First sidecar - R1150GSA with M72DX!

looks like the best way to get there to me!!

I can't wait!!! Hopefully it's not raining.

That's a beautiful rig, Sarah!

Now you need to edit your sig-line...no more "coming soon"

Gypsywriter,

DAMHIK this, but if DRONE gives you one of these looks...



Then asks you to put this on...



RUN!!!

He's a hero too us all ! The Queen Bee doesn't know what a lucky woman she is.DB

Up early today to do some stretching for what I'll bet will be a long day. I'm meeting Drone at my hotel around 9am and from there I'll defer to his expertise on what happens.

As I wrote this I got a call saying he's on his way, so time to start packing up!! Adventure awaits.

True enough, I'll fix that now!!

I'll try but I hear he's fast and has an electric personality that sucks you right in.

Nice to read all this . Myself am excited as our trip is just 28 days away yet .

Seems to be working for you all ( New to sidecars and coming home . )

Love the pics , and pour on the sunblock , even a white turtleneck would help some also .

best
spro

Cross-posted from the Chelan Rally thread:

I did manage a few iPhone pics of the weekend.


On the way up to the rally, Drone and I (but mostly Drone) helped a Suzuki Boulevard with a dead battery to no avail, the guy got a mile before the battery let out again. AAA to the rescue, but we kept going.


Stopped off for dinner in Leavenworth for lunch, great little German town.


There were some fun setups out there.

Then the off road rides, I'm PISSED that I didn't bring my GoPro!!


Met up by coincidence with another local guy who knew a ton about the roads, he became our guide for the day!







I gotta give my Dude a lot of credit, he made a most excellent monkey!



And Dixie the pup thought the size of the sidecar was overkill but she sat great as long as mama was driving.



We had some fun at the lodge where everyone gathered. Decent view and gravel road up, although us GSers were dying at the pace of the road bikes on the gravel.




God, but I adore this bike!!!

Then we were back on (or rather OFF) road again! I got no pictures this time unfortunately but we found some fantastic trails, managed to find folks who helped us out, and had a ton of fun.

Until we got to the highway and hit the storm. Hail and lightening and WET - while those of us with rain gear mobilized to try and prevent getting soaked, everyone else (looks at WW and co.) decided to tough it out back to camp. It was miserable but not horrid, we all made it back although one of us had our clutch go out.

Then we got together and hung out by the fire.

WW became Bruce's unwitting pillow. :)




Before finally getting up and losing his seat.









(As you can see, Bruce was the star of the show for us)

The hardest part was saying goodbye. We both enjoyed our time immensely with everyone, and I'm HUGELY thankful to Drone for giving me tips on how to ride a sidecar and throwing me into the deep end offroad and otherwise. This certainly wasn't how I imagined I'd learn how to navigate a sidecar hack, but goddamn it was WONDERFUL!!!

We arrived home late Monday night and on Tuesday I drove the rig up to Fresno BMW to show off the rig. They were suitably impressed, then it was time to talk turkey. While I was up in Washington, the rig turned over 40k miles - still running strong, but I have a few issues with the bike. Adding on the sidecar accentuated something I hadn't noticed: the shocks are total weaksauce. Al at BMW suggested going for Works Performance shocks - not as pricey as Ohlins (but still an eye-opener, yikes!) but they're down in SoCal so it wouldn't be too hard to have them repaired or adjusted. He took down all the weights (tub, tug, rider and gear) and in 4-6 weeks I should be getting them in. My rig is very springy - not uncomfortable, but I bottomed out a couple times on the gnarlier offroad sections this weekend. Thank goodness for the beefy (and longer) skid plate DMC added to the frame, but I'm hoping stiffer springs will help clearance a tad bit.

The other stuff is smaller: I want a throttle lock (probably Kaoko) so I can rest my numb hands once and a while, and a Crampbuster throttle control. Also, I'm getting HID lights for the bike; seeing them together with the hack's LEDs is like night and day.

Boy, isn't it great that I'm rich?! Oh, wait... *looks up her bank account* ...uh oh. :eek1

Took the pup out today around town, just wrapped her 6' lead around the seat bottom and a dog bed and tied her down. She did well; wanted to get up onto her mama's lap at stops but seemed to love the wind. Now to get her a pair of doggles and pack a travel bag for her.

Excellent! Glad to see you're home and loving life on three wheels!

You may have to change the quote in your signature line now, though

I've been waiting to see these pics. Looks like some fun. I see you're also a Pashnit member? I'm Harvey Mushman over there. Those guys helped me with a lot of west coast planning.

I wanted to extend my gratitude to Sarah and Michael for providing state park to garage door transport to my home after the rally. My clutch slave went out and I probably could have made it home but would have had some white knuckles getting through Wenatchee and to my house a 100 miles south of there. It was a lot easier getting it trailered and I am sure that Sarah was able to keep the smile on her face for another 140 miles by being able to continue riding her great rig. For a newbie she is awesome in the mountains.

Square4

It was our pleasure. And yes I got to ride it more so life was good.

I've been taking Dixie around town fairly often and she's a champ - as long as I'm there, all is right with the world.


"Mommy? Where are you going?!"

Of course, her codependency is triggered when I get off the rig and she becomes a total wiggle worm.


On an agriculture road here in town.

She was doing so well we decided to take her on a trip up to Shaver Lake for camping and offroading.


"I gotta SHARE?!"

Sometime between Washington and today, I turned over 40k on the bike and my shocks decided to give up the ghost. I already have some on order from Works Performance but it'll be several weeks before they come. It's so bad that if you push down on the sidecar, it's the BIKE that dips low to the ground. So a section like this got me stuck:


I know it doesn't look like much but there was a dirt wall on my other side and ruts under all those needles, and I couldn't budge the bike. Mike had to stand on the sidecar step for me to power through this. It's not a great pic, the road was rutted and terrible, but I was still having a blast.

I do feel a little bad for my pup on the faster sections of road. I think I'll be taking out the seat and letting her sit on the floor so she can get out of the wind. By the end of yesterday's commute home she seemed to be tolerating the vortex inside there instead of enjoying herself. She's not that into the doggles I got for her, keeps shaking or prying them off as we ride. I'll continue that training though, she's a pretty go-with-the-flow kinda pup so it'll come.

It's been a while since I updated this thread, but I've been busy! The tug got new Works Performance shocks set to the estimated weighs for everything. BMW put them on and their suspension guy told me that it would be difficult to achieve just the right settings because of the electric camber control changing the lean and weights. So far though I'm happy; it's a slightly stiffer ride now which was the whole point, so I can't complain too much.

This week is the first where temperatures are remotely in the bareable zone (aka, in the low-90s FINALLY) so I can finally ride again!! I've also brought over a convert, the Dude is now a semi-rabid sidecar enthusiast and insists he wants to hack his 1200GSA. We shall see there, but he's pretty persistent lol! If not the GsA then he wants a rig like whithamwannabe's, a big old monster beefy thing that looks stout!

We've also gained a new monkey! Dude brought home an older pup from work and, well, given the energy level of this one it may be a few years before he's sidecar material. But he's a big sweetie and I think he'd love it (we'd just have to chain him to the car lol).

Pictures to come, we're moving to our new house today so it's going to be busy-busy!!!

Glad you are having fun Gypsy.

loving this thread
so happy that you are happy
please post more and often
thanks for sharing with us

I'm loathe to admit this, but lately I've taken to riding IN the sidecar almost (but not quite) as much as I drive it. :eek1 Whether I want to admit it or not, it's NICE to drive next to your loved one, being able to hold their hand on occasion, or let them take over driving duties once in a while.

Right now we're in the middle of moving and I'm on some work deadlines, but I'm eager for fall temperatures to finally come around so I don't have to only ride early mornings. Temps are down to the low 90s which is a blessed relief (no, really it IS!) but 70s/80s are around the corner and I can't wait!! Yosemite has some killer Jeep trails I'm dying to visit with this baby, and there will definitely be pics in the future.

It's been a year since the last update, so I'm wondering if any pics ever happened?

And, being local and all, which Jeep trails, and how did the rig do?