Bruce,
It's just two easy days of riding [about 13 hours total] from Independence to Hotchkiss. There will be lots of both good an bad rigs there AND I'd buy you a cold soda pop. So many old and new friends to see and talk with. I'm looking forward to spending some time with Robert "Snowbum" Fleischer. He's one of the best tech sources in the BMW moto sphere and he knows sidecars. In particular, I'm going to hit him for some help recalibrating my speedo. He'll probably refer me to his tech pages but I'll ask anyway.
And, you can drive my freshly finished BMW K1100LT/EML GT2. It's a full on EML conversion done over the winter with a new kit from EML. It may be the best rig I've had yet. It looks like Hotchkiss is going to be one heck of a rally!
I had to miss the AVA rally last week due to medical restrictions for now. Otherwise, you might have me hooked! Next year I plan to do every rally I can schedule. Now, if there was one in the KC area, I'm there! My doc says I can go anywhere withing 20 minutes of the VA center he works at. Hey, maybe I could drag him along as my monkey! Besides, my leading-leg adapters aren't finished yet.
It's not 20 minutes away but later this year there's a nice local sidecar rally in Council Grove, KS. I'm going to try to make it but it's a little way off and we have time to plan.
Thanks for asking the questions Iamdan. I too am looking at getting my first sidecar. Thanks to all the posters advice. I'm reading all I can and learning as much as possible before I do something stupid. Hopefully getting a sidecar doesn't make the top 100 of stupid things I've done. But it's a long list so I should be safe here.
IamDan - 6/25/2016 7:01 AM
What are the things you guys had wished you knew before getting your first sidecar rig?
1. How absolutely I would fall in love with Sidecars. I have 4 bikes from standards to long distance tourers. One of the four, a 2014 Ural Patrol, is my hands down favorite. I sold my first Ural in 2011 and couldn't wait to get another.
2. How indifferent my SO is to Sidecars. Kids love them, coworkers love them, but both of my SOs (one at a time thank you) really could care less. Thus the reason for the big touring bike which sits largely ignored unless SWMBO is riding with me. If you want to own a sidecar, make sure it is because it is something you want. It bothered me with my first Ural that the sidecar was empty most of the time. Now the sidecar is still empty most of the time but i no longer care.
On the other hand, my wife absolutely LOVES our sidecar! With a replacement knee, and backproblems, she could nolonger climb onto the back of a bike, and she was deathly afraid of tipping the bike over if she could get on - getting a sidecar meant that she could still enjoy riding with our friends, and she's in complete comfort!
Some great advice here. Wish I had read all this before getting my first rig. Basically put my first two together myself. The Royal Enfield with Kozi Rocket was not too difficult. The car was designed for the bike I believe. The big problem was getting it balanced. The second was and still is a headache. Yamaha V-Star 950 with Velorex 562 (heavily modified). She runs like the wind but after almost 7,000 miles I'm still having issues. The latest I got a couple of weeks ago. Already set up. An older Honda VT 1100 T with Dauntless car. Heavy duty, solid and done right. Found it on cycletrader.com at a fair price. Had a friend broker the deal for me long distance. When my girl got out of school we rode the bus north and rode the rig home. That was 1,072 miles and no problems. Have had the rig in my possession for about three weeks and have put over 2,500 miles on it.
Guess the point is: getting a used rig already set up for your first one is a good idea, I believe. If you look around, you can find some really nice setups and very fair prices. Seems some people get them and realize it is not what they expected. My Honda is a 1999 and had 7,400 miles on it. Sat in the man's garage for two plus years before he sold it. If I had started with something like this I would have saved a lot of money and time and headaches. You could then sell it and move up. My problem is I don't want to let go of either of the other two. They are all fun in their own way. Jump in and enjoy.
Mike in MS
Keep an eye on the Hacks forum over on ADVRider as there are a lot of rigs listed in the FS, Fleabay, & Craigslist thread.
There is a nice 78 Honda Automatic rig for $4,000.00 https://binghamton.craigslist.org/mcy/5635685880.html
An 85 V65 Sabre rig for $2,500 http://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/mcy/5649754786.html
I really like the looks of that V65 rig. What car is that? Is there anyone on the forum close that might be able to put eyes on it for me?
Looks like CSC Friendship I to me. Can't help with a look see but if it were closer I would be real tempted, that Sabre would be a wicked tug.
I would really like to see what is under the rest of those covers.
I spoke with the owner of the Sabre. The bike does not run and has an electrical problem. I assume it's the rectifier as that's a common problem on those bikes I believe. The rig has been parked for a few months. He did confirm it's a CSC friendship car.
Thanks for the update, still a good deal for the right person.
I think I might be that right person. Take the train from Fl. to NYC with a pocket of tools and a test light sounds about like an adventure. What could go wrong?
Well Dan! You asked a question and sought advice. You now have a second page of responses to look at. You are getting a good idea of what this club is all about. (Does this sound like a commercial?) Oh yes - I too am curious about what is under those other covers.
playinatwork - 6/29/2016 9:48 AM
I think I might be that right person. Take the train from Fl. to NYC with a pocket of tools and a test light sounds about like an adventure. What could go wrong?
You could always throw it on the Amtrak Auto-Train from Reston, VA to Sanford, FL for part of the trip home. I threw my GS rig on it on my way to the National in Arkansas a few years back and it is a fun trip.
