I told you guys before I was going to wait until next year to venture out with my 22 month old son (Alex). Well we were getting confident on our short trips around town and the forecast was for a perfect 70° day. We decided to stop by a customer appreciation day at a local bike shop and then head over to Lake Michigan.
I must say we had a blast. If you don’t like attention, don’t drive a sidecar rig. My rig was surrounded by people the entire time we were at the dealership and all eyes were on us as we left. We stopped at a playground near the lake and Alex had a blast. The other kids kept pointing at the sidecar and looking at their parents, but they were shaking their heads no. We stopped for ice cream and watched the boats coming in the channel for a while. People kept telling us they were impressed that we would involve our son.
Then we headed home and I traveled roads I was unfamiliar with. We were having such a good time we barely noticed the “road ends ahead” sign as we passed it. I turned around in a parking lot only to see a GL1800 with a Motorvation coming over the hill. I waited for him to pass, but he pulled in next to me and we had a great conversation for about half an hour. He has owned his rig for 9 years and acquired 65000 miles. Alex was getting fussy because it was time to eat so we exchanged phone numbers and headed home.
At the end of the day we added 94 miles to the bike and look forward to the next time we can get out. Alex won’t keep his sunglasses on and he doesn’t like the sun in his eyes. My wife and I talked about getting window tinting film and putting it on the inside of the sidecar windshield to block the sun.
Sounds like a great day.
Very cool. Children definitely made the rides much more enjoyable.
My advice DONT tint the window. Aiden has a 3/4 helmet with a tinted visor , he puts it down when the sun bothers him....On cool days the sun will help keep the kid warmer than you and on warm days keep sunscreen on the kid the top off the sidecar and let the wind blow thru.
