Well I don't have a right boot so I am going with it is a bath. he he.
Rode over to Vintage Harvest on the FXWG with Les in the sidecar. Great day at the event but Les doesn't really care for the sidecar ride. OK. We'll turn it back over to Petey now...
Today I started with the 27.500km inspection of my Sophie Travelair (2013 Ural Patrol). The first occasion I took off the sidecar after taking the most important measurements...Obviously had to forget others to take....Such is life.
I started with constructing a break pad enlargement. Naturally the last tap broke in the last needed thread.
Made a test ride without sidecar and decided to return home from the machine shop... It works. A bit tipsy due to the feathered not round back tire but it is a reasonably good riding. You need to loosen and pry open the steering damper and hold the damper screw with a rubber band for to get a decent ride. Still a bit sturdy.
All sidecar joints were dry and with some wiggle. Part of all the work to do will be to take care of that and put some decent grease fittings.
Tomorrow will be a new day in paradise and for sure Murfey will be watching.
Sven 😉
Murphy is always watching Peter Pan!!
Members of our GWRRA chapter (including my wife and me) left IA for the Black Hills on Fri. Stayed Fri night at Wall, SD and continued on to Rapid City Sat morning in very strong wind. Trikes (4 of them) had trouble with control even at 35-40 mph. Rode southern part of Hills in afternoon. Met with USCA President Will and his brother, Harold, and spouses for dinner (supper to us country boys), then to Harold & Doris's new digs in RC. Sunday rode Nemo Road from RC, then to Sturgis, Deadwood, Spearfish, up Spearfish Canyon to Lead, down US 385 to Hill City, then back to RC. Mon I stayed near RC with another couple, went to Bear Country USA, but couldn't ride through the park. Something about liability and Meals on Wheels. We used the park van to go through park. Rode back to RC to meet Pres Will at Banks to get him and Dana Williams (2016 rally) on necessary accounts. Then rode to Wall to let spouses do some shopping before supper where rest of group joined us after their ride to Devil's Tower, Keystone, and Wall. Today rode to Murdo with 2 other couples to go to museum. Finished there at 2pm. Other 2 couples headed toward home, while Jane and I went south and east to Kearney, NE. Tomorrow will continue to Minden to see Pioneer Village. Will be in Council Grove, KS on Thu for Sidecars in the Flint Hills rally.
Didn't do anything with the sidecar rig, but we did travel down to Crockett, Texas to celebrate Avanell's birthday - along with several other sidecar enthusiasts.
Lee
MB5+TW200+CRF250L+GTV300+INT650
XL883R w/Texas Ranger Sidecar
Zuma 50F + Burgman w/Texas Sidecar<Mrs. SwampFox
Now it is a REAL Florida sidecar rig. Gators and Grandkids.
Yesterday Petey and I rode with our new friends Rick and Buddy to the Dog Gone Dog Run at Stateline Idaho. It was a benefit for local shelters. Very strong wind in the forecast and we debated canceling but in the end went for it. Holy Cow!! The forecast was correct!! We rode in the strongest winds this area had seen for a very long time. After the wind hit and the vendors chased their wares for a frantic few minutes, all moved inside Cruisers. That's the biker bar the event was held at. Rick and I and our pups hung out there for a time then headed back to Spokane. Lunch at Cheap Shots then up to Vintage V-Twin for a while. Then home in the still howling wind. A little rain but mostly wind. Not good for the forest fires burning throughout eastern WA. Fortunately, we got more rain overnight and this morning. Somewhat dryer now, a bit windy and a whole lot cooler than it's been. We'd moved the pups behind Cruisers when I took this photo because there was a dragster out front the crew was getting ready to fire up. Yep. It was loud. As was the band playing inside.
Today I finished to put the sidecar back onto the Ural Patrol.
This week was interesting:
The final drive's female spline has a bore of minimum 3mm more then it should have. Only barely the splines grip into each other. A fatal failure is due to come somewhen. The t-joint (cardan joint) is showing its first wear. It is so hard there is no change to drill it for to add a grease fitting. Means for to grease the spline and joint you need to pull the final dive always.
The sidecar shaft is hollow so for to fit it a grease fitting I had first to plug it internally.
The front disc was dragging. The fix consisted in simple cleaning of the pistons and the spring loaded disc connector bushings with mineral spirit (aguarás = Terpentin) and a small stainless steel brush. Barely visible and extremely fine dust came off, but afterwards a big difference in use.
In 6 times making the round tour shop -home I added up 28km riding Sophie as solo bike. A easy go if you think and go counter clockwise for to use the flasher . People here do not react on the reached out arm as flasher substitute and try to crawl into your b**t with their cages.
The bike is too heavy for to pull her onto the main stand alone, so I took a Bakelite bar with me as side stand under the left cylinder and when I arrived called my son or farm worker to help me. The trick with a 1 1/2" board to lift her on the main stand I could try today the first time. works very good and is slick.(Thank you very much for the tip in your video Van "Gobium")
The Jawa to reassemble as single person was no deal as it is very light. The Ural is too heavy and the sidecar is too tippy for to do it alone. The lower ball claws do help a lot for to assemble.
I would not hesitate to use the Patrol again as solo...There is no trouble in it at all, the geometry is acceptable and only the weight of the final drive does give a strange experience. Plus the inertial movement when you accelerate or take off the gas makes you remember the days of boxer stories...(competition of who will scrape a hole into his valve cover first--- not me, but my first boss’s brother in law was a specialist in it on his R100, there was no way to catch up with him.)
All it would need to use the Patrol as solo is to mount the 2 flasher and a blind cap on the final drive.
The only unlikely parts were the first rain for over a month and 1 hour searching for the spark plug wrench...Our blind Golden Retriever, Luke must have had it for to play as it was all over full with slobber when it appeared finally outside the shop.
Strange bone...and I ask myself why he breaks his teeth.
Obviously Negra the old Labrador Lady needed to be the work inspector and demanded a 10 minute ride once assembled and synchronized the carbs.
She got it with pleasure.
Sven
I'm getting ready to transfer the sidecar from the GL 1100 to my '99 Valkyrie after I finish the final engine installation details. It all started when the engine failed in the mountains outside of idaho Springs, CO back in June right before the SD rally which I failed to attend, rather, flew home, drove back out to retrieve the rig. Since then, I transferred the Hannigan super sport back to the GL 1100 until I could figure out what to do with the Valk. I was fortunate to buy a mostly complete engine on an eBay bid, received it about a week ago and am almost finished with the installation save for the air box, gas tank and fluids. All this in preparation for my next trip to North Florida later in September. I love the challenge of wrestling an engine in and out of a bike having done it in the past with a Yamaha Virago and another GL 1100. You know that some bolts just don't want to fit right and you have to get very creative, even fashioning special tools and possibly leaving off unneeded parts. And the Valk carburetors with all those hoses can give you a headache to figure out.
My challenge this morning was bleeding the clutch slave cylinder. What the official service manual doesn't tell is that you need a vacuum pump to draw out the trapped air although the manual mentions using a commercially available bleeder. Simply pumping the clutch lever won't do. Kulow's guide does mention this. Not having that handy mighty vac I happened to have a large syringe that did the job when attached to the bleeder that I have. It felt so good to feel the resistance on the clutch lever after all those air bubbles finally morphed to clear brake fluid. Now onto the the next fluids. Have a great day.
Good luck with getting the Valk/Hannigan rig up and running. We certainly love our Valkyrie/Motorvation rig. We journeyed home Sunday from Council Grove, KS and the Sidecars in the Flint Hills rally held there Thursday afternoon through Sunday early morning. We stayed on the two-lane roads most of the 400+ miles.
Something different this week end...a gift from my wife. A dream which I had on the bucket list for many years.
We saw 3 hunch back whales with their youngsters in the coastal waters near to Uvita . (3 tons when they are born) this is the youngster submerging for a longer dive.
The tip of the park site looks like a whale tail:
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I finished the installation of the Valkyrie engine and sidecar setup. I test drove it Sunday evening, riding to Bethel Woods Center for the Arts (site of Woodstock '69) as I am a volunteer usher and museum assistant. Van Halen was the main act: very loud basic rock. Although I had bled the brakes, having added the hydraulic line to the sidecar brake, I must not have gotten all the air bubbles out. This was immediately apparent as soon as I pressed the brake pedal. Yesterday I bled and bled and bled the bloody thing until I was satisfied that there could not be even a 1/4 of one bubble. I might need to adjust the toe-in very slightly, otherwise I am done (for now). The Valkyrie is such a strong, smooth riding machine that I simply had to get it back on the road. The GL 1100 is fine for the short haul but for the long road you need hill climbing power and a fine wide car tire that the swingarm on the 1100 won't allow.
I love the photo of the whales. That is special. And thanks for the good wishes regarding getting my rig going.
Hi Everyone:
You haven't heard from me in a long time. I haven't ridden since I rode my rig home from the Monumental Rally - all of 25-30 miles. I figured a couple of days of recuperation and I would feel like going for a ride. It didn't happen. Something hit me that took the energy down to a very low level - "4 naps a day" type of level. Well - today we went for a ride. It is 12 miles down Sheridan Lake Road to Hiway 385. That felt good! Sooo a right turn onto 385 - North past Pactola Dam. Still feeling good!!! North past The Sugar Shack/Cousins Big Chair Pizza to Boondocks and Nemo Road. Long story short it took us 73 miles to get to an ice cream place 7 miles from home. OK - so I took another nap when I got home but it was a beautiful day for a ride.
Will Short
USCA President
Will,
how can you come to the idea a rig would be a vehicle for to go from point "A" to "B"?
The amount of naps is something you should not worry about, The body takes what it needs and when it needs it.
Worry about it when you wake up and notice that nothing is aching.
Meanwhile get more ice cream errant rides. Best thing to spend the time with. Quality time with the family.
Our last ride to mother in law took a 200km round trip for Thomas on his learners licence for the 56km single direction trip.
The long short way with many bends and lots of gravel, is just what is needed for to enjoy the day.
Sven 😉
