Meet Louie the Sidecar Dog
Louie the Dalmatian has become a social media sensation, with thousands of fans following his travels in a Watsonian sidecar. We caught up with his driver, Sean, to find out how this spotty dog came to love life on three wheels.
How long have you been riding motorcycles?
I’ve been riding since I was a teenager. I had my bike licence long before my car licence and have ridden all sorts over the years.
What was your first bike?
A Kawasaki AE50 in lime green. 50cc, gears and a clutch and 1980s off road styling. I loved it. It was brain meltingly slow. I still loved it.
Is this your first sidecar outfit?
Yup, It was all a bit of an accident really, I never even considered one until Louie came along.
Why did you decide to buy an outfit?
When we got Louie we thought we’d just kennel him if we needed to and continue riding bikes as we always had. The reality was that whilst we could kennel him, and we are lucky enough to have supportive friends and family who can look after him, we simply didn’t want to leave him behind. And the only way you can practically take a dog of his size on a bike is in a sidecar.
Where did you buy it?
We got very lucky. A US serviceman originally bought it direct from Watsonian as a complete outfit, but was called back to the USA at short notice. It was the week before Christmas and I guess there weren’t too many cash buyers for sidecars around so we got an absolute bargain.
The Prescott sidecar was originally on a Royal Enfield Classic 500. As we became more confident and started to think about longer trips and touring abroad, the lack of power of the 500 became a limitation. Then Louie’s Instagram account took off and through that we found some work for a film company who make adverts for pet products. We used the earnings to upgrade the bike to an Interceptor 65,0 which I fitted (with a lot of very helpful support from Watsonian).
Basically, Louie paid for his own bike!
How did you hear about Watsonian Sidecars?
I honestly don’t know. If you’re thinking of sidecars, who hasn’t heard of Watsonian?
Was your first experience of driving an outfit surprising?
Terrifying. It’s a completely different experience to riding a solo. None of your instincts do what you expect them to and the way you need to make constant steering corrections when you accelerate or brake can be very confusing to begin with. But if you persevere it all makes sense, I would encourage anyone to get a bit of training before jumping in and heading off on a long trip.
What’s the best thing about riding with your dog?
Louie’s body language when we reach for our bike gear. He knows the signs and gets dizzy with excitement before we’re even out the door. He absolutely loves it. And the reaction of strangers when they see him, he manages to put a smile on everyone’s face.
And the worst
Sometimes the attention can be quite a challenge. I remember being exhausted after a few days away and just wanting a quiet coffee at a service station and we found it impossible to get any peace. People were literally chasing us around the car park to take photos. But it’s always very good natured and part of the experience.
What advice would you give anyone thinking of buying an outfit?
Do it!
Follow Louie on social media;
- Facebook Louiethesidecardog
- Instagram louiethesidecardog
