Mary and I made plans to attend the 2018 United Sidecar Association’s national Rally in Rising Sun, Indiana. She used to live in Indianapolis many years ago and we visited that city in 2007, short of that the only thing I know about Indiana is what I observed coming home from Roger’s first wedding in Minnesota., Driving in the evening the skies were overcast with just a sliver of brightness showing on the horizon. As you scanned the flatness of terrain you could make out little funnels in the distance, In my imagination (or maybe not) they looked like tornado funnels to me. Luckily, we never found out.
Mary was pretty adamant about taking the green-eyed monster, the 2008 Kawasaki Concours 14 with the Hannigan sidecar attached. With 64K miles on the odometer I had thought for some time that the clutch was suspect, but I kept putting it off. I also noticed that the temperature gage was all too eager to climb into the “forbidden” zone and what’s worse, the fan would not be able to bring the temperature down enough to shut itself off. With the weather forecast predicting hot weather ahead, I didn’t want to chance it. To make matters worse the battery was on the do-not-trust list, although that was based solely on a feeling. Of course, it is these kinds of feelings that can drive you nuts on a trip, to the point that your enjoyment of the trip is diminished. I was lucky enough to discover that the dealerships II bought the bike from has a first-come-first-served policy, so I made sure I was there early enough. After all it was Americade week to boot. A few hours later the bike was ready: the battery’s negative post was corroded and once cleaned, it was good to go. The overheating problem turned out to be loose hose clamps on the radiator and once tightened and antifreeze topped up, the fan was able to keep up with the radiator and all seemed fine. I could now go home and start packing to leave in three days.
I was delighted to find out that we would have a traveling companion, Clyde, someone we know from the BMW club of Vermont. He would be traveling without his wife but with a sidecar, a 1978 BMW R100S with a Champion sidecar.
At the end of the first day, we stopped in a hotel in Dubois, PA. We were ready to stop, it was pretty warm with the humidity climbing. Mary had been very happy for some time, as Pennsylvania is a no-helmet state. She can’t help herself; she is a rebel.
The next morning, we set out to follow a route I picked out based on previous trips: Route 219 to Route 50. 219 is a two-lane delightful road, offering some shade and plenty of curves to enjoy. By the time we reached Route 50, it was very warm. That section of 50 is very curvy and driving a sidecar requires a lot of work. On a solo bike once you get into a curve and get the bike leaned over, no further pressure is required on the handlebar. With a sidecar, however, constant pressure must be exerted on the handlebar, as the rig wants to go straight. It was great fun for the first hour, after that I got tired and wished that we were done with the curves for a while.
The plan was to visit some relatives in West Virginia, so after we checked into a hotel, phone calls were made and a bunch of us met at the local Cracker Barrel. We all had a great time catching up. After almost two hours it was bedtime and we readied ourselves for the last leg of the journey. Clyde started to mention that his voltmeter was behaving irregularly, moving all over the dial, sometimes under 12V. That didn’t sound good. During the next day’s journey, he noticed that his rear tire was wearing quickly enough that the wear bars were showing. He was worried enough that he pulled into a motorcycle dealership and was very lucky to find a tire. It was a knobby tire, lending itself for many jokes.
We found the rally site without problems, as it was well marked. The campground turned out to be a family-run place, very friendly and laid-back. They had all the amenities we needed and at the time of arrival we only needed one thing: something ice cold to drink. We bought some ice, set up camp sat by the picnic table with our tongues hanging out. The forecast called for 97 degrees for Saturday! Ouch. A pleasant surprise came when as the sun went down, so did the temperature, making falling asleep an easy task and a pleasure . Clyde’s big concern was his malfunctioning charging system. I advised him to talk with the rally organizer and ask him to look for an “expert” to help him diagnose the problem. He finally did that, and an expert came over and after a short time, determined that it was the voltage regulator. Someone suggested contacting Bob’s BMW in Maryland and the promise of a regulator being shipped overnight was solicited.
The arrangements for our tent campsite are worth talking about. At the time we checked in we asked if Clyde could share our site. Receiving a positive answer, we split the cost. Later that day a lady from the front office came by with a guest, wanting to know if he could also stay on the site with us. We said, why not, so now the cost will be shared between the three of us. A few hours later tenant number three, a fun-loving fellow from Thunder Bay, Canada with a heavy accent brought one of his friends and put him up on our tent site. At first, I was upset, for he didn’t ask for permission, so I conferred with the front desk. They said that the costs now should be shared among the four of us. If that wasn’t agreeable to all parties, they would be evicted. Just like that, I became a slumlord! When all was said and done the camping costs for the entire rally was $32! We met up with people we got to know from previous rallies.
Wolf visit….
