Sidecar information finally!

I have been waiting for LTA’s reply on motorcycles and sidecars.

Finally, after 15 days, I receive not one, but two exactly-the-same e-mails from them on the 14th of June 2006.

If you’ve ever wondered about getting a sidecar with your motorcycle for use in Singapore, you’ll find this information most useful.

Our Ref: LTA/CSV/F20.032.00011824/1
Date : 13-JUN-2006
Tel : 1800-CALL LTA (1800-22255 582)
Fax : 6553 5329

Dear Ms Teo,

MOTORCYCLE WITH SIDECAR
FEEDBACK NUMBER: 366175

We refer to your enquiry of 31 May 06.

2 We would like to inform you that for a motorcycle sidecar intended for carrying passenger, we allow only one passenger in the sidecar and do not allow pillion passenger. The registration fee, road tax, Certificate of Entitlement (COE) and other registration requirements would be similar to those of a motorcycle.

3 If the sidecar is intended for the carriage of goods, the vehicle will have to be classified as a goods vehicle. In additon, the motorcycle to be fitted with the sidecar must not be currently registered for private use. The registration fee, road tax, COE and other registration requirements will be similar to those of a goods vehicle.

4 The sidecar must also meet the following technical requirements:

a) Every sidecar (constructed for the carriage of goods) shall be fitted with one or more lids;
b) The sidecar’s permissible payload shall be 70 kg;
c) Every sidecar fitted to a motorcycle shall be so attached that its wheel is not wholly outside perpendicular planes at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the motorcycle passing through the extreme projecting points in the front and in the rear of the motorcycle;
d) The overall length of the sidecar shall not exceed 1,400 millimetres;
e) The overall width of the sidecar measured between the point of its attachment to the motorcycle and the outer face of its tyre shall not exceed 1,020 millimetres; and
f) The overall height of the sidecar shall not exceed 800 millimetres.

5 If you intend to have a sidecar fitted to your motorcycle, we would appreciate it if you could first provide us with the following information for our evaluation:

a) The make and model of the motorcycle;
b) A sketch/drawing endorsed by a Professional Engineer (Mechanical) showing the installation details of the sidecar; and
c) Calculations endorsed by the Professional Engineer (Mechanical) showing the maximum speed of the motorcycle fitted with sidecar and the maximum allowable payload of the sidecar.

You can forward the information to the Vehicle Engineering Division of LTA
at 10 Sin Ming Road, Singapore 575701.

6 Please be advised that matters pertaining to the driving licence for motorcycle with sidecar come under the purview of the Traffic Police(TP), whilst those pertaining to vehicle parking come mainly under the purview of the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) or the Housing Development Board (HDB). You may contact TP, URA and HDB at:

Traffic Police Department
Email: spf_feedback_tp@spf.gov.sg

Urban Redevelopment Authority
Email: ura_email@ura.gov.sg

Housing and Development Board
Email: hdbcarparks@hdb.gov.sg.

7 We hope you find the above information useful. If you have further enquiries, please contact Mr Gunalan at tel: 6553 5117 on vehicles’ technical requirements, and Mr Roy Koh at tel: 6553 5491 on vehicle registration matters.

Yours sincerely,

(SIGNED IN LOTUS NOTES)
ANDY CHOO
for DEPUTY DIRECTOR
VEHICLE ENGINEERING
LAND TRANSPORT AUTHORITY

Yes, I did find the information helpful! Thank you Mr Andy Choo of LTA.

It’s a comprehensive reply, don’t you agree? No wonder it took over two weeks to craft.

Furthermore this precision with millimeter measurement is so especially detail oriented, I’m bowled-over impressed.

And note point 5. I’m wondering if this is by law that one is required to provide these drawings and information if it’s just because LTA likes to view these drawings.

My follow-up questions are:

• Would carrying a dog in the sidecar be considered “goods” or “passenger”?
• Would carrying personal groceries be considered “goods”?
• If I were to move to a new place and used my sidecar to move furniture, would it be considered “goods” and therefore must be registered under a company?
• If it were registered as a goods vehicle, would I be able to carry passengers at all in my sidecar?
• Are there any fees to be paid to get LTA to approve the plans?
• How would one go about finding a suitable engineer (mechanical) to do this sort of thing? Are there any questions I should ask the engineer (mechanical) to see if he’s up to the task?

I sent off the e-mail on 14th June. Now I await anxiously for the next two weeks for LTA’s reply.

Tick tock.