Hello, My Name is JD Whitaker and I live in Silicon Valley. My rig is a daily driver and has been on the road for over ten years. Over the last year, I made some more improvements and started entering it in local motorcycle and custom car shows. The flashiest update is a 75 pound Black Boxer as my eager passenger. I'm sure I get extra points for the dog, but we took Third place at the Vintage Motorcycle Show in Soquel, CA. See my album for pictures. Is anyone planning to attend the Griffith Park Rally?
Nice Ride!!! I can't wait till I can hit the road with mine:o)
Wes
Hi JD:
I hope you are planning to attend Griffith Park. Usually over 200 rigs attend.
Maybe we'll see ya there. 🙂
gail
Gail,Unfortunately, I won't be able to attend this year after all. I just found out I have to be in Detroit first thing Monday morning and have to fly out Sunday. I will be there next year for sure.-=JD=-
JD ~~ Next year for sure 😀
By the way, next year, the United Sidecar Association (USCA) will be holding their National Rally in Lake Tahoe. It will be in June 25 - 28th. ..
the Lake Berryessa picnic is in May, so maybe we'll see you at that one first!
Have a safe flight and good riding when you return.
Gail
Hi JD,
Good lookin' rig and certainly a good lookin' sidekick. My ridding buddy is also a Boxer. He's a great riding companion. Here in Washington, we're planning a rally in Chelan for May. Things are coming together very well and it will be a great rally. We were in the process of planning one in Leavenworth and it fell through due mostly to the high price of everything there. The Chelan community is welcoming us with open arms. So if you don't have any plans in particular for the week of May 14th, head north! More information later and we'll have a web site up soon. All this thanks to d'lynn there in Chelan.
Hey Tom:
Glad to hear that the Regional Rally is still in the works. I checked the website for Leavenworth, and it looked like a cute tourist town. It's been a long long time since I've been to Chelan. I think Chelan would be super! Looking forward to more info as soon as it is available. I believe Tom had a query on the WEST site re: the regional. If you get a chance to post to Tom or the Site, that would be great... Thanks in advance to you and d'lynn
Gail
Tom,I was just up at Lake Chelan a few weeks ago visiting an old friend. There are some awesome roads up there. I really enjoyed the drive from Cle Elum to Wenatchee. I'd like to be on your mail list for the Chelan Rally. I see your Boxer is wearing Doggles too. Hercules is my third sidecar dog and he's simply amazing. A few months ago, I accidently tossed him out on a tight U-Turn. Luckily, he didn't get hurt and jumped right back in. I've since rigged up a good restraint system that keeps him safely in the chair. My other two dogs always curled up in the floorboard while underway and didn't really need to be restrained. Hercules has to sit up and watch where we are going all the time. You can see the harness and rear restraint in my Avatar photo and there is a better view in my album. The harness came from dogtrainers.com and I rigged a heavy double elastic strap that attaches near the inside corner of the seat back. I have a second strap that comes up from the front left footwell area. The front strap is adjustable so I can force him to lay in the floorboard on long highway runs. Riding in the mountains, I connect them both and he sits sideways with his back to me. The latter is the most secure and I can ride as hard as I need or want to. Last weekend, we got overtaken by a half a pack of sport bikes just before the tight twisty section of Hwy 35 above LaHonda. I didn't want the other half of the pack trying to pass us in the turns and there was no place to pull over. I wicked it up and caught up to the front runners and Herc was cool as a cucumber as I drifted left and flew the chair on right handers. I'm too "experienced" to want to do that all day long, but it was still fun. The whole group of riders gathered around us for photos when we we stopped at Alice's on Skyline. I think I'll start a thread on riding with dogs. Are you planning to attend the National Rally? There are no dogs allowed in the main campground. If that only applies to overnight, meaning we could come and go for rally activities and sleep elsewhere, I want to find a dog-friendly campground nearby. It would be nice if all the dog people could camp together. It is hard for me to imagine sidecar camping without my pup along for the ride.
Hi Gail, I'll get over to the West site. Haven't been on any of the Yahoo groups sites a whole lot recently. Sorry. And I was holding off putting out the new information after the Leavenworth deal fell through until we had more ducks in a row. The way things are working out at Chelan, I'm glad we're going there instead of Leavenworth.
Hi again JD,
I'll send you a PM with more details on my good buddy.
Hi JD,
Sure is a pretty rig you got there. A good lookin' dog always improves the look of any rig.
I'm glad to see you learned a valuable lesson about harnessing your pup with no injuries. A harness and Doogles are absolutely critical for dogs riding on a bike or in a sidecar. They need their eyes protected as much as we humans do.
My dog started riding when he was two months old. For four years he rode in a modified Harley Tour Pak - http://www.pbase.com/tmuilenberg/image/72954134.
Early this year we decided he needed more room so two months ago we added a Harley TLE sidecar - http://www.pbase.com/tmuilenberg/image/102584954. Now he loves riding even more.
Like you said, It's hard to imagine going ANYWHERE without my little guy.
No problem, Tom
Just an occasional heads-up will help. I like to keep reminding the CA members of upcoming events, so if you jog my memory periodically, I can jog theirs. LOL...
I am looking forward to making a run to WA.
Gail
