'I take my 9st Rottweiler for rides in my sidecar - he loves it'

It sounds like something out of Wallace & Gromit or Last of the Summer Wine.

Keen dog enthusiast and motorcyclist Graham Eastwood has joined his two past-times together and takes his pet rottweiler for trips in his motorcycle and sidecar.

Such contraptions might be reminiscent of Wally Batty and his wife Nora trundling around Holmfirth in Last of the Summer Wine.

But Mr Eastwood and his dog Balti, a nine stone rottweiler, loves nothing more than riding out together.

“It all started by chance,” said Mr Eastwood. “I put the dog in the sidecar and he seemed to take to it straight away.

"I gave him some treats and trundled the sidecar round without the engine on and he loved it.”

Mr Eastwood added: “When we first got him, we put him in the seat to see how he would take to it. We were amazed by his reaction.

"He wags his tail as we approach the motorbike and sidecar and if we walk past and to one of my other machines you can sense his disappointment.”

He has won a new army of fans on social media following a visit to the Isle of Man whe people asked Mr Eastwood for the dog’s TikTok, Instagram or X handles.

During Holmfirth Pride recently, Balti won a new army of fans.

“We didn’t have social media for him but we do now and every day there are hundreds more people following him,” said Mr Eastwood. “It’s amazing."

Mr Eastwood, of Holmfirth, is retired but spends his time motorcycle racing with 125cc machines and Balti loves to go along for the ride too.

Wife Susan is also a motorcyclist and she has to ride ahead to avoid Balti turning around to look at her.

He used to ride a motorcycle to events while Susan took Balti in a car.

"We go all over the place and I must have covered 3,000 miles with the dog now,” said Mr Eastwood who has a Yamaha Virago with a sidecar.

Balti is 13 months old and tops the scale at 9st now. Where ever we go Balti gets all the attention, whether it’s on the Isle of Man or simply riding through Holmfirth.

People love to see him and he laps up all the attention.”

He had a previous rottweiler – also with a curry-based name, Tikka – but he did not share the same love of motorcycling.

"Balti was just short of four months when we put him in the sidecar and he loved it straight away and he has a pretty good following on social media – he has thousands of followers already and the numbers are rising all the time.

"The first time he got in the side we just rolled the bike downhill a little without the engine on, so as not to scare him. But we need not have worried. He’s very much at home in the sidecar.”

Balti is on Instagram at Balti_sidecar_rottweiler and on Facebook at baltisidecarrottweiler.