Speedometer alternative for Fiona and Scarlett

Probably precipitated by the recent cold weather, the speedometer for Fiona had begun to exhibit the dreaded "winshield wiper" effect this week.

Attempts to lubricate the cable seemed to make it worse.  Now the speedometer pegs out at the far right limit of travel when moving at any speed.

So today I did a proof of concept, using the Ram mount I had onhand for the Garmin Nuvi GPS (which had been serving as a speedometer anyways for long trips) and my iPhone with a free speedometer app.

The test was successful, it worked great.  I'll postpone the taking apart of the wonky speedometer for now since the odometer and tripmeter appear to be working fine, it's just the needle that's OTL (Out To Lunch)

I've this more secure RAM mount coming from Amazon for the long term:

source: Amazon

Update on Scarlett: Randy, the URAL dealer up at Fort Collins has started looking at it, but it appears he's going to have to remove the engine from the rig.  That's all I have for now.

Update: Re-purposed an old iPhone4 to do same thing.  Works fine but not tested for extended time in sub-freezing temperatures yet.  iPhones tend to shutdown when on battery power when it gets cold enough even though there might still be life in the battery.

Sunday Sunset

The first Sunset pictures for 2017, taken this past Sunday.

Buraling at the Arsenal

Usually, I would be Uraling when riding my current Ural Patrol Sidecar Rig, Scarlett.
Scarlett, however, is in the shop with something wrong with her engine.  Hopefully, she'll be fixed sometime soon; in the meantime, it's Fiona's job to get me out riding in the snow.

Fiona, is a Bural Rig, a combination BMW and URAL sidecar rig.  Basically, the engine is from a BMW R80 motorcycle, the rest is Russian.

We had us some decent snow here in the metro Denver area so I decided to go check out the sights at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge.  It's located inside the metro area, quite the anomaly surrounded by ugly city on all sides.

It was a bit brisk but with the sun out, and temperatures that would eventually soar from around 18°F to (-7.7°C) when I headed out to around 28°F to (-2°C) when I got back home shortly after Noon.

 Using the telephoto lens, it looks like Fiona was closer to the Bison

than she actually was.

A park ranger, in a tour bus, came up to me as I was walking back to Fiona and said I needed to stay with my vehicle due to the Bison being unpredictable and quite fast.  I felt like telling her that a Ural probably wouldn't get me fast enough away from a charging Bison; but then just nodded compliance.

Shot in the parking lot of the Lakes Area Trail Head

Mount Evans

 Longs Peak

Another view of Longs Peak

As the morning wore on, it got warmer as I mentioned, and distant objects like the Front Range Mountains became hazier and hazier.  I returned home to change out Fiona's 20W50 with Mobil 1 15W50 engine oil so she starts easier in colder than 14°F to (-10°C) temperatures.

As a bonus, Autozone had the 15W50 on clearance: $2/Quart, normally $9.49/Quart.

The zip ties I used on the wrap-around heated grips proved to work fine on the left hand grip; but still allowed movement on the right or throttle grip.  Once I got home, I reinforced the zip ties with safety wire so we'll see if that does the trick.

Fiona is definitely lacking the wind protection that Scarlett has.  If Scarlett repairs prove lengthy in terms of time, may have to go get the leg shields from her and transfer them to Fiona!

Scarlett is in the shop, Fiona takes on the Snow

Yesterday, I dropped off Scarlett, my 2014 Ural Patrol Sidecar Rig off at the Fort Collins, Colorado dealer.  Randy's shop is where I bought Scarlett and whom I rely on to bring her back online whenever she breaks in a major way as she did in Texas recently.

It was a bit nerve-wracking, driving in nasty snow conditions north of Loveland, CO while trailering Scarlett up to Randy but no incidents and I left her by the shop:

A lot of Colorado, to include the Metro Denver area, was under a Winter Storm Warning since late yesterday:

So I was glad that I'd obtained a spare sidecar rig last year, Fiona was ready and willing this morning when I went out for a lunch time ride.  Temperatures ranged from 2-4℉ to (-15-16℃) and things were quite brisk!

Fiona doesn't have heated grips but I mounted the "emergency" wrap-around heated grips and along with grip covers, it was endurable for the most part.  Some tweaking to be done with these heat pads that roll around the grips, they tend to move and jam the throttle with the power wires.....

 Made this one look monochromatic, the pixlr "auto fix" function was

having "issues" getting it right.

 Above and below pics shot with recently acquired wide angle lens adapter.

My fingertips were quite cold as I rode home, to the point of painful.  I'd removed the grip covers you see to figure out why I wasn't able to roll on throttle.  The heated grip pad had "rolled" and jammed up the grip you see....so I adjusted it, left the grip covers off to keep an eye on it and hence froze my fingers on the way home.  Sigh.

Temperatures had soared into the low teens by the time I made it home, it's supposed to be clear skies tomorrow, hopefully the snow will stick around for more pics then.

Update: January 6, 2017:  Skies are clear, the sun is out and temperatures have soared into the 20s!