So far great. It has been raining here for 2 days but I have done some short trips. It has a locking gas cap I don't like.
I went around the block after, finally, finishing it!!
Top heavy but very stable... Too much lean out (4 degrees)... Some more tweaking!!
Last week I lowered the sidecar and lengthened the top links to give me more room to adjust the lean of the bike for different loads and road crown. Saturday we rode with a group to Sioux Falls, SD to see the falls. I'd never been there before. Put about 340-350 miles on the rig. Lean out appears to be about right. Yesterday (Sunday) we rode to Fort Dodge, IA to see our eldest daughter and husband. They got a 'new" 2008 Kawasaki 900 Vulcan(?)with fewer than 12,000 miles on it. I finally got the electric connections to both halogen running lights to stay tight. Still have to get electric transfer pump working or replaced so I can use the sidecar tank.
Just got back from a six day trip up the North East Coast of Britain, Cleethorpes to Inverness in Scotland, with three friends riding my 1930 BSA Sloper outfit. Including getting lost and retracing our steps a couple of times to find accommodation I covered 858 mls. The other machines in the group were a 1918 ex WW1 belt drive Triumph, a 1930 Radco and a1954 Velocette. The pictures show us crossing the border into Scotland and my bike in the village of Pennan where the film "Local Hero" was shot. It starred Burt Lancaster if you go that far back.
No problems with the old Sloper apart from a blown headlamp bulb but the Radco had the magneto bearings all but collapse and needed a fair bit of TLC and coaxing to go the last forty miles.
Just got back from a six day trip up the North East Coast of Britain, Cleethorpes to Inverness in Scotland, with three friends riding my 1930 BSA Sloper outfit. Including getting lost and retracing our steps a couple of times to find accommodation I covered 858 mls. The other machines in the group were a 1918 ex WW1 belt drive Triumph, a 1930 Radco and a1954 Velocette. The pictures show us crossing the border into Scotland and my bike in the village of Pennan where the film "Local Hero" was shot. It starred Burt Lancaster if you go that far back.
No problems with the old Sloper apart from a blown headlamp bulb but the Radco had the magneto bearings all but collapse and needed a fair bit of TLC and coaxing to go the last forty miles.
What a fantastic trip you must have had.
NEW SHOES!
After trying out a pair of General Altimax HP tires (UTQG 440 A A) on my GS rig on some challenging rocky fire roads, I discovered that they are not really tough enough for my usage. The Altimax was great on pavement, however it was also not too good at stone ejection, which can be annoying, and totally wrecks the looks of their sexy treadblock pattern. So yesterday I swapped them out for a relatively obscure tire (from an internet search perspective). I mounted up two Toyo Ultra Z900 tires (UTQG 800 A A -- size 175/65-15) and gonna see how they stand up to abuse. They have a definitely un-sexy tread block pattern, but with that unheard of 800 treadwear rating despite a pretty much standard 11/32nd's tread depth, I'm really curious to see how they do. Of course, I'll also want them to give me decent wet and dry pavement performance. Spendy. $320 mounted for the pair.
On the same ride, I managed to slice up my front tire pretty good too, a Bridgestone BT45, so I swapped it out for one of those new TKC70's. I use a 130/80-17 Rear. The BT45 was great on wet and dry pavement, but did not have much grab on gravel -- not surprising with such a street-oriented tread. The Conti's have a 13/32nd's tread depth and are touted to be a 60/40 tire. We'll see. One interesting thing about the TKC70 Rear treadblock pattern is that the mfg's recommended direction of rotation is opposite to the conventional way. I actually checked with the Conti sales rep to make sure that I had not gotten a tire with the rotational arrow stamped backwards on the sidewall by some drunk guy at the factory! I went ahead and reverse-mounted it up front as usual, but it just seems weird.
General Altimax HP
Toyo Ultra Z900
Bridgestone BT45
Continental TKC70
(This pic here shows a Rear tire from the rear mounted correctly.)
We rode to Kansas City, MO today to attend the NTCA Regional Conference which begins tomorrow afternoon with pre-conference training sessions for directors and ends Wednesday about 11 am. Rain was in the forecast and we found some north of US 30. I put on my rainsuit and stayed dry, though it didn't rain very hard. The water on the road was the most annoying part. By noon it was beginning to clear in southern Iowa and get warm.
I don't like riding on Interstate Highways and that dislike was reinforced by the traffic jam on I-29 from mile marker 24 to 20 north of K.C. A bridge is being repaired near the southern end of that stretch. Two lanes were reduced to one and you wouldn't think the traffic would slow to walking speed or less for most of the four miles, but it did. We made it to our hotel without mishap, though not without some confusion. My navigator has trouble sticking with one set of directions. She'll look at the MaqQuest route and instruct me to get into he left lane, and then look at the GPS and tell me to get into the right lane.
I should be getting used to it by now. In 20 days we will have been married 50 years. I just hope we both have a few more good riding years left in us. Thursday night I was reminded how tenuous life can be. I was on call with the ambulance and the pager went off at 2 am Friday informing us there was a patient having seijures. We packaged him and headed for the hospital 23 miles away, he was unresponsive except to painful stimulus. We delivered him to the ER, did our paperwork, and headed back to home base. On the wqy back one of the crew said we'd left our bag at the patient's house. When we arrived back in town and approached the house there were many lights on in the house though it was 4am. We stopped and the other EMT and I went in and found the patient's wife on the floor unresponsive. Back to the hospital we went. After tests it was determined the wife had had a severe brain bleed and will not likely survive. Her husband has been a "frequent flyer" and would have been dead years ago if not for his wife. I have to be thankful for being able to do the things I love to do.
I finally replaced my alternator that went out on me during the Monumental Rally. while I was at it I installed the steering damper that I got when I bought the sidecar. I tried tightening the steering head nut to get rid of the head shake, it helped but didn't get rid of it all. I rode it today for the first time since the rally and I have to say, I don't know why people say the damper makes turning harder. maybe it does on some bikes but the only thing I noticed was the head shake was gone and it steered smoother not stiffer or harder.
I may find after putting more miles on it I feel different but for now I'm glad I put it on
Harder at slow speeds, hardly noticeable at highway speeds.
Lonnie
Edited:
"Sidcar,
I would love to see your photos from Scotland. Might you repair your post?
Just to remember long time ago turns around Loch Ness. Last time I was there in 1985 I met a Gentleman who had a marvelous collection in his Grandfather's machine shop...28 bikes from 1903 on plus a Jaguar E #17...
Thanks mate.
Cheers
Sven"
Yuppie, thank you for the photos.
That is worth a pint to watch those hills, nailing sewing machines, the "Boat"....and blue skies up there in the north...
My finger cannot stay still watching it.
Sven
My poor rig has been in a shop for one week so far. On 8/4 I had the unfortunate occasion of driving down a two lane road close to my home when a van pulled into my path making a collision unavoidable. I consider myself very lucky to escape unhurt. If not for the sidecar balancing the rig I'm sure that I would have slammed into the side of the van causing untold injuries. What I have ascertained is the forks and handlebar are out of line as the worst of the damage. I don't know if the forks are damaged until the shop completes an assessment. Other damage included a destroyed steering damper and the fairing seems to be off center by a bit. Oh, the driver was ticketed for failure to yield right of way. she made sure to state that she was not talking on her cellphone. Suspicious?
Earlier, in July, while riding to the USCA rally my Valkyrie engine failed completely while camping outside of Idaho Springs, CO. So , I am down to my last motorcycle (VTX 1800R) while awaiting word about the condition of the '82 Wing, as I'm anxious to resume three wheeling. This collision is the first ever for me in over 50 years of riding. You never know when.
I've had some close calls when people pulled out in front of me, but have so far succeeded avoiding a collision with a 4-wheeler. I did tangle with another sidecar rig in WY this June and was nearly thrown off the bike when the other sidecar struck my front wheel. I wouldn't have guessed a relatively low speed crash could unseat me that way.
Yesterday we left Kansas City and returned home. We took the superslab from K.C. to Des Moines to make time, and then enjoyed a more leisurely ride on 2 lane roads the rest of the way. It was a beautiful day for riding, with little wind. In fact, we noticed many wind turbines were becalmed.
Today I changed these POSs (keep on snaping open at every bump!):
For these ones:
Don't think the Friendship 2 is too water proof anyhow with either one!!
Returned home from a four day 1700 mile round trip ride to eastern Pennsylvania where my brother picked up his new Mini Mate camper. I had forgotten what a beautiful state Pennsylvania is.
