Good morning!
My name is Sonny and I’m addicted to hacks. Like the rest of you, I’d rather ride my outfit with my dog along than just do just about anything else. So we ride most everyday, rain or shine. Usually not very far and not very fast. We’re pretty laid back. We have some favorite routes, although we routinely explore and find new places to go. Having moved from NM to the hill country of TX in late 2022, we’re enjoying a lot of new adventures.
My first hack was a new 2012 Ural T that I bought my self for my 55 birthday. Easy, my faithful companion then, was a natural. Part monkey, I quess.
After Easy passed on to the Rainbow Bridge, I sold the Ural. That was 2018. Shortly thereafter, I happened to meet a lady in Madrid ( yes, where the movie Wild Hogs was filmed) that was expecting a litter of pups soon ( not her, her dog). So, come July, I would have a new riding buddy, Scout.
Well shoot, I’d sold the Ural. As luck would have it, I had a perfectly good tug in the hanger that was underutilized. I’d had the GSA since new in 2011 and often said to myself “ man this would make an awesome tug”.
I visited with Jay and placed my order.
It wasn’t long before I got a call that the sidecar was ready. Scout and I loaded up the bike and headed for WA. The crew at DMC married the tug to the tub and we’ve been living the dream……5 years and 15,000 miles later, here we are!
And were honored to be here among you fine people! Thank you!
Welcome to the forum, Sonny, and glad you were able to get back into sidecars with your co-pilot. Have you watched the video Sit, Stay, Ride, the story of America's sidecar dogs? SSR 1 was released in 2014. SSR 2 some years later and SSR 3 isn't a reality yet but you're the perfect candidate.
Thanks Tom!
What a sweet outfit you’ve got there!
I’m aware of SSR, but haven’t ever watched them. Now that you mention it I’ll have to seek it out and watch both. I’ve gotta tell you, Scout will watch it, too. He’ll watch anything with dogs or horses.
Now thats a real celebrity you're cheauffering around there! Love the glasses.
Thank you for the warm welcome!
Sonny, welcome, there are quite a few active sidecarists in and around Texas-Louisiana. Make a run up to Donie Texas (east of Waco) to meet Kent Silk, the owner of Texas Sidecar and the New DMC operation, now in Texas. Kent organizes a Spring gathering at his place there, then Lee from LA organizes a Fall sidecar gathering. Each gathering can have 40 or so rigs in attendance.
Many of us will travel to the USCA National Rally coming up June 6 -9th in Iuka, MS. this year.
If you organize a sidecar gathering in the hill country, expect quite a few to show up. On two or three wheels riding the Three Sisters is a joy and delight, with great hill country BBQ to boot.
Jan
Jan, thanks for the welcome. I’ve been in touch with Kent’s bunch and have vowed to ride up and meet them all soon. I was jazzed when I heard of the DMC/Texas deal. Fortunately my rig hasn’t needed anything since I picked it up in 2018. Not even a loose screw.
I’ve heard that Kent will host an eclipse rally April 8, but I’m not brave enough to be out on the roads during the “eclipse weekend” . I’ve heard they are expecting half a million people to converge on the hill country that week. I’ll be stocking up and watching it from my backyard with both feet on the ground.
However, I will certainly look into the rally in LA. I’m hoping to make it to the rally in Mississippi, just not sure yet.
I agree with you that riding the Sisters is a hoot, for sure. I’ve run them on the two wheel RT, not yet on the GSA outfit.
A rally in this neck of the woods is a great idea. There are a lot of really nice, slow, scenic backroads, as you know. And yes, the BBQ is wonderful, as is the German food!
Thank you for the kind welcome!
Quote from Amigo on February 7, 2024, 2:05 pmThanks Tom!
What a sweet outfit you’ve got there!
I’m aware of SSR, but haven’t ever watched them. Now that you mention it I’ll have to seek it out and watch both. I’ve gotta tell you, Scout will watch it, too. He’ll watch anything with dogs or horses.
Now thats a real celebrity you're cheauffering around there! Love the glasses.
Thank you for the warm welcome!
I don't own it any longer- it's Dennis Peabody's rig now. Health issues caused me to give it up and I met him and Sylvia through the forum here. A match made in Heaven. They were the right people at the right time.
Tom, it had to be a tough decision to make. I’m glad for your “match made in heaven”! I’ll bet Dennis and Sylvia feel the same!
Quote from Amigo on February 7, 2024, 8:22 pmTom, it had to be a tough decision to make. I’m glad for your “match made in heaven”! I’ll bet Dennis and Sylvia feel the same!
It wasn't easy to realize that it was time to give it up. Truly the end of an era. The clock keeps ticking.... always.
Quote from Amigo on February 7, 2024, 8:22 pmTom, it had to be a tough decision to make. I’m glad for your “match made in heaven”! I’ll bet Dennis and Sylvia feel the same!
Sylvia and I both love it and we still try to keep in touch with Tom. We ride it as much as possible, but currently it is in the shop getting a new ECM installed and I just had Carpal tunnel surgery done so it will be a little bit before i can ride it.
Quote from Dennis Peabody on February 8, 2024, 9:05 amQuote from Amigo on February 7, 2024, 8:22 pmTom, it had to be a tough decision to make. I’m glad for your “match made in heaven”! I’ll bet Dennis and Sylvia feel the same!
Sylvia and I both love it and we still try to keep in touch with Tom. We ride it as much as possible, but currently it is in the shop getting a new ECM installed and I just had Carpal tunnel surgery done so it will be a little bit before i can ride it.
Good luck with that surgery. That’s good planning…getting maintenance done on yourself and your rig at the same time.
Welcome to the group Sonny. I'm from Minnesota most of the year but I spend my winters in Southern Texas on South Padre Island. I've got my 2005 R1200GS with a green Dnepr sidecar with me here and I will be meeting up with 3 Minnesota couples in Bandera on March 8th to ride in that area for a week. If you happen to see me or my rig make sure you give me a shout!
Thanks for the shout out, Mike! If you don’t know about them already, make it a point to eat at Mac and Ernie’s in Tarpley! I may be in that neck of the woods early March. I’ll keep an eye out for ya!
South Padre is a good place to winter. My folks lived a bit north of you in Port Aransas during their golden years. My dad and I fought and landed a lot of redfish in the shallow water along Padre Island. Brings back lots of memories! Thanks
Hey Amigo,just saw your post this morning. Beautiful rig and sooo cute a riding companion. I've been a BMW fan my last 5 vehicles, and count the Ural as mostly one of the BMW family. I recently sold my Ural, so another Ural rider on the books that's sorry the bike is part of personal history. Missed it, so much fun that I'm in the process of replacing, but went with a Triumph. I've looked long and hard at using a BMW GSA as a tug, but ultimately decided to stay smaller and utilize the many filling stations along any route I decide to travel somewhere down the road. Enjoy and maybe I'll see you on a Texas road sometime in the future. I won't get my new rig until sometime in November from Texas Sidecars. The Ural was the most enjoyable ride I've owned out of my past 7 bikes and close to 200,000 miles ridden since I retired in 2007. Especially made use of the 2 whl drive in off road mode, where the bike excelled. KawaAfterthought.
@walter-eschmann we'll need pictures when you get the new rig,, Mandatory, OK. 😀
The rule is if there is no pictures it didn’t happen!
Texas and motorcycles go hand in hand, year around riding and such diverse areas to see. In Texas we have a self pace ride/tour, called The Grand Tour of Texas. It is 50 stops that change each year designed to showcase Texas. Please look it up. On Facebook you can follow the riders as they Complete the tour. It runs from March through November and the places they pick are amazing. My Shop is one of the stops as a sponsor of the Grand Tour of Texas.
