Everything you need to know about our rider experiences.
Our 'Rider Experiences' are for people who want to have a go at riding a motorcycle and sidecar with us. You'll be controlling the bike. If you want to be a passenger and just enjoy the ride you need to check out our passenger experiences.
What are our Rider Experiences?
Rider Experiences give you the chance to get behind the handlebars of a Ural Gear-Up. We are the only place in UK where you can try riding motorcycles and sidecars in this way. All of the days are led by experienced sidecar riders who are also qualified motorcycle guides so you'll be in safe hands.
All of our standard rider experiences are small group days. You will have your own motorcycle and sidecar that you will share with whoever you come with. You can therefore only book in groups of 2, 4, 6 or 8. However if you want to come on your own or you have an odd number of people in your group you can pay a single supplement fee. In this case you will have some weight in the sidecar rather than another person.
Who can take part in a Rider Experience?
To take part in a rider experience you must:
Have a full motorcycle license
Have less than 6 penalty points on your license
Be 25 or over
You can share the riding between you if both of you meet the above criteria. If only one of you meet that criteria then only that person can ride and the other person must stay in the passenger seat. You will also be asked to sign a disclaimer saying that you fully accept the risk or riding motorcycles and you are willing to pay a £750 excess for any damage you cause to our bikes. This damage does not extend to general wear and tear.
What do you do on a normal experience?
A standard rider experience starts at our experience centre, located 5 minutes from Morpeth in Northumberland. We meet at 9am where you will be greeted with tea and coffee before we do a briefing on the bikes. The next two hours or so will be spent at our experience centre where you will get introduced to the bikes. After a very short verbal introduction and demonstration from our guides it will be your turn to take to the handlebars on our test track.
This part of the day is where we will assess your sidecar riding capabilities. You'll be asked to demonstrate that you can safely stop and steer the vehicle as well as take part in some fun games that help you understand how wide it is. There's no time limit on this part of the day and it takes as long as necessary for both the rider and the guide to feel comfortable that you will be safe on the road. Anyone who has just joined as a passenger will be playing the role as chief photographer and coffee drinker while the guides sit in the sidecar to provide some top tips. You'll also be given time to practice on the test track as a team before we head out on the open road.
Once you feel comfortable on the bike we will hit the road. If you've booked a half day experience you can expect to have around an hours ride out on the road before your day will finish back at the experience centre. Depending on what you're interested in there may also be the opportunity to do a short, easy green lane in that hour.
If you booked a full day or two day experience then your hour's road ride will take you through to a lovely spot for lunch. Lunch along with all refreshments throughout the day are included in the price. After lunch we have the option of exploring the bikes off-road capabilities on some brilliant local green lanes or we can spend the time on the road where we can improve your sidecar road riding and get you used to life on three wheels.
We will return to the experience centre at some point between 15:00 and 16:00 and you will be amazed at how far you've come in just 6-7 hours of sidecar riding.
If you decide decide to stay on with us for a second day we can do all kinds of fun stuff! There will be no need for the training element in the morning so this leaves a full day for adventure. There will be options to ride forest tracks, muddy green lanes or simply beautiful roads as well as opportunity for sightseeing including visits to the Holy Island of Lindisfarne or Hadrian's Wall. It's also possible to add on extra days riding after the second day to take part in our completely unique dark sky experience or see more of Northumberland by day!
How to book?
If that sounds good to you then you can read more about our experiences and book yours here. All experiences are bookable online and rider experiences run every Tuesday/Wednesday and Saturday/Sunday throughout March - October.
A £100 per person deposit is taken when booking online and the remaining balance is due in advance or on the day. All deposits are non-refundable but they can be transferred to any other date up to 4 weeks before your experience.