Wish me luck!

Good on ya, Barb.
Hope you're taking spare gas. Those 650 Yammers don't range too far with a hack alongside.

Lonnie

Go for it Barb. Those bike are survivors and you will make it.
Glitches?
Small fuel tank and an appitite for altenator brushes.
Had one for years and ran it all over the east coast from New England to Florida (with a velorex on it).
Just acquired another one recently and it will be hack'd soon unless soemone buys it first. Kinda hope they don't LOL.

Have a great trip Barb. Hope the thunder showers head where ever you aren't! Happy birthday Dad!

Barb, hope you have a great ride, please post pics. I've got an original XS-1 that I bought new in 1970, not as sophisticated as yours. I've thought about hanging a chair on it but the purists around me go nuts whenever I mention it. Also the kick start is on the right hand side and I expect that might prove difficult. Have you got a blog for your trip?

LL75

Hi Guys,

As I may have mentioned ("Sr. Moment's R Us") I made it home! I had a luggage strap come loose at the top of Lookout Pass on the Montana border, and pop down into the chain, taking a turn-signal with it, and jamming the chain between the sprocket and the shock, but after an hour or so of banging a hammer on the chain and my head on the gravel I calmed down and figured it out, and motored on to my father's house. The XS pulls the sidecar like a train; I love it. I was loaded up with things, and my father insisted when I left that I take some cast iron pans--which I love--as well as an orbital sander and a Dremel set. ("Score!!")

My sister insisted that I take a huge casserole dish that she doesn't use, so I had to pack clothes into it to make everything fit, and, loaded to the gunwales, we headed west. I decided that, having gone 613 miles in one long day, I'd take two shorter days going home, so I stopped in Ritzeville, a delightful town just west of Spokane, WA. The sky at morning was a beautiful endless blue---until I looked to the west, and saw the huge mountains of blue-gray rain-clouds.

Rats.

About 50 miles or so west of Ritzeville, the rain began, with me light-heartedly explaining to the bike that it was just "Nature's bike-wash". We went on, headed for Seattle on Hwy 90. The rain, encouraged no doubt by my laughing at it, began in earnest. I got out the Hippo-paws and hunkered down for the long haul, and it was. All the way over Snoqualmie Pass, we ate road grime and water, as provided free by various semi-trucks.

I gassed her up in Cle Elum, and coming down the Pass on the west side (at last!) she began to sputter and cough. Yikes! I got to North Bend and turned off the freeway, headed north toward Monroe. Long story short, I made it to Monroe, barely and with help from a friendly stranger who was really a Godsend. I tried for an hour or so to get her to run cleanly so I could get the last 35 miles home, but it was not to be: water and 30 year-old electrics, don'tcha know...

I got a ride home, my brother and I went to Monroe the next day and brought her home in his truck---a sad end to the trip for so heroic a bike. Now she is in the shed with her sisters, cleaner, tuned up, running well and ready to go again, since I used about a tube of sealer on her electrics!

The sidecar was great, especially in the famous eastern Washington cross-winds! Coming across the Columbia at Vantage has always been scary on a bike, but with the third wheel it was (pardon the expression) a breeze! Without the sidecar I don't think I would have gone, and I know I would have been very uncomfortable. Pretty easy to get used to that storage space, and the comfort of having stability in the wind!

So that's the "Spring" installment. With apologies for a very long post, I can only ask that you stay tuned for Summer adventures, 'cause they'll be here!

That is great but now you know we want pictures. I live in Fla and we don't even have big hills. 🙂

Originally written by RichardMc4 on 6/7/2008 2:18 PM

That is great but now you know we want pictures. I live in Fla and we don't even have big hills. 🙂

Richard you do have 'spook hill' though.
And 'ZepherHILLS' and the 'HILLSborough River'..and uh...

30 year old electrics...
Had my time with it. With at the end only one option. kick out-put new.
Sealant sometmes makes things worse. Water gets in but not out.
Check first how corroded are the cables and connectors.If the cables are brown there is no way you must throw them out... My Honda had 40 someting lines with nearly 20 diferent colours and only 6 were available... Happy rewiring was a must in a freezing oil cellar long before the spring sun was about to come out.

If the corrosion is not too bad, pull apart all connectors. clean with a wire brush or knife. use (dialectric) contact grease for reassembling, so that there is no space for the water to crawl in.
Worst spot is the main cable tree. the water gets in and never out making all kind of nasty things. You measure continuity and isolation one moment its OK- next ride its bad again.....Bad in a snow storm.

For insulation of a scared wire I use 2 coats. self vulcanisating under ground tape (3M (?)up to 100.000V)(you must elongate it quite a bit and use it at moderate to warm temperature for to fuse with itself) and later the good normal electric tape (3M 33+)

For connections I went away from press fit or screw connectors (never use soldering!) and started to use bare (or insulated) INDUSTRIAL TERMINAL pin crimping with the double layer insulation above described. The flat or other car terminals are scrap and will lead to failure as stated in Murphey's law.

In one occasion I opted for water proof fuse box (that again filled up with water) So a hole with a pneumatic hose got rid of that problem. Same I applied to the generator case of my nowerdays Jawa. See photo in the albums.

That seems to be the worst point. Water gets in but not out... So try to set up things so that the water can get out of the cable tree.

-------

Enjoy your ride and be aware that the most dangerous time will come when you start to feel comfortable with the rig...Then in a sudden dangerous moment you will act as solo driver - opposite of what you have to in that moment.
So stay conscious for the whole first year, and don't lower your attention specially when you switch between the bikes.

Best regards from cats and dogs pouring Costa Rica Central Valley.
Sven Peter

Hi Sven Peter,

Good ideas! I've been riding sidecar bikes off and on since 1980, so not to worry about me getting used to the rig....I'm a Grandma, and careful. (Not like when I was young and silly...)

So far, it seems that the electrical problems have been cured. It was mainly the connections from the points, but going through and doing it all correctly seems to really be the best idea. That may be my next-winter project!

Raining in Costa Rica, too, huh? We've been living at the bottom of a rain-barrel here in the Pacific Northwest. More rain in the first five days of this month than in all of last month! Here's hoping for nice sunny weather soon!

Last week in only 3 days poured down the July average.
Yesterday just behind me when I came back from the low lands there went down some pretty heavy land slide, 300 cars and truck were closed in for hours...
Damn I never liked that road "Braulio Carrillo"
And its continuing....the lightnings shut off the computer 3 times this afternoon.
Had luck at lunch in changing from the bike to the service car. Not so my employee he had to leave for the University during the worst part of the rain.

You say you are a granny...I hope that that will be still a long way to go for my kids, but you never know...
What I know is that all grandchildren love to go in the rig.
Perhaps I should have had them first?...
Best regards
Sven Peter