Early September Sunset

I rode Fiona to a new spot, near the usual sunset watching spot, but up a bit higher and accessible via a very short but fun dirt trail.

First things first, there was a rather lovely thundercloud being illuminated by the setting sun:

Using the Subtle-Ian effect to add color....better or stay original?

I moved the spare gas can from the nose of the sidecar to the rear

 ScooterBob and a single sunflower that was near Fiona

 Looking to the south

The small white dot is the moon

 Mount Evans crowns the Front Range Mountains

Previous post: ScooterBob goes to Pikes Peak

ScooterBob on Pikes Peak

Sunday mid-morning, I was out riding on Fiona on an errand when I got a phone call through my Sena Bluetooth headset.

It was Shaun C., a former co-worker friend who'd recently seen me shooting sunset pictures and had stopped to renew relations.  A ride to the top of Pikes Peak was quickly agreed upon and I returned home to switch motorcycles.  Fiona, whose gearbox is still being "broken in", would simply not be fast enough for the planned ride.

So it was that Brigitta, my '87 R80 Beemer Airhead and I rode out to meet with Shaun.  He was riding his new Triumph Thruxton, a lovely motorcycle as you shall see.

Together, we rode in a spirited manner down Colorado Highway 83, through the turmoil of traffic that apparently now consistently congests the town of Parker and from there south towards Colorado Springs.

A quick lunch near Manitou Springs and then we queued up at the Pikes Peak Highway fee station.  Took a bit of time to pay our fees, and I feared Brigitta's engine would overheat with all the slow stop and go traffic.

Still, no issues, and finally we were clear of the maddening crowd of cagers at the fee station and riding up the mountain highway.

 At the Crystal Lake Reservoir

 Shaun and his beautiful Triumph Thruxton

 Views on the way up...

photo courtesy Shaun C.

ScooterBob gets introduced to Shaun

 photo courtesy Shaun C.

photo courtesy Shaun C.

 ScooterBob didn't want to queue up to have his picture taken at the sign

Though we did manage to ride up to the summit's parking lot (being on two wheels allowed us to bypass the line of cagers queueing up for parking spaces), we didn't tarry.  Too crowded, a bit chilly and very strong winds all combined to make our stay at the top a very short one.

 Shaun at the Bottomless Pit

 One last shot of ScooterBob before we left the Pikes Peak area...

Shaun and I stopped for a leisurely early dinner to kill some time as we hoped to catch the sunset on the way home.  After eating, it was more spirited riding along CO Highway 83 to the vicinity of Castlewood Canyon Park.

 Can you make out ScooterBob's silhouette atop Brigitta?

photo courtesy Shaun C.

After the above sunset shots we rode in the gathering darkness all the way home to our respective home neighborhoods.  A good day's worth of riding to be sure and now ScooterBob has been to the summits of the two highest paved roads in the US.

A Saturday Morning Ride with Brigitta and ScooterBob

It had been almost a month since I'd last ridden on Brigitta, my '87 R80 Beemer Airhead.  We rode down to the post office to retrieve a package from Russia.

It was a clutch release rod/assembly for the old style gearbox.  I really only wanted the slide cap portion because it would come with the requisite o-ring seal; that and to have a spare bearing assembly.

Since we were out, and the temperature was just right and with the sun shining brightly, the errand ride turned into a somewhat more circuitous ride about the neighborhoods.  I had to return home to retrieve both my camera and ScooterBob but that didn't take long.

 All the recent snow is apparently gone from the top of Mount Evans

 Brigitta and ScooterBob

I liked the sign, as with ScooterBob, it inspires riding and such thoughts.

So, despite the lack of snow on Mount Evans, it was a clear day to view its summit and the front range mountains.  Brigitta got a suitable amount of exercise and met/rode with ScooterBob.

It was quite a bit warmer when we finished the above shot, time to head for the barn and do household things for a bit.  I can't wait for Fall weather to finally arrive, we've been teased with cooler temperatures in the evenings but the heat of the summer hangs on.

Minor mods for Fiona

Fiona, my '99 Ural Patrol with the '84 Beemer R80 engine, aka the Bural Rig didn't come from the factory with a lockable trunk on the sidecar.

Let me preface that in all the years that I've been riding URALs, not one instance of theft has occurred.

Having said that, I prefer to keep honest people, well, honest by locking things whenever possible.

Real thieves, if they really want in, will get in.

Anyways, today I installed a couple of flat corner braces from the hardware store ($3) to the lower back of the seat back cushion in the sidecar to prevent it from being removed from the inside of the sidecar.  It's designed to be removable you see, a fact not known by many folks.

Removing said seat back, even with a newer Ural's lockable trunk, obviously bypasses the minimal security provided by locking the trunk lid itself.  Now, that's not easily done on Fiona:

The upper edge of the seat back came with two metal tabs that prevent forward movement.  Everything depends on your being able to pull up the lower edge of the seat back, now it's not easily possible.

 Lower left corner of seat back

Lower right corner of seat back

I had also recently added a tow hitch lock to the trunk on Fiona.  It prevents easy movement of the handle which is used to secure the lid of the trunk on the sidecar

Unlocked position, the handle can pivot upwards to release

the hooks which hold down the trunk lid

Right: locked position, handle cannot pivot upwards to release the hooks.

The above idea I got from a posting on sovietsteeds about securing the older model year trunks.  There's many ways to do it, this is just the one that struck me as simplest.

In areas where my paranoia is really active (areas I'd tend to avoid anyways), I also carry a bike chain/cable that loops around the spare tire cargo rack, spare tire/wheel and part of the subframe.

A different and very temporary mod is the addition of a small "Slow Vehicle sign" sticker to Fiona's spare tire rack.  Just a visual cue for the cager who might come up behind me and not realize that I'm only going 40 mph for the next 1500 miles or so as I break in the rebuilt gearbox on Fiona.

Do you think they'll notice, and get a clue?

Lastly, the stock position of the mirrors that came with Fiona were not good for my being able to easily see to the rear of the rig while driving.

I got these extenders from amazon ($17) which raise the mirrors 27mm and extend them outwards by 40mm.  The mounting screws they come with were too short for Fiona's application, but I had some onhand which did the trick for now.