I left Kissimmee at oh-dark-thirty, determined to get through Atlanta with that dad-blamed trailer during the after-lunch slack. The traffic’s still not light, but that’s about the best time of day of day for a fella pulling a 16 foot trailer with a motorcycle sitting right in the middle of it. (I should explain that I purely detest pulling a trailer of any kind and this was the biggest I had ever towed. The reason I detest it is that I’m no good at it.)
I did make it through Hotlanta in good shape and stopped at the very next rest stop for a break. Had a Coke, checked the tie-downs, and walked around for about ten minutes, then hit the road. My little Pontiac Vibe could have used a few more horsepower for that honkin’ trailer, but we did OK. I was able to maintain the speed limit except in the Tennessee and Kentucky mountains. There, I’d get down to 60mph or so on the steep grades. Spent the night in Monteagle, Tennessee, north of Chattanooga, in the Smokehouse Lodge. There was a restaurant attached to the motel that had great barbecue and the best bacon I ever ate.
I got to Murray, Kentucky about noon on Monday and couldn’t find Hannigan’s to save my life. Turns out the GPS coordinates are wrong and they bring you in north of town. I called Hannigan’s and, after a couple of tries, found’em on the south side of Murray. I pulled in and the guys were great. They unloaded the bike, backed the trailer up into a spot I could leave it, and unhooked it for me. Sidecar installations are scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday or Thursday and Friday, so I had to wait ‘til the next day for’em to get started, but at least I was rid of the trailer.
I was there bright and early on Tuesday morning and was greeted by Bruce Leavell, through whom I had ordered the sidecar. Bruce introduced me to Dave Keesee, the installer, and Jim Gooch who had helped me with the trailer on Monday’s arrival. Bruce and I took care of the paperwork while Jim helped Dave get the bike in the shop. The paperwork was mostly just my giving Bruce the check and him giving me the receipt.
I spent about an hour looking around the showroom at all the great rigs and trikes and trying not to drool. They have a nice waiting area in the showroom, too. I knew the rig was not going to get together any faster with me hanging around, so I went looking for what excitement there might be around Murray. Well, Thursday morning, as I left town, pulling that danged trailer again, I was still looking. I’m sure it’s a nice place to live, but there’s not too much for visitors to see or do.
Went back out Wednesday and spent most of the day at Hannigan’s, watching the rig come together and talking to the nice folks who work there. As Dave got into the latter stages of installing the car, Dave Hannigan came out and we sat down in the waiting area for my briefing. Dave talked for over an hour about riding sidecars. His talk was invaluable and I find myself remembering things he told me as I learn more and more about riding my rig. After that, it was time to mount up. I rode around in the Hannigan parking lot until I realized that I was wasting my time and Dave’s. I already had a feel for the rig, and I wasn’t going to be riding it until I got it home, so Dave and Jim helped me load it up and tie it down. I drove to the Holiday Inn and got a good night’s sleep for an early start.
The trip home was uneventful, thank goodness. The rig rode fine, the trailer wasn’t any more awful than on the trip up, so I got home Friday afternoon, unloaded the rig, took the trailer back, and breathed a sigh of relief.
The next two days, I rode around the neighborhood for a while, each day. I then took my first jaunt into traffic, ‘cause I needed gas in the tug. I’ve now had my wife in the car for a couple of longish rides of about 50 miles each and I’ve ridden around town, quite a bit. I’m pretty comfortable on the rig, but I know I’ve got a lot to learn and am looking for some instruction.
Happy hacking,
Hall
Hi Hall- Congrats on your new rig! Did you take any pictures of any part of the trip or the process of adding the sidecar? Would you be interested in developing a story for The Sidecarist? Email me at sidecarist@sidecar.com if you would. Thanks!
Which car did you get? Tug? Pics?
hall's install was during the not so warm time of the year. when it is warmer here most folks take the loaner bike and check out the great roads we have here ,it's a great place to ride.like he said,it's not the most exciting place otherwise,even the bosses son chose to live in Atlanta instead.
Well Dav ewhen you get around to comiong up to visit someday you will feel right at home here in greater downtown Penns Creek. If we ain't working on aisdecars or fishing we will b eon the porch seeing who can guess what time the dusk to dawn light will come on. Course last summer the sesor for it broke.,..sure was a boring summer.
Steve, I, like an idiot, forgot to even take my camera with me on the trip, so I don't have any pictures until I got back and I've posted some of those in an album.
How much would you need for a Sidecarist story? I think Richard may be thinking of publishing what I just posted in our Florida newsletter.
Hall
Greg, I just realized that I left that crucial information out of the story.
I have a Hannigan Classic car mounted on a BMW R1200 CLC. there are pistures in an album on this forum.
Hall
Ah, Dave, but the folks at Hannigan's make you feel so welcome that the lack of excitement is hardly noticed. Besides I was excited enough just looking forward to the rig's cvompletion.
Hall
Hall - You could add a little about maybe why you decided to go with a Hannigan - other things you considered and why they didn't make the final cut. You could also add your impressions after having it for a few weeks. Those would flesh out your process for those members who aren't on this forum.
Pictures - For print, I would need higher resolution than what you were likely able to post here. For example, the pictures you posted are at 180 ppi with a size of roughly 3.4 X 2.5 inches. If I push the resolution to 300 ppi (what looks best in print) the picture size shrinks to 2 X 1.5 inches. I'd be happy to work with you on this.
Thanks!
Hall,
I am going to run it here in Fla but Steve covers more ground. It is not every day you get a new rig so send the story to him too and it will help a lot more people.
Steve, I'll work on it and see what I can come up with. My wife's off to New Zealand, tomorrow, so I'll have plenty of time in the next week to try to flesh it out a bit. I had to downsize the pictures to post'em here, so I don't think that'll be a problem.
When do you need it?
Hall
Good stuff! Deadline for the May/June issue is April 1.
(Your wife should have a great time in NZ, why aren't you going?)
Money!
That's the long and the short of it, Steve. We're going to Australia in April, 2008, for a military reunion and couldn't afford both -- especially since, with my bad knee, I'll have to fly business class. Jackie did promise not to have a good time without me, though.
Yeah. Right!
Hall
