My First Sidecar

Joined the Navy back in '62 and after boot camp in the Great Lakes was stationed at Cecil Field near Jacksonville, FL. My first motorcycle was a 1961 Ducati Diana Mk.3 250cc. A honey of a bike. Rode it all over Florida and sometimes up to SC to see a college girl I had met. Traded that in on a 1953 BSA 650 that I also liked. Discharged in 1965 and came home to MA with a 1961 Matchless G80CS 500cc single inside of a VW bug, left the passenger seat and rear seat in Florida. Got married in 1969 and sold my sweet 1966 Triumph 500cc and my 1968 Triumph Bonneville to buy a house for $16,000 which we still live in today. Took our honeymoon in the UK, Scotland and the Emerald Isle, bought a new TR6C Triumph while there and I still ride that bike today. My youngest daughter works for a Lawyer and he got me interested in BMW's. At 65 last summer, I rode to Johnson City for the national BMW rallye. I rode a 1981 BMW R100 and did the Blue Ridge Parkway. My neighbor at the rallye was Hans Wolfe, I think 76 years old and from Oregon, also with an older BMW but with a sidecar attached. My campsite was quite meager as you can only pack so much on a bike alone but Hans had a complete kitchen, table and chair and a large tent. I was impressed with his setup. After successfully riding the 900 mile to home in MA, I looked at sidecars and watched them on Ebay. In Oct. I won on Ebay a 1972 BMW R75/5 with a Velorex 700 sidecar located in Florida. The seller had described the bike as perfectly restored and needed nothing! I planned on flying down and riding the bike home but in a phone conversation with the seller he advised me against it as he said you ride 50 miles and your right arm feels like it wants to fall off. There was no mention of this in the glowing description of the bike when it was for sale on Ebay. So I hired Haulbikes to fetch it for me and a month later it arrived. I rode it around my yard but as winter was closing in I did not register it last year but will on April 1st. A good fellow and USCA member in the next town Dale Cochran, has offered to help me set the sidecar up correctly and for which I will be greatful. Really looking forward to spring.