A freaky doppelganger sighting and one more pic of Natasha

Yesterday, while riding home on Brigitta, my 1987 R80 Airhead Beemer I caught sight of a rider in a black riding outfit similar to mine. He also had a silver flip-up helmet and was waiting at the same stoplight as I was except he was in the cross street, and to my left.

So what you ask yourself? Plenty of riders out there in black outfits, plenty more with silver colored helmets!

Here's the freaky part: He was sitting astride a black URAL motorcycle with black sidecar! An incredibly close replica to the rig I am eagerly awaiting receipt of this Friday. This is the first and only URAL I've seen on the road here in all my years in Denver!

He had patches on both shoulders as I do on my riding jacket. Heck, had he had his faceshield down, you'd have thought that was me in about three days! Freaky.

From Wikipedia:
The word "doppelgänger" has come to refer (as in German) to any double or look-alike of a person. The word is also used to describe the sensation of having glimpsed oneself in peripheral vision, in a position where there is no chance that it could have been a reflection. They are generally regarded as harbingers of bad luck. In some traditions, a doppelgänger seen by a person's friends or relatives portends illness or danger, while seeing one's own doppelgänger is an omen of death, or results in immediate death upon the two coming face to face. In Norse mythology, a vardøger is a ghostly double who precedes a living person and is seen performing their actions in advance.

So to dispel the negative karma of the sighting, I give you this great picture of Phil with his lovely wife Sharon. It's a Christmas picture they used one year, and presents Natasha, the 1996 Ural Sportsman he's swapping for Maria, my 2004 R1150RT Beemer.

Deer Creek Canyon and my first Three Wheel Practice

After a lazy morning doing mostly inconsequential things around the house, I left it a little after 1:00 PM and headed west along city roads and county roads. I wanted to get a feel for how long it'll take me to get to the foothills without exceeding 60MPH for when I ride the sidecar rig to the mountains.

It takes just shy of one hour I now know. From Deer Creek Canyon, I can range north and west without hitting expressways (almost) so I should be good to go in terms of reaching mountain roads.


Since I was at Deer Creek Canyon, my favorite and nearest curvy road, I rode the curves and twists all the way to Fenders. Turning around, I had even more fun since this time there were no cars ahead of me like on the way up.




I turned onto a residential road called Buckhorn Road where numerous large rock formations dot the countryside. Pricey looking houses are nestled near the rock formations and the place must look awesome with snow on the ground. Soon, I'll have a rig that can go on this road, even with snow on the ground.



Pictures done, I went back towards Chatfield Reservoir on Deer Creek Canyon Road. I had an appointment with my riding mentor, John, aka Sanoke. He'd graciously put his outrigger wheel onto his Yamaha 550 Maxim motorcycle and was willing to let me get a feel for riding with a third wheel. Here's my previous posting about John's outrigger: LINK.

I got to John's house a little before 3:30 PM I think. He rolled out his rig and after some instructions, I was told to go. I promptly went in the wrong direction. Got my wits about me, and still in first gear, slowly careened out of the cul-de-sac. I managed to run the rig up onto the neighbors lawn and near missed the man's mailbox!

What a cool rig eh?

Still, I wasn't giving up. I kept going, learning to steer the rig as a sidecar rig and not as a solo motorcycle. Let me tell you, at first, it was wildly different and quite disconcerting! After a couple of runs around the neighborhood streets, I returned to John's house.

We talked for a bit, he gave me some more advice and graciously let me have another turn at the rig. This second ride went much better. I steered my way sedately out of the cul-de-sac with no issues. I went up and down the same neighborhood streets, even achieving 20 mph on the straightaways. I would slow way down on the right hand turns as I did not want to "fly the chair" or in this case, the third wheel!

Here's John's rig back in the garage, undamaged by me

I practiced u-turns which are a cinch with a third wheel by the way. I even wandered a bit from John's home neighborhood streets, into the next housing development and did just fine. I was having a blast during this second ride, big stupid grin on my face and not much in terms of death grip on the handlebar grips. You know what one of the hardest things was? Not putting my feet down at stops, it seemed unnatural the first few times!

Made it back to John's place and tried a tight right turn within the cul-de-sac. Guess I went too fast because I saw the third wheel start to come up! I panicked a little bit and over-corrected but it was all good. Got the rig stopped and steered it back towards John's driveway.

Had some more talk with John about his rig and I remain impressed at his metallurgical skills. As my previous posting mentions, he built it himself! I thanked him and promised him rides on the sidecar rig once I got it.

I left on Brigitta and didn't forget to put my feet down at stops now or how to counter-steer correctly. I hope my brain is nimble enough to allow me to learn two vastly different riding methods and keep them straight!

I still hope to get to the Ural dealer sometime this week to get a test ride on an actual Ural sidecar rig.

The Russians are coming!

Well, actually its just one Russian, a 1996 URAL Sportsman Sidecar Motorcycle.

From the craiglist ad: 1966 Ural Sportsman 2 wheel drive. 750 cc engine upgrade. Batwing windshield, sidecar windshield. Leg guards and hand guards. Harley solo seat. Chome sidecovers and chrome sidecar bar. Current tag. 5125 km. Black with white pinstripe.

I found her on craigslist, presently owned by a gentleman by the name of Phil, who lives in Edmond, OK. Many emails later, we've agreed to a swap. I get the URAL and he gets Maria, my 2004 R1150RT Beemer.

The URAL (its pronouced ooo-ral, not you-ral) has over 3000 miles on her odometer so it's pretty much broken in based on what I've read online and from manuals downloaded from sidecar sites.

Phil is sending me more recent pictures but here's one he had from before he had her engine upgraded from 650cc to 750cc. It's got on whats known as the "batwing" fairing which I am counting on for wind protection during the upcoming winter rides.

click for larger version

She's a beauty isn't she? The URALs are made in Russia from back in the 1940s or so depending on which story you want to believe. Some say the Germans gave some to the Russians before they went to war and the Russians duplicated them to the last bolt. Some say the Russians bought them on the sly, duplicated them down to the last bolt and used them against the Germans during WWII. Here's a blurb from wikipedia: LINK

Regardless, they're basically modern versions of the BMW R71 Sidecar Motorcycle used by the German Army prior to and during WWII. So I am not straying too far from my Beemer loyalties.

The plan so far is for the two of us to meet somewhere between here and Edmond, OK. Phil is going to trailer the URAL while I ride Maria to the rendezvous point. It's been quite a while apparently since Phil has been on two wheels, he rode a Goldwing before, hence the trailer to take Maria home. If we both still agree, after doing a checkout of each other's motorcycle, then the deal will be done.

I will, after hopefully sufficient practice in an empty parking lot and neighborhood streets, ride the URAL back home to Denver via state and county roads, avoiding the expressways. These motorcycles are heavy and you're lucky to go 65 mph on them without problems! So, not speed demons but they're reputed damn near unstoppable off-road!

I am really going to miss Maria I think, specially her superb wind protection during the cold months. However, you may have noticed I don't ride her as much anymore now that Brigitta, my 1987 R80 Beemer is in the stable. Phil's mechanic sang his praises in terms of how well he kept his URAL in great shape and his expertise with the machine. This said a lot to me and went a long way to making up my mind about the swap.

So that's the news. More pictures as I get them from Phil. Of course more as I become the owner and start exploring the mountain roads with her. The URALs also hold a reputation for being fun on snow, yes snow! I hope to increase my riding days count since while still nothing to be careless about, I at least won't fall over when I hit ice while riding this rig! Oh the possibilities are endless in terms of exploring trails where I've had to turn back on Brigitta.

The best part is once I am comfortable and safe on this rig, I'll be able to take my sons for rides with me, hopefully teaching them the joys of exploration via motorcycle. I know my loving wife might even be talked into a ride or three as well.

Still working on a fitting name for the URAL, any ideas from the peanut gallery? I must ask Phil if he's named her already.

9/11

Never Forgive, Never Forget

Eight years ago, cowardly terrorists killed over 3000 Americans. I fear Americans are forgetting already. I myself have become used to the sight of young American men and women in our country's uniforms, transiting the airport enroute to dangerous places to man the ramparts. I will not again, let the sight of these representatives of America's best, fail to remind me as to why they are moving through the airport.

I hope our country continues the fight in spite of the enemies within our own borders, or we shall see such sights as the one above more often.