Matt Bishop and Reece Gilkes – better known as the Sidecar Guys – have set a new Guinness World Record…for reversing a sidecar outfit. They rode a Ural outfit 107 miles (backwards), without stopping, at Tranwell Airfield, near Morpeth in Northumberland. One of them was in control of the bike while the other sat backwards in the sidecar to direct operations. It took them 13 hours and 54 minutes, and an average of less than 10mph.

“It was great fun,” Matt Bishop told the BMF. “We refuelled as we went along and made a bacon roll on the sidecar, but we didn’t stop, even for toilet breaks. We’re putting a film together which will be out soon.”

The Sidecar Guys are no strangers to sidecar world records, having made their name by riding a Honda scooter + sidecar around the world in 2017. Their reversing record trounced the previous one set by Vladimir Glukhikh of Irbit, Russia, who reversed just over 171km in 1992.

Jim Freeman chair of the BMF said: “Mad Fules! I’m afraid that the ‘no pitstops, even for toilet breaks’ irresistibly reminded me of the old nickname for those outfits, ‘Urinals’ , but that probably says more about my sense of humour than anything else. Best of luck to Matt and Reece for their next endeavour! ”

Written by Peter Henshaw

Top image courtesy of Sidecar Guys