Hi Group,
On the 11th, I leave for Montana, there to visit my father and sister, and to meet up with Floyd ("Sonny & Chair") who is coming out from Tennessee! After a visit with my family, the two of us will head our rigs west and head for my place in Skagit County, Washington. From here we will join Canadians, Oregonians and some other Washingtonians and ride around Mt. St. Helens on the 2nd Annual NxNW ride. After that we will come back here, then head south again. Floyd will continue to California, Nevada and points east until he ends up in Tennessee again, all on his 650 Beemer and sidecar. I will visit my friend who lives back in the woods of Oregon, name of Lazy Looie, and then my faithful XS650 (vintage 1977) with chair will carry me safely home, there to get ready for the onset of winter.
So it is going to be a great bike month, and lots of fun, after which I will get serious about getting ready for winter....
Getting ready for winter means mounting the (vintage 1978) fairing, some leg-shields and the Hippo Paws, changing the oil and getting some new tires.
Life is good, and I just wanted to share!
Hi, Barb
If you come through Libby on Hwy. 2 give me a call and we'll have a cup at Henry's restaurant. I'll probably be working during the week but weekends should be ok.
Ralf
Wow! That sounds like some great riding.
Have a safe trip. You should write an article for The Sidecarist newsletter.
Right now, it is hard to be thinking of winterizing. Temps in So Cal will be 100 this week.
We do have hippo hand weather, but not for a while yet.
Please keep us posted.
Thanks for sharing,
gp
Hi Barb,
Once again, if you get close to Reardan on US2 going either direction, give a shout. We'll meet up. 509 796 4850. Have a great trip and a great NW ride. I won't make it over to your side for that one. Maybe next year. I'm thinking this will be the last year I'll drive bus here... maybe.
Hi Guys,
Well, I'm leaving it up to Floyd, but if he wants to come over here via Hwy 2, we will definitely stop and call! And as for writing an article, it would be almost as much fun as the riding, and I may take a shot at it. I've been published in a small way, but nothing having bike/sidecar content. It might be very enjoyable! Either way, it's gonna be a great month, and I'm *SO* ready for it!
Thanks for the good wishes, Guys!
Looking forward to reading your article.
Be sure to let us know that you had a fun and safe trip
Good riding to ya'
GP
Keep the tank topped off,those fuel stops in Montana can be pretty far between. been more than once i was saved by a farmers fuel tank when i lived there,headwinds can do a number on your expected fuel range!
Heehee--funny you should mention that--I built a platform for a mount for a one-gallon gas can on the off-side of the chair. I carried the gas inside the sidecar on my last trip over there, and had to use it once---and once is enough! This way I can get to it easily and don't have to worry about it accidentally spilling on anything inside.
I just have to be sure not to hit anything or I'd be a really big Molotov cocktail.....
I love having all the room that having the sidecar gives me. I can carry my clothes and still have room for tools, a flashlight, spare chain and links, my little meter, just in case....and still have room left! Good old three-wheels!
One time a lot of years ago I was trying to get to the in-laws farm east of Conrad, Montana and it got later than I realized and the stations in all the little towns had closed up for the night and a policeman told me the closest gas was 60 miles to the south in Great Falls. I decided to try and make the 9 miles to the farm. Got about half way and she konked out. I commenced to pushing (no sidecar on that one) and after about 2 miles found a hay baler with gas in the tank. I found an old Prestone can and pulled the gas line off, drained about a quart out and was able to restart it and get the rest of the way. I now have an auxiliary tank on my hack.
Ralph
Ralph,
I tried the same trick with a farmers tractor in 1949 in southern Washington.
It was diesel powered. I put some in my tank without checking and I was on footback till the next day.
Smell first, then pour! lol
Lonnie
Barb,
"I love having all the room that having the sidecar gives me. I can carry my clothes and still have room for tools, a flashlight, spare chain and links, my little meter, just in case....and still have room left!"
Me too, Kinda like a giant saddle bag.
Mark--it really is like a giant saddlebag", isn't it? Only a saddlebag that really holds a lot, stabilizes you in a cross-wind, gets people to grin when they see it, and causes car drivers to give you the "thumbs up" when you go past, and in a pinch you can hop in and take a cat-nap!
I've gotten to where I feel kinda funny on just two wheels....I'm tempted to ask other riders if they worry about falling over...(OK, perhaps I exaggerate a bit for effect...)
Less than 48 hours until lift-off...but who's counting?
Have a great trip! We just returned to California after dropping the daughter off at the university in Colorado. We came back through Wyoming, Montana and Washington/Oregon. Nice little trip, but too short.
We did the trip in the car.
Would have been more fun on a motor.
Next time maybe...hard to haul a wife, a daughter and all their associated junk on bike...even a hack!! The car was FULL!!!
Bob
