I'm off to Hannigans the 17th to have a car installed on my '05 BMW K1200LT. This will be my first sidecar experience. After some tips from the staff there, and some parking lot drilling based on the yellow book, I'll drive it home. My wife is not sure if she is going with me or not. In terms of the driving/learning experience, am I better off with a passenger for this first ride or should I encourage here to stay home while I meander my 900 miles home?
Wayne Edkin
Blossvale, NY
I'd go solo till I was sure I knew how to handle the rig. My life is my own to risk but I don't feel right about doing risky things with others lives on the line - especially with loved ones.
I've heard horror stories about novice riders on hacks putting their rigs in the ditch and crossing into oncoming traffic because of making mistakes when they first get their rigs. I'd never be able to live with myself if I somehow lived through an accident I caused and my wife didn't.
The less experience, the more probability of driving errors. You most likely have muscle memory geared to many miles of solo bike operation which may come into play if something unexpected arrises.
The extra weight of a passenger does make for a more stable rig but ballast does the same job.
Let common sense prevail.
Lonnie
Northwest Sidecars
Solo with ballast without question. Your marriage will last longer.
Hi Wayne:
Go solo. 900 miles of meandering is great practice, and practice is the key. Scare yourself and not your passenger. Scaring yourself is part of the learning process, and you figure out what you did wrong, etc. and you proceed on from there. What your passenger may learn is to refuse to ever set foot in the rig again... You didn't indicate that you had taken a sidecar training class, so you will need to convert the book learning to seat time. I agree with the previous posts, become more proficient before carrying a passenger.. Remember also, passengers have good memories for mistakes. LOL
Say "HI" for me to those nice people at Hannigan. I have an Astro Sport.
Drive safe, take it slow, and have a great trip home.
Gail
Ditto to all of the above.
A couple of additional commnents concerning your sidecar choice. I have a Hannigan Astro on '96 Goldwing that I picked up used last year in Detroit. I flew into Detroit, picked up the rig and drove 500 miles to Philadelphia without a problem. The nice thing about the Hannigan is the car itself is 350 pounds so running with ballast when empty is not necessry. You really have to have to fly around a right hand curve to fly this car so the best advise I received prior to the trip was simply to watch the warning signs for curves and if it said 45, then do 45. You can actually do more in most cases without any problem but certainly until you get experience, no need to push it. I do agree with everyone else though that riding solo at first, especially over distance is the wiser choice. But I think you will find pretty quick that the Hannigan rig is an extremely stable one and that many of the issues over control and such that many cars are subject to simply don't apply to the Hannigan. Oh yeah, but one that does, and even more so than most, is the additional four feet of vehicle to your right. Something to be very mindful of in traffic and close maneuvering. Good luck and enjoy.
You will have a stable rig there which is good. You will also get dome really good pointers etc when at hannigan. Two things to remeber ...turn right to go right and left to go left (this ain't no motorcycle no mo) and try not to take out any mail boxes on your return trip home.. You'll do fine..If you come through central pa feel free to stop at the shop.
Sorry friends,
I can`t figure out why no one of you is strongly recommending a Sidecar Training to Wayne before he is picking up a new and heavy-weight rig over a distance of 900 miles without any sidecar experience. (I know very well what it means to drive a BMW K 1200 LT)
Such a trip can end up like a suicide mission. It doesn`t matter whether the rig is extremely or less stable. It is of particular importance that the sidecar driver can react the right way in case a driving failure occurs, even it is a simple one. But it is a fact that in most cases
also motor-cyclists with the experience of hundreds of thousands miles of solo motorcycle riding become panic and do react as a solo driver would do which will mostly end up in a disaster.
I started 2 years ago with sidecar riding by having an experience of more then 500.000 kilometers solo motorcycle riding, the last 100.000 with a Goldwing 1800. And I also picked up my new big and heavy -weight rig and drove 350 kilometers my way home without a problem and the passenger in the sidecar was my lovely wife. It was not necessary to encourage her to take a seat in the sidecar because I took a professional Sidecar Training standing over 2 full days prior to the pickup.
Meanwhile I drove nearly 50.000 kms with my rig without any kind of problems, but I am still learning and every further trip is new and individual challenge.
I hope Wayn`s guardian angle is all the time watching him.
Wayne - Good luck, ride safe and enjoy.
Sidecar training courses are few and far between.
Kinda leaves those of us with limited time and budgets for travel to self learn and study the yellow book as well as tips from others.
If one ever comes to michigan,Id be one of the first to sign up,but I looked before I completed my rig and found nothing withen any reasonable distance.
If there is a course wayne is able to take ahead of time,I would agree with you.
