To sidecar aficionados (yes Mike Taylor and Larry Coleman – we’re looking at you!), the name Watsonian Squire needs little introduction.
The legendary British sidecar manufacturer did much in the 20th century to create and shape the sidecar market. The company was founded in 1912 as the Watsonian Folding Sidecar Company by Mr T.F. Watson of Birmingham, England. Watson was a builder by trade, and as an early adopter motorcycle enthusiast, he had designed a folding sidecar for his own personal use that could be wheeled through the narrow alleys between the terraced houses of Edwardian England.
His company flourished, building sidecar ambulances during WWI and models for leisure, sport and tradesmen when peace returned. After the Great Depression, Watsonian introduced luxury touring models and sports sidecars, with production reaching 200 units per week during the motorcycling boom of the 1950s – in its golden heyday Watsonian won four world sidecar championships with Eric Oliver.
As wages increased in the Sixties and small cars like the iconic Mini became affordable, sidecars fell out of fashion, and by 1965 they only accounted for 20% of Watsonian’s output. In 1973 Squire entered the market with a radical new sports sidecar. Designed for the latest generation of high performance Japanese superbikes, Squire appealed to a new customer base of leisure riders. Shortly after Watsonian’s 75th anniversary, the two companies merged to create Britain’s biggest and longest established sidecar manufacturer.
Fast forward to the 21st century, and the company is still making market leading sidecars in England, exporting them all around the world, and the latest news is that their range is now available to fit the current Indian Chief Vintage.
The company says “big capacity American V-twins are a well-established favorite for sidecar use thanks to their torquey motors, but until now the only fitting kits Watsonian has produced to attach its sidecars to American motorcycles are for Harley-Davidsons.
“Delivering an incredible 150 Nm of torque, the Indian Chief’s 1811cc Thunderstroke V-twin engine has plenty of power to propel the largest sidecar that Watsonian produces, the wide-bodied GP700, with its 46 mm telescopic forks and 300 mm floating discs (twin front, single rear) easily able to manage the extra demands put on suspension and stopping power.”
In order to ensure optimum load paths and triangulation for the sidecar, Watsonian designed a specially engineered tubular steel subframe which bolts beneath the engine casing, providing a secure mount for the four attachment arms.
www.watsonian-squire.com