As for me I'll allways wear at least my levis and boots with a good leather jacket. I wear Chaps and leather gloves too. After experencing road rash a few times I would rather be a little hot than all skinned up, besides after you get going the wind will cool you off.
Armored mesh jackets are out there that will keep you cool and will protect you have an accident.
There are two types of riders, those that have gone down and those that will.
Ride safe!
Hi Pegleg,
Does that name have any true significance?
I'm one of those riders that has been down, but not with my sidecar! Do you know of anyone who has gone down with one? I'd like to know something about the kinds of crashes and injuries that resulted, if you do!
I have a Tulsa windshield and a large fairing, so I'm pretty well protected from the front as far as stuff flying at me. Well, as long as it's not coming with enough force to break my windshield.
The one time that I truly thought that I was going down with the sidecar, I wasn't worried about road rash, just complete annihilation! On I-64, just west of Charleston, WV., a guy, that I had moved to the left lane to allow an easy entrance from an on ramp, came into my lane, got against my sidecar tire and almost pushed me into the steeply sloping, grassy median. There was no noise and I had no clue what was happening, except, that I was rapidly heading out of the road. I knew that at 75 mph, and that steep a slope, the sidecar would definitely take me down. A split second before I was toast, he backed off. Only then did I have time to figure out what had happened. To add insult to injury, the fool rode along side of me screaming at me that he was going to kill me, as if, he hadn't just done almost exactly that! Well, at least, he didn't damage my sidecar or me! Just took 10 years off of my life! - - I did have the pleasure of knowing that he damaged his custom blue, pick-up. There was blue paint on the rim of the sidecar tire!!
Take care, but have fun!!
Connie
Hey Connie,
I lost my left leg when a guy driving in my direction in a truck made a turn into my lane. He almost took the left leg on impact, the doctors could't do any thing to save it so it had to go. Have a new leg and things are going good. The wife was on the back of my bike, had a Roadstar at that time (just two wheels), and she still has a rod in her leg. I haven't had any misshaps with my sidecar but I have only been riding with a hack for a few months now. If I had known how much fun a hack is I would have installed one years ago. You have to look out for some people in cars because they either don't care or are not looking out for anything bigger than a house on the road, the guy that hit me (in broad daylight, on a straight road) told the officer at the crash site "I did'nt see the motorcycle". I'm just glad it was'nt a kid on a bicycle or something. Of course if it had been a kid on a bike he would have gotten something more than a ticket for a minor traffic vialation!
I guess what I am trying to say is have a good time out there, most people do look out for us, but be safe and aware of traffic.
Happy trails,
peglegstrick
Hi Pegleg,
I'm so sorry to hear about your leg, I was truly hoping that Pegleg was just a nickname. My husband almost lost his right leg in a very similar accident (if you can call those things accidents). Although, his leg was barely still connected, they did save it. But, it gives him lots of pain and problems. He has very little knee movement and his ankle, which was crushed, has no flexibility. He was very young, only about 21 yrs old when it happened and was very angry and bitter about it for years. Of course, the guy who hit him had no money and very little insurance. And of course, he just didn't see my husband, either! I think some people are just like cattle, they just go without thought! Well, of course, my husband had another motorcycle before he was out of his cast and usually logs 25,000 miles or better a year since he switched from Harleys to Goldwings.
I guess it's off to Americade early tomorrow morning, probably in the rain is what it looks like. Oh, well, I've been wet before!
Ride safe and I'll talk to ya later!
Connie
Have fun!
Connie,
We're coming up on Wed to Americade. Maybe we could meet someplace. It would be cool to ride with another rig. We have no particular plans for the stay other than the gathering on Friday.
Scott & Tamah
Scottas,
I'm sorry, but somehow I missed your post. We were only in Lake George Sunday, Monday and part of Tuesday. We would have left first thing Tues. morning if the vendors had been open Monday. That missed up all of our plans because some of the gang really wanted to go there, so we hung around until the afternoon for that. But, anyway it's Wednesday night and I'm back home after a very hot day of traveling on I-81. I hate interstates, but what can ya do? I did get to meet Bruce and Louise for lunch Monday (that was nice - I probably talked way too much, but we had such a short time). I didn't take my sidecar, I rode my Voyager conversion. Anyway, I'm sorry that I missed you this time, maybe, we can get together another time! (I'm really tired, so I'm probably not making a whole lot of sense!!!).
Connie
So Connie,
Tell me about your Voyager kit. I had one customer who had one on for only one day and wanted to trade it in on a sidecar. How is your experience coming along?
Lonnie
Hi Lonnie,
Well, I'm not exactly sure how to answer that question, but I'll try. I guess with the trip to Americade, I've driven it close to 2,000 miles. My first trip down the driveway was the worst part so far. We have a very steep, gravel driveway that also had quite a few ruts from washing during recent thunderstorms. Actually, I didn't make it but about half way down the first time, my husband had to take it the second half. After the first 25 miles or so, I sort of got the feel of it and it wasn't so bad. The man who owned it originally, had it adjusted to lean left, which was part of my problem getting it down the driveway. My husband corrected that the next day. While we were in Lake George, we had the Voyager representative take a look at it and take it for a drive to see if he saw any problems with it. He didn't, but suggested that we might let out about 5lbs. of air from the tires to help reduce the bouncing (it bounces a lot). That's my only real gripe with it. If the pavement is good, it's great. But if the pavement is bad, it can be a bit difficult to handle. It actually has many of the behaviors associated with a sidecar, except that it isn't as greatly affected by the wind. Nobody that I ever let drive my sidecar rig ever liked it and I'm sure that most people would feel the same about the Voyager. I guess, the really nice thing is that I can have either one because we didn't have to remove any of the sidecar mounts to install the Voyager. However, my husband says that riding the bike without removing the Voyager mounts wouldn't be a good idea because there isn't enough ground clearance. So, if you wanted to ride without the Voyager, it wouldn't be a simple 5 minute job like the advertising suggests. Anyway, I'm not ready to give up on the Voyager or my sidecar (I like options!!).
Connie
