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Categories: all aviation bicycle gadgets misc motorcycle theater Fri, 29 Apr 2005
As I was passing a few idle moments last night, I happened to look I rode home in that state, gingerly awaiting the explosive decompression of the tire that was sure to happen, now that I'd noticed the problem and acknowledged it. Fortunately, nothing untoward occurred, and I made it home unscathed. I had a few dicey moments when I was following a couple hundred feet behind a semi, and it felt like the rear tire might have gone half-flat, but it was just wind currents eddying around the truck. This morning, I decided I'd better fix it before continuing in this dangerous condition. So, I pulled out my unproven Stop-n-Go Pocket Tire Plugger kit, and Ultraflate CO2 inflator for their initial test. If they failed, I'd ride the Le Mans in, if they worked, I'd ride in on the repaired Ninja. The instructions on the Stop-n-Go are fairly straightforward. The one that caused me some consternation is where you're supposed to insert the plug into the insertion tool, and ensure that it's centered. Well, I couldn't get the plug in there and centered for the life of me. It always bent off to one side, and never inverted right. Eventually I decided I'd just have to work with it like that. Fortunately, it doesn't appear to have been an issue. The rest of the plugging operation worked pretty well. I was worried, in pulling the plug back out to seat the mushroom head, that I might accidentally pull it back through the tire. I needn't have feared, it was definitely going no further than the head. So, for the first-time use, I give the Stop-n-Go a thumbs up. The Ultraflate gets a kind of middling-thumbs from me. It actually works quite well, but it's plain that their marketing division got hold of the inflation guidelines, rather than the engineers. The packaging says that you can expect to use 4 CO2 cartridges to fill a 180/70R17 motorcycle tire to 25 PSI. It took me 6 cartridges to fill my little 145/80R16 tire (probably 2/3 the volume of the larger tire they mention) to 25 PSI. After 4 cartridges, it was at 16 PSI. 5 brought it to 20 PSI. After 6, I gave up and grabbed the compressor hose, since this was only a test, anyway. For all that it took more cartridges than I'd expected, it's a great device. I loaded a cartridge in there when I first got it, to see if it would leak at all. All indications are that it maintained excellent pressure in the loaded cartridge. Its method of attaching to the valve stem was good and secure, and meant that I could swap out cartridges without removing it from the tire. It was very easy to use, and far less effort than a manual pump (although on a long trip far from gas stations, I'd definitely want to have some kind of supplemental pump with me). So, the results of the test are that I'm actually well-prepared to deal with a tire puncture on the Ninja or Le Mans. 25 PSI is enough to safely ride even 100 miles to find a gas station with a compressor, as long as I wasn't going too fast. The plug seemed to hold fine, although the real test will be this evening when I go down to ride home. I like the Stop-n-Go kit a lot. The Ultraflate is actually fine, it's just going to take a lot more cartridges than I expected. Despite the urgent warnings to only use their branded CO2 cartridges, Crosman airgun cartridges worked fine (and I wouldn't want to use the thing if I was tied to their $2 per cartridge prices, and couldn't use the $.64/cartridge examples one can procure at any sporting goods shop). I'll be getting more, since I used up 5 of the ten I'd gotten plus the one cartridge that came with the Ultraflate in my test. I got both these items at the Aerostich website, although I believe the Ultraflate will be available at many bicycle shops, and the Stop-n-Go is available from a variety of sources. I like Aerostich, as their customer service is top-notch, and their prices are about as good as any other shop. I definitely recommend against paying the Ultraflate company (which is called something goofy like Total Innovations or somesuch inane name) for their overpriced CO2 cartridges. Posted at 10:54 permanent link category: /motorcycle Thu, 28 Apr 2005
Hmm. The brake failure on the Goldwing is turning in to a Project. I don't want to rebuild the old master cylinder, I want to use the newer one Aaron gave me. The newer master cylinder pretty much requires new, flatter handlebars, which I want to do anyway. I can't put on lower/flatter handlebars without removing the fairing. I can't order new stainless brake lines until I decide what height the handlebars will be, so they're sized correctly. I don't want to do all this brake work without replacing the brake lines, which are probably 23 years old and full of goo, on top of being expand-o-matic rubber lines in any case. I can't remove the fairing without replacing the headlight and one turn signal. So, the final work order to rebuild the front brakes looks like this:
I had been hoping I could do the brake overhaul without doing the fairing and handlebars (since that's a relatively large job), but I really can't do it correctly otherwise. I'm excited about the headlights, those Hella 90mm units look really neat. They're not even all that expensive. Yes, I could probably find an old Honda headlight bucket to throw on the front of the bike for $50, but that would get me the same crappy light throw I have now. That's an area of the rig that desperately needs improvement, and I was already planning on doing something drastic with it. This looks like just the ticket. Posted at 12:02 permanent link category: /motorcycle Tue, 26 Apr 2005
Had some sidecar "fun" today. But first, the backstory. I invited Jesse to ride with me down to Fry's for some unrelated stuff-lookin'. He hadn't ridden in the sidecar yet, so it seemed like a fine time to take a ride. We drove down, perused devices and books, and prepared to return home. Before we actually left, I looked down and asked him if he was interested in doing some "playing around" with the sidecar (which I hadn't really had time to do since getting it). He was game, so we occupied the enormous "extra" parking lot at Fry's. I practiced flying the chair, which was surprisingly hard to keep in the air. I need more work on that. I let him drive it around a little bit, and told him to stop quickly and note how there was no nosedive. He was duly impressed. I took over again, and we did a bunch more chair-flying. At a stop, I told him about some of the other curious properties of sidecars, like the fact that a locked up wheel when braking isn't that big a deal. To demonstrate, I took us up to 15 MPH or so and locked the front to a stop, then the rear/sidecar, then all three. I learned that the sidecar swings toward the front with all wheels locked, which is good to know. I don't intend to lock all three (or any) wheels in normal riding, but I'm glad I know what'll happen if I do. Finally, after about 20 minutes of farting around in the parking lot, we were both satisfied, and turned back toward home. We both noticed on the way home that the bike seemed to be struggling to get up to speed, and then to maintain it, but I logged it off to the greater than normal load and wind resistance of having Jesse in the car. I dropped him off at home, and made my way home. I had noticed the faint smell of hot brakes, but thought it was probably other cars, since smells on a motorcycle almost always whip backwards so fast at speed that the rider never gets a whiff of them. Fast forward to today, when I had ridden the rig into work, so I could get a spare key made on the way in (I tried last night, but the key shop closed 20 minutes before I got there). I had an errand I had to run midday, so I took the sidecar out. On the way back, I decided to take Elliot back to work, rather than go up Aurora again. I mistakenly stayed in the right lane, forgetting that it would force me onto the Magnolia bridge. The truck in front of me made the turn, and I was suddenly confronted with a barrier forcing me to turn unexpectedly. I grabbed the brakes, and accidentally locked the rear brakes for a split second, but made the turn with no problem. However, now, the bike seemed to be really struggling against some kind of friction. I had a feeling what it was, and pulled over near the marina to check it out. Sure enough, pulling in the clutch resulted in a rapid deceleration: one of the brakes was sticking. I got out of the hot riding suit, and looked the situation over. I rocked the rig back and forth, looking at each wheel. The rear and sidecar wheels (which share a brake system) rolled freely, but the front wheel was constricted. Without touching them, I felt for heat coming off the front calipers -- indeed, blazing hot. The front brakes were dragging something fierce. Having no tools along with me (haven't had time to construct a tool kit for the Goldwing yet), I sat back and waited for the discs to cool down a bit. Whatever was clogged up was doubtless being made worse by the heat coming from the calipers, expanding the brake fluid. I tried tapping each caliper with my boot, on the theory that they might be sticking, but no luck. Finally, knowing I had to get back to work at some point, I pulled back out onto Elliot. I had in mind to get the rig home and switch to the Ninja, and I'd deal with the brakes later. However, the bike had a different idea, and by the time I made it to the Ballard bridge, it was dragging so hard I had to apply lots of throttle to move once stopped, and actually killed the engine once trying to start moving. I looked for a place to pull over and let the discs cool some more, and much to my amazement, found that I was 100 feet from the driveway for a brake and tire shop. What luck! I pulled in and stopped (a simple matter of releasing the clutch, and the bike pulled to a stop in a few feet). After a quick exchange with the guy behind the counter, who had to deal with customers, I went back to the rig and called Aaron, who sold it to me. He'd done a lot of work, and I wanted to confirm that he'd put in new brake fluid. He had, and had even cleaned the system out at the same time. While we were talking, the shop guy came over with a wrench, and casually unscrewed the bleed valve on the left front caliper. A bit of fluid spurted out (releasing the pressure that was making the brakes drag), and he closed it back down. I borrowed a rag to wipe off the excess brake fluid and thanked him profusely. That very pleasing interaction out of the way, and with the problem temporarily solved, I headed back out. I drove the rest of the way home very consciously not grabbing the front brake lever when I needed to slow down. It would have worked, but presumably every time I used the front brake, I was risking it binding up again. Fortunately, the trip home was completely uneventful, and the rear brake was well up to the stopping tasks I laid out for it. So now, I find myself forced into the front brake overhaul I had been planning anyway. I already have most of the pieces, and just have to order the stainless steel braided brake lines I was already planning to order. It's just a few days ahead of schedule is all. I expect the new brake system will provide much better feedback, if not improved braking performance. The pads that are on there now, combined with the 23 year old rubber hoses, conspire to make the front brake about as unresponsive as you could imagine, although it's still got plenty of power to stop the bike. As far as diagnosing the cause of the failure, my best guess is that a flake of crud got stuck in the master cylinder's return valve, which is this miniscule (like, .2mm diameter) hole. I pulled off the old master cylinder and lever in preparation for putting on the much newer one Aaron gave me (he had a bunch of different master cylinders sitting in a box), and when I did, I noticed a huge mass of evil-looking brown goo coming out of it. Sure enough, some of it was pretty particulate, and one of those particles could have easily clogged the return valve. S'what I get for my hooliganish riding, I guess. Here's to new SS brake lines. Let's hope they arrive soon. Posted at 23:03 permanent link category: /motorcycle Thu, 21 Apr 2005
I'm going to go to an exhaust shop today, to see what they think of That afternoon... It sounds like finding a decent used stock exhaust will be easier than getting a new one fabricated. I'm not surprised by that, but it's good to know one way or another. The guy in the shop, who looked like he'd been doing automotive exhausts for 50 years, eventually decided that the best way to approach it would be to make new Y joints and put a glasspack on each side, rather than running all the exhaust pipes over to one side. Doing that would cost about $100 per side, plus the cost of whatever muffler I decided on. Plain ol' car oval mufflers would look goofy on both sides. Although I'm not super attached to the appearance of the sidecar rig, I don't want it to look goofy. Glasspacks would look better, but might be just as loud as the current exhaust, which pretty much defeats the purpose of this whole experiment. An alternative plan might be to run the four exhaust pipes out under the car, and use all that space under the car to deal with the piping necessary to go 4 into 1 like that. We didn't talk about how much that would cost, but I have a feeling it'd be around $300-400 before adding any muffler(s). So, I guess I'll spend my time cruising Ebay and hope i can find a stock exhaust in decent shape. If it's really a fruitless search, I may go back and talk to him again about doing the 4 into 1 and car muffler approach. Posted at 16:36 permanent link category: /motorcycle Wed, 20 Apr 2005
Yow. Just ordered new tires for the Goldwing (135R15s are Posted at 11:58 permanent link category: /motorcycle Tue, 19 Apr 2005
I discovered a cool thing about the Goldwing the other day. I was Next time I passed a gas station, I opened the aux tank valve and filled it up, although not in that order. It took almost exactly 5 gallons, so I now know the size of the tank (I'd figured it was 3-4 gallons, so I was pretty happy to see it was so large). The cool "aha!" moment came when I realized that with the valve open, the main and aux tanks formed "one tank" via the fuel supply lines. Those lines are too small to allow filling one tank to fill the other at any reasonable rate of speed, but they'll equalize over time. Since the engine can't draw fuel out of those lines any faster than they can equalize (actually, the engine can only draw half the flow rate both tanks can provide together, since they T into one line going to the fuel pump), that means that the fuel gauge in the main tank actually measures the fuel in both tanks. How cool is that? It also means that, with the 5.85 gallon main tank, the Goldwing has a total fuel capacity of 10.85 gallons. That's more than 300 miles. Pretty good, and also coincidentally within the Iron Butt regulations for total fuel. Not that I'm going to take this thing on an Iron Butt ride, but it's interesting to note. Posted at 01:15 permanent link category: /motorcycle Sat, 16 Apr 2005
Finally, I have the blinkers working on the sidecar. I got the new I ended up getting a Grote 44891 relay from CarQuest for about $20, which claims to be rated for LED usage. You have to use an electronic relay with LED lights, since they draw so little current that traditional thermal relays won't work. This one works like a charm, with the same flashing rate on the all-LED side as on the all-incandescent side. I'm planning to replace the Goldwing's taillight with an LED running/stop light and turn signal indicator, eliminating all incandescent from the back of the rig. However, for just right now, I want to get it all buttoned back up so it's rideable. Putting on the new lights won't require tearing the rest of the bike apart, just getting the old taillight out of there. It's pretty exciting to see the LEDs on the car side. They're quite bright (a lot brighter than then lensless fixture they replace), and only draw 220 mA each on full power, or 50 mA each on "running light" power. That's seriously low draw, compared to the nearly 2 A (or 2000 mA) drawn by just one 21 watt stop or turn signal bulb. Having both brake LEDs and a turn signal going will only draw 660 mA. Amazing stuff. I got the LEDs from buytruckstuff.com, which, despite the goofy name, has some cool stuff. The particular lights I got are American Superlights, and cost about $25 apiece for the 4" flange mounts with colored lenses. They're very pretty looking, an almost floral pattern molded into the lenses. I pondered the clear-lensed models for a few minutes before realizing that it was a terrible styling choice for the sidecar. Granted, the sidecar's style is best described as "early 80s eclectic meets ratbike" at this point, but that's fine. Adding "early 2000's bling bling" to it would be completely unharmonious. Anyway, I'm very happy with the new light setup. It's a huge improvement on what was there. I'll try to take a picture or two tomorrow to show what they look like. But now, I must sleep! Posted at 00:54 permanent link category: /motorcycle Tue, 12 Apr 2005
The replacement gas cap for the Goldwing is CarQuest part number 1982 Honda Goldwing Aspencade GL1100 aftermarket gas cap fuel part number replacement cross-reference fitment. Nyah! I'm sure you can cross-reference that CarQuest part number with a bunch of others in whatever auto parts store you find yourself in. In case you can't, it's a 1.5" vented, anti-surge gas cap with two narrow tabs. I'll take a picture and post it here if I remember, so you know what you're looking for. I can only assume these gas caps go AWOL every so often, and no one has bothered sticking this little tidbit of information online yet. I did notice a bit of power reduction on the freeway which could have been the gas cap not venting fast enough. It could have also been something with the electrical system, since it was raining at a fair clip by the time I noticed it. Almost entirely unrelated... I've often said that at some point I should really own a Honda motorcycle. Now I do. Major brands left: Suzuki, Yamaha. No interest in owning a Harley at this point. I'd also like, at some point, to own a Ducati, MuZ, Aprilia, maybe a modern BMW. The obvious Suzuki for me is the SV650. No idea which Yamaha I might like, although the FJR1300 has gotten good reviews and might be a good choice if I actually find myself taking long trips. I wish there were more companies making cool, small bikes. Other than for sidecar use, that's where my interest really lies at this point. Posted at 14:36 permanent link category: /motorcycle Mon, 11 Apr 2005
I'm having a terrible time finding useful information on Likewise gas caps. I'm just sure that there's some $7.99 Stant gas cap out there that'll fit a 1982 Goldwing, but I haven't been able to dig anything up yet. That one is fairly conducive to just going to a parts store and trying different caps until I find one that works, though. I'm going to start a page of part number cross references as soon as I start finding them. Posted at 11:52 permanent link category: /motorcycle Sun, 10 Apr 2005
I picked up the sidecar today, which was pretty much a non-event. Before I drove off, Aaron helped me move the front swingarm to the other position, which increases front end trail. This results in heavier steering, which I actually find to be very pleasant. In the further forward position (where I first drove it), the steering is very light, and actually kind of uncomfortable. The rig just steers so easily that you can't really drive straight for the sensitivity. It's a bit like driving an American car from the 70s, where the steering just had too much power assist. The heavier steering means that you have to really want to go a direction to do it. It also feels more like a sidecar "should," which makes me happier. Strange that I'd want it heavier, I suppose, but it's helpful. Aaron actually had the same comment, that the steering was too light, when he drove it to work last week. I've already started working on it. I dropped the duck-quack horns in the garage within a few minutes of getting it in the garage, and after some screwing around with both horns, ended up just installing one horn. Apparently the horn circuit won't pass enough current to power both horns. Ah well. I've fabricated a little bracket to allow me to use the Le Mans' old mirrors to replace the wobbly mirrors that were on the bike. I've only done the right side so far, since the right mirror was actually a left side mirror installed upside down. It really couldn't point in any useful direction, so I had no problem taking it off and messing around with it. I have to get some nuts to fasten the Le Mans mirror to the bracket, but it'll be a huge improvement when it's all done. I'll probably do it on the left side too, since that mirror, although it points in a useful direction, won't stay pointed there. There are aftermarket mirrors that'll work on the Goldwing, but it seems silly to spend the money when I can make these work. I also got busy with the shopvac and a big sponge. It's strange to think I have a motorcycle that needs to be cleaned out like that, but indeed, the sidecar and the remaining saddlebag had dirt gathered at all the corners. Much better now. The next big and obvious thing I need to do is synchronize the carburetors. I'll be interested to see if I can do that with my lovely two-port water manometer. I'll probably talk to a few mechanics to see what they have to say about it. Posted at 22:59 permanent link category: /motorcycle Sat, 09 Apr 2005
I spent about two hours today, cleaning and rearranging the garage I think I have an arrangement now that will work well, but I don't know for sure. In any case, "work well" is probably the wrong term. "An acceptable compromise" is a better description. It'll leave the Le Mans basically unaccessible without taking out the sidecar, but I think it'll leave the Ninja and sidecar both accessible without moving anything else. It involved a surprising amount of rearrangement to get it even to that state. There's no way to have both bikes and the sidecar all available, that would simply take a two-car garage. As it is, the table in the back will be difficult to get to, and certainly not with the access I used to have. The best solution will probably be to get one of those cheezy temporary carports, made out of a tarp stretched over a framework of steel tubing, and park the sidecar there. It won't be as secure as having it locked in the garage, but with the truck gone, I can put it far enough back that people passing on the street won't see it unless they're carefully looking into driveways. I'll have to see what it's all like once I finally get the sidecar in there. Certainly, doing any work to any of the bikes will involve removing one or two of the others, where before I had been able to do simple maintenance with either bike in its normal parking spot. That may be the one thing that pushes me over into figuring out some kind of external storage for the sidecar. Posted at 17:19 permanent link category: /motorcycle Wed, 06 Apr 2005
Just took some pictures of the
Late that night... Still like it. I rode back to Aron's house tonight, after attending a long amateur radio meeeting, and agreed to buy it. Nothing more than words have changed hands yet but it's pretty well a done deal. Something significnantly freaky would have to happen at this point to make me back out. Riding around on the sidecar today was interesting, to say the least. It's a weird size, as wide as a car, but only as long as a motorcycle. I don't like the handlebars at all, they angle back too far, hurting my wrists. The fairing is equal parts annoying and really cool -- I love the radio, but I want the whole thing to be the size of a BMW R90S fairing. Sitting in that bubble of still air is quite freaky, and leaves me unable to tell how fast I'm going. The seat is very comfortable, but needs a new cover in the worst way; I'll probably see what Rich would charge to cover it in plain black leather. The bike needs some immediate work before I'll be happy with it. Things to do immediately:
Things to do before about 500 miles:
Things to do before about 2000 miles:
Long-term goals/ideas:
If this stuff doesn't make sense to you, gentle reader, I apologize. These are pretty much notes to myself. I'll probably explain all this in later entries. Posted at 00:01 permanent link category: /motorcycle Tue, 05 Apr 2005
I've got the Goldwing/EML sidecar home now. Again, it's like I'm I'se confused! Well, this is why I have tomorrow to ride it around and see how it behaves in my daily grind, which is where it's most likely to see action. Storage will be very interesting. With just the Ninja in the garage, the Goldwing fits, but juuust barely. I can see that if I took a bunch of crap out and rearranged a little bit, I could actually store two bikes and the hack in there, but one bike would be in the "semipermanent storage" spot, hard to get out without moving the rig out off the way first. I'm not so sure that's a terrible thing, as the Le Mans seems to be in semi-permanent storage anyway. And really, it could also be arranged such that the sidecar is the one that's hard to get out, if I wanted to have both bikes accessible. Hmm. So I guess the kicker will be tomorrow, riding it to work and back, and hopefully out to some kind of errand. For this riding I'm doing, I have 20 gallons of water (about 160 pounds) in the chair, providing ballast. $35 worth of collapsible water jugs. Not a bad investment, particularly if I end up getting the combination, as water jugs make excellent, expendable ballast (dump water when you get a passenger, fill 'em back up when you need the ballast again). By the way, words for sidecar:
There are certainly others, but I can't think of them right now. Too late for me to do all that thinking. Now, for sleep. Posted at 00:06 permanent link category: /motorcycle Mon, 04 Apr 2005
Motorcycling should get more interesting very soon. Today, I'm I'm going to go ride it today, and unless there's something that makes me worry, I'll probably own it within a week or two, paperwork and suchlike being the only impediment. However, this raises Questions. Obviously, the truck has to go, for one thing. That's been clear since a day after I bought it -- not that there's anything wrong with it that a tuneup wouldn't fix, but I'm just really really not a big truck person. No, the big question is, what on earth would I do with three bikes? I already know I ride the Ninja for 95+ percent of my riding, with the Le Mans literally collecting dust in the garage. This is a silly state of affairs, since I bought the Le Mans with a loan, so I'm making payments on it. On top of that, the insurance on the Le Mans is more than double that on the Ninja. I still like the Le Mans, and I really enjoy riding it. But I'm not riding it. It doesn't make sense for most of the riding I do, which is the real issue. I ride in-city for the most part, and I tend to park places where I believe theft to be a real possibility. These reasons add up to riding the Ninja, which is a cheap, small, efficient bike. If it were stolen, I would be upset, but it wouldn't represent the kind of problems the Le Mans would. The Ninja gets 45-50 MPG for my in-city riding, and is capable enough that I can ride it comfortably on the freeway at up to about 85 MPH (which is just keeping up with traffic, some of the time). I've proven to myself it can go on long trips, although it doesn't have the comfort or sure-footedness of the Le Mans when speeds get higher. It also doesn't have the storage of the Le Mans when the sidecases are mounted, but I've only seriously used those sidecases twice in the years I've owned the bike. All this adds up to me thinking seriously about selling the Le Mans. It's incredibly hard to justify owning three motorcycles, since I'm not into collecting bikes or having one for every day of the week. I admit that attitude might change if I had a safe place to put them, but I don't. My little garage comfortably holds two bikes, and will probably uncomfortably hold a bike and a sidecar rig, but two bikes and the car will be so tight as to prevent actually getting to any of them without clambering over motorcycles. I'll probably find out just how tight it will be, because if I sell the Le Mans, I'm not going to make the decision until after this summer. Summer is when I use the Le Mans more, and if I find myself thinking regretfully of losing the bike, I'll figure out a good way to keep it. This all makes me think of the afterschool specials we love to hate. What lessons do I need to learn from this? Well, the big one, when you take a sufficiently wide perspective, is to only strive toward goals I actually have. Allow me to explain. When I bought the Le Mans, it was with the intention of having a distance bike. I wanted to be able to take trips. Multi-day rides to wherever, but with a bike that had character and the ability to get me there and back in comfort and safety. The Le Mans definitely has character in spades, and it meets those requirements quite handily. I wish the mirrors and sidecases played a bit nicer together, but that's a minor quibble. However, for all that the bike meets these requirements, it was in service of a goal I didn't actually have. I didn't then, and don't now, have plans for a long trip I want to take. When I got the bike, I was in a serious relationship which precluded taking multi-day trips for the most part. Now that I'm single, I don't find myself with any greater desire to ride great distances and see wonderful sights. What a silly thing, to spent all that money in service of a goal that didn't exist! I ended up riding the bike to work and back every day, getting atrocious gas mileage. The sidecases collected dust when they finally arrived. I spent over a year gradually putting together a radio system for the bike, and don't really find myself using it (ignoring that it needs to be repaired for some vibration-related damage). All this cool stuff to do something that I don't actually seem to want to do. But along came the Ninja, which I got to meet the goal of riding in-city to and from work. Fits the bill beautifully, and lookit that, I'm actually riding it every day! Likewise, the sidecar will be there for when I need to carry another person who doesn't want to ride on the back of a bike, or (more likely) when I need to carry something that's simply too large for the Ninja's shrimp basket. That's what the truck is for now, but the truck is massive overkill now that I have no further need to carry sheets of plywood or large appliances. So, we'll see what the summer brings, but I'm guessing that the Le Mans and I are likely to part ways. Pity, the motor just started loosening up. Someone's going to get quite a bike. I hope it meets their goals. That evening... Wow, talk about a complete reversal. I think I've spun around 270° on this whole sidecar thing. I went to Aron's house, and after a bit of prep work, we rode around in the Goldwing a bit. We traded off, and I drove it for a while. It was interesting, but kind of wobbly. With Aron in the chair, I didn't have any problem with it getting too light, and I was probably being over-cautious. We came back to his house, and I drove his main rig around, which is a Suzuki Cavalcade, heavily modified to be a kind of ratbike/streetfighter, with a plastic truck-bed box for a sidecar, on a prebuilt frame. It had serious headshake, right where I wanted to ride, speed-wise, and much heavier steering than the Goldwing. In a way, I liked it better, because you knew you were riding a sidecar, and you had to muscle it around. All this took perhaps 3 hours, trading off, and we ended up with taking the Goldwing out on the freeway. It was fine, not too weak, but not super strong. Certainly it'd be capable of running on the freeway for a few hundred miles. My impressions at the time were that the exhaust was way too loud, the fairing too big, and the bars too high. Otherwise it seemed alright. Then I got on the Le Mans to ride home, and almost immediately, my mind was reeling with thoughts of how much I'd hated driving the hack. How it was like driving the truck; it was too heavy; it felt really weird; I didn't like it; it made the Le Mans feel tiny and light. As I was riding home, the phrase "ridiculous boondoggle" kept running through my head as I tried to figure out what I was thinking about the Goldwing hack. By the time I got home, I was in a complete tizzy. My mind was reeling with the bizarre thought that my months-long plan of getting a sidecar was in shambles. If I had been in a more emotional state, I would have been in tears, I was so frustrated and confused. I knew going in that I was going to ride the Goldwing and love it. It was going to be perfect (or at least a 22 year old version of perfection). When that didn't happen, not even close, it left me completely turned around. I ended up calling Jesse, and going out to dinner with him to discuss what all was going on with me -- I felt like I was going to burst if I didn't talk to someone about it. Once I'd spilled all the weirdness in my head, we got to talking about more-reasonable reactions. Maybe I was upset because I wasn't immediately expert at it? (I've been consistently top-of-the-class at MSF classes, which is much like being an honors student at a school for the developmentally disabled -- you might get a swelled head, but it's got little bearing on real life.) Maybe my expectations were too high, or completely off-base. We went through a bunch of possibilities. The bottom line was that I didn't know if this was an accurate first impression or not. I proposed that perhaps Aron would let me borrow the rig for a day, to see what my longer-term reaction was, rather than the short-term, immediate, "wow, this sucks!" reaction. I actually ended up calling Aron while Jesse and I were still at dinner, to see if he'd agree to it. He did, fortunately. I'm going to stop by his house tomorrow night, and borrow the Goldwing rig for a day. That should give me a better impression of it, as I work it into my daily life to see how it fits, and how I react to it. It's quite possible that I'm just not a sidecar kinda guy. I thought I was, but this experience today suggests strongly to me that I don't actually like the practical reality of driving a sidecar. The concept is cool, but actually doing it certainly didn't sit well today. I'll write more after I've had a chance to live with a sidecar for a little while. Posted at 00:13 permanent link category: /motorcycle Categories: all aviation gadgets misc motorcycle theater Written by Ian Johnston. Software is Blosxom. Questions? Please mail me at reaper at obairlann dot net. |