ''WesternAnimation/BatmanAssaultOnArkham'', the [=KGBeast=] rides a motorbike with a sidecar that detaches to become a missile he uses to blow open the gate of the army base he is attacking.
39	[[/folder]]
40
41	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action ]]
42	* ''Film/BatmanTheMovie'': After the Penguin steals the Batmobile, Batman and Robin take the Bat-Cycle to Gotham Airport, with Robin riding in a sidecar. As they approach the Bat-Copter, the sidecar detaches a "Go Cart" carrying Robin, which proceeds on its own to the other side of the Bat-Copter.
43	* [[Franchise/IndianaJones Henry Jones Sr. & Son]] in ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade'' ride a motorcycle with a sidecar while avoiding nazis.
44	* In ''Film/TheSpyWhoLovedMe'', the bad guys chase Film/JamesBond with a sidecar that becomes a detachable missle steered by a joystick on the motorbike.
45	* His Excellency's "car", in the Marx Brothers film, ''Film/DuckSoup''. After being twice left behind by Harpo in the detached sidecar, Groucho insists that this time he's driving. Cue Harpo driving off in the sidecar, leaving Groucho on the immobile motorcycle.
46	-->'''Groucho:''' [[DeadpanSnarker This is the only way to travel.]]
47	* In ''Film/ThoseMagnificentMenInTheirFlyingMachines'', the German flying machine is out of control, and the American hero (Stuart Whitman) is attempting to help by pursuing it with a motorcycle with a sidecar. The German colonel (Creator/GertFrobe) jumps in the sidecar. When they get close enough, the hero jumps from the motorcycle to the flying machine, leaving the colonel in the sidecar. Eventually, the cycle and sidecar fly into the sewage farm.
48	* Inverted in ''Film/TheSidehackers'': the sidecars of the protagonist's bikes are nothing more than a wheel, a plank, and a pole for the person on the sidecar to hold on for dead life while they kneel on it. As crazy-daring that it is to ride like that during a race, and the film likes to show it a lot, it does nothing to offset how boring the rest of the movie is.
49	[[/folder]]
50
51	[[folder:Literature]]
52	* Hagrid from ''Franchise/HarryPotter'' has a flying sidecar. [[spoiler: During a battle in midair, it ends up being accidentally detached, and then Harry makes it explode so that it can blow off their pursuers]].
53	* Surely the ultimate example: in Neal Stephenson's ''Literature/SnowCrash'', Raven rides around on a bike, the sidecar of which is a NUCLEAR WEAPON. A nuclear weapon keyed to explode [[DeadMansSwitch if his heart stops beating]].
54	* In Creator/RobertAsprin's ''Literature/PhulesCompany'', Chocolate Harry rides his hovercycle, with Louis (a small, slug-like alien) in the sidecar -- armed with a SawedOffShotgun.
55	[[/folder]]
56
57	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
58	* ''Series/KamenRider555'': Kamen Rider Kaixa's CoolBike, the Side Basshar, had a sidecar. The bike-and-sidecar ensemble could transform into a walker loaded with missiles.
59	* While an example doesn't quite appear in ''Series/KamenRiderDrive'', the MidSeasonUpgrade, Shift Dead Heat, is a Signal Bike/Shift Car hybrid based on this trope, being a fusion of the [[TheHero Main Rider]]'s [[CoolCar motif]] and the [[SixthRanger Secondary Rider]]'s [[CoolBike motif]].
60	* ''Franchise/SuperSentai'' used to add sidecars to non-Red-Rangers' bikes, such as in ''Series/KyoryuSentaiZyuranger'' (the bikes never really made it to [[Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers MMPR]] except for a stock footage slip-up). Especially notable is the sidecars from ''Series/NinjaSentaiKakuranger'', which connected end-to-end to form a catapult for launching the Red bike!
61	** ''Series/KyukyuSentaiGoGoV'' / ''Series/PowerRangersLightspeedRescue'' featured a weaponised example that could be launched at the enemy. In ''Lightspeed,'' the SixthRanger rides in it instead of getting a CoolBike of his own, apparently because having a PR-exclusive Ranger at ''all'' was stretching the budget.
62	* Several single-hero {{Toku}} series have sidecars on their bikes for the purpose of putting the VictimOfTheWeek in them for escape purposes.
63	* In the cooking show ''Series/TwoFatLadies'' (formerly on Creator/FoodNetwork), the ladies toured the country in a motorbike and sidecar. Jennifer Patterson drove the bike while Clarissa Dickson Wright was in the sidecar.
64	* In the ''Series/OnTheBuses'' TV series, the family (except for Stan, who drives the bus) has only a motorcycle and sidecar to transport. There are many mishaps.
65	* The Batcycle on ''Series/{{Batman\|1966}}'' had one. It wasn't ''quite'' as cool for the hapless Burt Ward, though, who found himself holding on for dear life whenever Batman detached the sidecar!
66	[[/folder]]
67
68	[[folder:Music]]
69	* ''To The Apocalypse in Daddy's Sidecar'' by Music/AbneyPark. The song was based on the songwriter's kindergarten-age daughter writing this as a response to the question "If you could be anywhere in the world, where would you like to go?" Let me remind you: this is a ''4 year old girl'' saying this. Of course, "apocalypse" was misspelled.
70	[[/folder]]
71
72	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
73	* In ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'', Space Marines can field assault bikes which have a sidecar with a mounted {{BFG}}.
74	[[/folder]]
75
76	[[folder:Toys]]
77	* ''Toys/{{BIONICLE}}'': The Kaxium V3 consists of bike and sidecar, the latter of which has a Thornax Launcher and both can split from each other.
78	* The ''Franchise/GIJoe'' RAM cycle had a [[GatlingGood gatling gun]] for a sidecar. The later Silver Mirage included room for a passenger as well as a mortar cannon and two missiles. The bikes didn't get featured much in the [[WesternAnimation/GIJoeARealAmericanHero cartoon]], though, due to being overshadowed by so many [[TankGoodness other]], [[CoolPlane cooler]] [[CoolBoat vehicles]]. There wouldn't be another new motorcycle toy with a sidecar in the line until 2003's Cobra Venom cycle, which had a detachable sidecar that could transform into a gun station. The most recent new toy is the [[Film/GIJoeTheRiseOfCobra 2009 movie line]]'s Snarler. Both the Venom and Snarler sidecars featured cannons with firing projectiles.
79	* The toys from ''Film/TransformersRevengeOfTheFallen'' added a sidecar to the second of the motorcycle Autobots released, which naturally wasn't in the movie. (The sidecar, not the second 'bot...)
80	** The bike girls had a unicycle design for their robot modes (balanced on one wheel instead of legs.) The sidecar included with the toy for one turned into a ''stand'' because it couldn't stand up otherwise.
81	* The toyline for ''[[WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries The New Batman Adventures]]'' eventually had a Batbike and detachable sidecar a la the movie mentioned above (it's Nightwing rather than Robin in the sidecar).
82	* Something of a staple for Kenner: ''Film/TheShadow'' had a Mongol dragon-cycle with missile-firing sidecar, and, when Film/TheMask got ''his'' bike, Milo got a sidecar with a big, chomping Mask!Milo head.
83	[[/folder]]
84
85	[[folder:Video Games]]
86	* ''VideoGame/AdvanceWarsDaysOfRuin'' has the Bike unit that has a sidecar with a [[MoreDakka machinegun]] mounted on it.
87	* ''VideoGame/XCOMApocalypse'' has [[http://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php?title=Hoverbike_%28Apocalypse%29 hoverbikes]], with top engines slightly faster and more nimble than the VTOL fighter plane. Its sidecar provides one weapon mount good enough for most of fighters' weapons. As in, an autocannon or missile with miniature fusion warhead.
88	* In ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater'', near the end you sit in a side car and gun down {{Mooks}} in a pretty epic chase scene. It also [[HyperspaceArsenal contains]] [[BottomlessMagazines a lot of ammo]].
89	* Wes from ''VideoGame/PokemonColosseum'' has this attached to his CoolBike. His [[YinYangBomb Espeon and Umbreon]] sit there in the beginning, but are demoted to pokeball travel when Wes gets a {{Sidekick}}.
90	* An odd example appears in ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII'' when, [[BigLippedAlligatorMoment for some reason]], Sora and Riku get a space-motorcycle-thing to fight the final boss in one of his many forms. It's less of a sidecar and more of a platform that happens to be on the side of the vehicle, sacrificing basic safety measures for having enough room for Sora to smack things around with his keyblade.
91	* ''{{VideoGame/Foxhole}}'' has the patrol bike, a light recon motorcycle with an attached sidecar. The passenger can use any secondary equipment like pistols or binoculars.
92	* ''VideoGame/MedalOfHonorUnderground'' has a the mission, "Sidecar Shootout" where you ride in the sidecar of a motorcycle (driven by your resistance ally) while equipped with a mounted machine-gun, going around shooting enemy Germans. Widely considered one of the best missions in the game.
93	* ''VideoGame/RedAlert3'': The Soviet's Mortar Cycle is a motorcycle ([[PunnyName hyuk hyuk]]) with a sidecar that can deploy a collapsible mortar or throw a MolotovCocktail.
94	* ''VideoGame/{{Thundercade}}'' is an old arcade game where you get to kick ass in a motorbike with a mounted sidecar, capable of firing projectiles at enemies. You can occasionally pick up a second sidecar to double your firepower.
95	* [[GrimReaper Mr. Grimm's]] motorcycle from most ''VideoGame/TwistedMetal'' games has a sidecar attached, which holds a [[GatlingGood gatling gun]].
96	[[/folder]]
97
98	[[folder:Western Animation]]
99	* The Piranha from ''WesternAnimation/{{MASK}}'' was a sidecar that launched from the motorcycle and acted as a one-man submarine.
100	* ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'': Prowl's {{Samurai}} Armor becomes this in vehicle mode.
101	* ''{{WesternAnimation/Metalocalypse}}'' has the Murdercycle, with a total of 4 sidecars, 2 on each side, so the whole band can ride it.
102	** And it takes up three lanes of traffic - how cool is that?
103	* ''WesternAnimation/TheAristocats'': "You may not believe this, but I think it's a one-wheeled haystack!"
104	* ''WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck'' had one on his motorcycle. Interestingly enough, it was capable of detaching while the motorcycle was being driven and could operate on its own.
105	* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheRealGhostbusters'' had Ray using the ''Ecto-3'', a ''motorized unicycle'', of all things, that stored inside a rear fender of Ecto-1; it had a sidecar scaled for Slimer.
106	* Batman's motorcycle in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'' has a retractable side car built in for Robin. The now adult Robin is embarrassed of it and sulks both times he has to ride in it.
107	* The Murdercycle from ''WesternAnimation/Metalocalypse'' is ridden by Nathan Explosion and even comes with ''four'' [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/metalocalypse/images/3/31/Murdercycle.JPG/ totally metal passenger pods]] for the rest of the band. It even has the same pods for its [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/metalocalypse/images/a/a2/Murdercycle_-_Snowmobile_Varient.JPG/ snowmobile variant]], with added skis.
108	* The sidecar in the ''WesternAnimation/WallaceAndGromit'' short ''WesternAnimation/ACloseShave'' can also double as an airplane. It also comes with a retractable rapid-fire cannon that the heroes usually use to shoot soapy water up onto windows they're cleaning from ground level, but during the climax Gromit loads it with [[EdibleAmmunition extra thick porridge]] to fight the villain.
109	* ''WesternAnimation/TheRaccoons'': Aunt Gertie from the episode "Power Trip!" owns a blue motorcycle called Bessie that has a sidecar with a yellow stripe on it for Bert to ride in.
110	[[/folder]]
111
112	[[folder:Real Life]]
113	* These were used a fair amount during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. The Germans in particular became especially notorious for showing up in them.
114	* Sidecars were very popular in the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc during the first post-WWII decades. Cars were out of reach for most working people, while the sidecar motorcycle provided the needed transportation for people and goods. Factories stuck to [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalashnikov_Concern dated]] [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IMZ-Ural pre-WWII]] designs for being rugged and easier to maintain.
115	* Tricycles (i.e. motorbikes with sidecars) are a common sight in suburban Philippine roads, but they don't hold a candle to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=av65feXZ-yo this cool bike with an equally cool sidecar that resembles an actual cool car]].
116	* Several American companies makes sidecars that will carry a wheelchair. At least one takes it a step further, and modifies both sidecar and motorcycle so that the wheelchair-bound person can operate the motorcycle from the sidecar, thus allowing a person with missing or paralyzed legs to be a BadassBiker despite their handicap.
117	[[/folder]]

Context Main / CoolSidecar