Today rode from Parker, AZ on the California border to Globe, AZ, only 250 miles. GPS said it should take about four hours. Six hours later I finally arrived in Globe. The last hour was great twisting mountain two lane road.
Decided to get off the road early though. The stress of riding through Phoenix on a beautiful Saturday when everybody was out and about was a bit much. Posted speed was 65, everybody was doing 75 +, and the highway patrol parked roadside did not seem to mind.
The two previous nights I had to stop at several motels before finding a room. There was enough stress getting through Phoenix without having to worry about where I was sleeping tonight. By getting off the road before 3 pm on a Saturday night assured me of getting a decent room.
There was a comment made about how easy it is to fly the EZS chair because they are so light. This rig has given no indication that the chair wants to fly. I tried to fly it several times but to no avail.
David the PO said he put 70# of lead shot over the sidecar axle. Plus the added box of OEM goods he gave me, plus my gear, plus a small ice chest to keep the water cold... there is enough weight to hold the chair on the road in the twists.
One of the reasons the sidecar is so securely mounted to the bike is the rear upper strut is bolted through the top section of the main frame (red circle) and not attached to the rear subframe like so many other builders do. The bike's lighter rear subframe is held on by a smaller diameter bolt (green arrow).
The lower sub frame is mounted in several spots tying the frame pieces to each other and to the bike.
Today was mostly desert riding. Naturally we're in Arizona.
A young single stalk cactus.
A grandpappy multi-branched cactus
Taking a tip from my friend Dom in Colorado, went looking for a good spot to catch the sunset in Globe. The directions from the hotel manager proved mis-leading, but found the Copper Rim School high on a ridge just as the sun was dipping below the horizon.
Tomorrow we set out for New Mexico, staying south of the freezing weather further north,
paralleling Interstate 10 further south.
Ride safe and far, my friends,
CCjon
The pictures show a pretty beefy subframe and mounting arrangement! The rear brake pedal is curious to me though, is it two pedals (one for the sidecar) bolted together? Or, is there an arrangement to link all the brakes together like they were on my R1150RT?
ReplyDeleteHow's the water-cooled feature in heavy traffic? I've been in Phoenix traffic and yeah, it can be stressful....you should try it in a RV. :)
Dom, that subframe is very beefy. No flexing on this rig.
DeleteThere is only one rear brake pedal but both the rear brake and the sidecar brake both work off of one larger rear master cylinder.
Have heard the cooling fan come on a couple of times this trip. Mainly in construction zones where traffic crawls along.
Jan, This is a test comment by Jerry (posting anonymously and using an incognito Chrome browser). Let me know if you get a notification and then try to reply to it. When we have confirmed the transaction you can delete it. Then I will try again using a Firefox browser.
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DeleteJan, here is my second comment this time posting using my Google account (as opposed to anonymously). Again, reply here if you see this comment, then you can delete it.
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DeleteJan, here is a third comment, this time using a Firefox browser and signed into my Google account.
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