So that she could report for jury duty of course, what did you think I was taking her to court for? :)
We took Valencia of course, as it was a nice sunny and cool morning here in Colorado. The rush hour traffic was in full force but we were only on Arapahoe Road for a few minutes and happily turned off onto Potomac Drive and away from all the discontent looking cagers going to their jobs.
Here we are, in the courthouse parking lot, with a view
of the "correctional facility" behind us.
While Martha went in and waited to see if she would be required to be a juror, I was left to my own devices in the parking lot. This is usually not a good thing as my mind wanders and I start getting "ideas" on how to improve my rig.
Today's "idea" was to gain extra storage, albeit only for temporary usage such as when camping with a passenger riding along. I thought about a metal rack mounted on the nose of the sidecar but thought it would ruin Valencia's looks.
Then it hit me, why not try the new saddlebags on top of the forward or nose section of the sidecar?
I easily removed the saddlebags from the pillion seat area and
arranged them on the nose. The idea would be to anchor it in place somehow,
with a soft blanket perhaps underneath to prevent scratches to the paint.
The water bottles that comes with the saddlebag would be
conveniently within reach of both rider and monkey.
So what do you think? I would end up buying another saddlebag set of course, and continue to use one on the pillion seat, and the second one on the nose for camping trips.
Martha, and the 100 or so other prospective jurors were eventually told all cases they'd been summoned for had been "settled out of court" and so they were all released with the thanks of the court. Yay. Now Martha is good to go for at least a year.
After a bit of grocery shopping, we went on home before things got too hot here in the metro area.
16 comments:
Dom:
Nice to see more valuable cargo in your sidecar for a change.
I think you need a Ural trailer.
bob
Riding the Wet Coast
Ironically Bob, dragging a trailer voids the warranty on US models....it's not even offered by US dealers. It is an option for dealers elsewhere apparently though....go figure.
I think you should get one of those humongous square bags that look custom made for the rear rack. I think you could hold everything do a month on the road with that. On a more realistic note, I'd get the front rack to hold the bags off of the paint. Even with a blanket, it'll wear it off pretty quick. Especially on your 'round the world tour...
RichardM, trying to minimize weight on the rear rack as well...too much strain on the trunk lid.
As to the nose rack, it won't protect the sides where the saddlebags would rest against. Must give it some more thought I guess.
The inside bag looks very close to a very hot right side exhaust pipe....that could be a major problem (Alex Wong set his bike aflame doing something like that in his trans-America's ride). I suspect the paint will suffer badly from a forward bag set without a rack set to keep things from moving around in the wind.
No offense to those who pull trailers, but we would ride naked before we pulled a trailer that was loaded heavy and already straining a 750cc engine with a 4 speed gearbox. Love the bags behind you, thumbs down for up front. Love the post Dom....GlennandSun
What with the trouble you can get in left to your own devices like that, I'm surprised your wife wasn't taking you to court. :) But since you had the captive monkey, why didn't you take her into the mountains?
GlennandSun, I'll keep an eye on the temperatures of the bag undersides. thanks.
As to the front, yeah, a rack is in order, would still have to use something where the saddlebags contact the side of the nose....eh, no rush.
BeemerGirl, by the time she was "excused", it was late morning and it was time to go home instead. Going camping this weekend though....
You'll just end up carrying that much more stuff. :)
Jury duty - Ugh! My name seems to come up on a regular basis 'round these parts.
Too hot in the metro area - you are such a weather tease Dom. You took the Oregon sunshine home with you I think.
As far as the saddle bags on the nose. If they put saddlebags over the gas tanks on dual sports why couldn't you do it to Valencia's nose.
Have fun camping this weekend.
BTW, have you ever put your rig on individual scales? Some of the better tire dealers have small, portable scales to weigh each wheel individually. The main reason I mention this is I had stopped at Adventure Cycleworks in Fairbanks to pick up a tire shortly after CCjon had his pusher replaced. He mentioned that 40psi was too much pressure for the rear tire as there wasn't sufficient load to justify running it at max psi. He stated that it'll cause the wear pattern he saw and would shorten useful tire life. Just another persons opinion but I thought that you may be interested.
Bluekat...jury duty is a hazard of the priviledge of voting....I served on a jury once, a whole week, at the end of it we were ready to declare the guy guilty...but I and one other guy were declared "supernumeraries" and released before the conviction stage! All that time, and I didn't get to cast my vote....oh, and the guy was so guilty....
Trobairitz, you can have the warm weather back! :)
Hi RichardM
sigh, tire pressures are apparently as varied as oil threads in opinions. One dealer told me run 40 psi all around, the other tells me 40/32/32, yet another says something else. One constant however is the running of 40 psi on the pusher.
the consensus, appears to be, that running the pusher at less than 40 psi will cause it to be "squishy" and on some sharp turns or situations where lateral pressures are great, to cause the tire to come off the bead, leading to the inner tube being pinched. I believe this is what happened to me in the snow on the Cassiar.....
you can "tell" when the pusher is below 40 psi, the rear end of the bike does feel squishy.
having written all that, it does seem, when running at 40 psi that only the center portion of the tires are in contact with the pavement.....but that's with the rig parked, when in motion, who knows.
Oh Boy, next thing will be mounting a fridge and a microwave, and just moving into your hack, eh?
I am not a big fan of more luggage space (not that you asked for my opinion...). I just feel it makes you carry more stuff that you likely won't need.
However, I really like your new bags on the back of your motorcycle. That looks good.
This is what the manual for the 2011 Patrols says, RichardM, re tire pressures:
Front 32 psi cold
Side 30 psi cold
Rear 40 psi cold
So either go with the gurus at the dealerships, word of mouth or the manual....still leaves one at 40 psi with the pusher.
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