Motorcycle Safety & Driveability: motorcycle and dog, motorcycle with sidecar, lab puppy

Question
Hi Pat - I'm thinking of buying a motorcycle with sidecar - such as a Ural (?) so I can take my dog out for rides.   What do you think?

Answer
I've heard great things about the Ural. At motorbyte.com in the MMM section, there's a recent article somewhere in which the editor expounds on how great it is and how he rode it all through the Minnesota winter last year.

I know personally of at least one person who takes her dog in a sidecar rig. I don't think she's had any problems.

I have another friend who has trained her dog to ride on her scooter with her. The dog, a smallish black lab puppy, sits on the floorboard with her tail hanging out. True, they pretty much only do that around the neighborhood or up at the race track (pit bike) but it works for them and most of all young Diesel gets to "go with."

Dogs have an amazing ability to behave when they're having the time of their life. If you've got a dog that has enough self control to do what they're told, I think it's a great way to take your best friend along. Consider some "doggles" from aerostich.com to protect your dog's eyes.

Pat