glenfiddich
TravelsWithBarley.com
Mostly cross-posted from ADVRider, but it's a Beemer tug so belongs here as well.
Got the wife up at 4:30 Saturday morning, bundled her into the car, pressed a cappuccino into her hands and set off for Lake George.
I've ridden motorcycles for 40 years, but never tried a hack. I had heard it was a completely different riding experience. I ride solo a lot, and while the riding part is exhilerating the solo camping thing bores me out of my mind! So I'd long thought of going hack in order to take one of my golden retrievers with me. (The Wife isn't into camping, and the dogs snuggle better anyway.)
Last year at the Johnson City TN rally I saw a yellow 07 R1200GS with a matching Hannigan dual sport sidecar on it. Instant salivation factor! I like the bike -- I have the same year and model -- and the way the tug and tub went together was beyond cool!
Well, it turned out Dave Hannigan was thinking of selling that rig when I called this year looking for options; I immediately called Dibs! That's the rig my wife and I were driving to Lake George to buy on the last day of Americade.
It turned out to be even prettier than I remembered it. After doing the paperwork with Ruth Ann, my wife and I followed Dave to a mostly empty parking lot for my first ever ride on a hack. After thirty minutes of practicing turns, figuring out the point at which the hack would come off the ground in a right hand turn, doing a few hard stops, etc I was ready to go.
Sort of.
I was pretty nervous as I set out for home in a soaking rain. Face it, riding a sidecar rig is completely different than riding a motorcycle. My wife followed in the car, running interference so I didn't have to worry about tailgaters. The first few miles were tentative, like learning to dance with a new partner, and I was acutely aware of the few cars backed up behind my wife as I did 35 in a 45 zone. There was a new rhythm to adopt, and I wasn't going to be rushed (though it would have been nice if I'd found a pullout or two along the way).
"Steering is different" is what sidecarists told me. That was a bit of an understatement. I was prepared for the need to avoid countersteering, but the steering effort needed was considerably more than anticipated. After four decades of effortlessly carving up the roads, where countersteering or even just a gentle nudge of the knee or slight shift of weight were enough to initiate a change in direction, making a sidecar rig go where I wanted to go seemed like a LOT of work! I'll have to work on the chest and shoulders next time I visit the gym.
"It will pull to one side or the other depending on whether you're accelerating or decelerating" was another fundamental truth. Being forewarned, I expected this while rolling on or braking. But it was noticable even when shifting gears, a funny little wiggle with every shift. Nothing bad, just a little something to roll into my perception of the new normal.
Some things that surprised me, but shouldn't have. With all the rain, there were several puddles on the roads. When the sidecar tire hits a puddle, it pulls the rig that direction. The ride is also bumpier with a hack. I'm used to standing on the pegs and using subtle shifts of balance to avoid rough sections; now I have an outrigger to worry about. But the biggest challenge for me...
Sidecars add a bit of width to a bike.
I'm one of those riders who like to use my entire lane. I will move left or right to make myself more visible to cagers at intersections, to see around a curve, or just to see what things look like over there. There were a couple of times I came very close to trimming the weeds at the side of the road; must be more aware of my new dimensions. In fact, that very thing caused me a slight bit of damage today. After riding rural, less traveled roads from Lake George back to Stowe VT and covering about 120 miles trouble free, I swung wide at an intersection in the middle of town and the hack wheel kissed the granite curb. I barely felt it, but it was enough to scrape the rim a bit and to remind me that there are a few more feet to the right of me than I'm used to.
Must work on remembering that.
So here I am, safe and sound after my first ride. There's a pair of 07 GSes tucked in the garage, one of them a hack rig that will let me share the joy with my dogs.
Oh yeah, and the wife.
Got the wife up at 4:30 Saturday morning, bundled her into the car, pressed a cappuccino into her hands and set off for Lake George.
I've ridden motorcycles for 40 years, but never tried a hack. I had heard it was a completely different riding experience. I ride solo a lot, and while the riding part is exhilerating the solo camping thing bores me out of my mind! So I'd long thought of going hack in order to take one of my golden retrievers with me. (The Wife isn't into camping, and the dogs snuggle better anyway.)
Last year at the Johnson City TN rally I saw a yellow 07 R1200GS with a matching Hannigan dual sport sidecar on it. Instant salivation factor! I like the bike -- I have the same year and model -- and the way the tug and tub went together was beyond cool!
Well, it turned out Dave Hannigan was thinking of selling that rig when I called this year looking for options; I immediately called Dibs! That's the rig my wife and I were driving to Lake George to buy on the last day of Americade.
It turned out to be even prettier than I remembered it. After doing the paperwork with Ruth Ann, my wife and I followed Dave to a mostly empty parking lot for my first ever ride on a hack. After thirty minutes of practicing turns, figuring out the point at which the hack would come off the ground in a right hand turn, doing a few hard stops, etc I was ready to go.
Sort of.
I was pretty nervous as I set out for home in a soaking rain. Face it, riding a sidecar rig is completely different than riding a motorcycle. My wife followed in the car, running interference so I didn't have to worry about tailgaters. The first few miles were tentative, like learning to dance with a new partner, and I was acutely aware of the few cars backed up behind my wife as I did 35 in a 45 zone. There was a new rhythm to adopt, and I wasn't going to be rushed (though it would have been nice if I'd found a pullout or two along the way).
"Steering is different" is what sidecarists told me. That was a bit of an understatement. I was prepared for the need to avoid countersteering, but the steering effort needed was considerably more than anticipated. After four decades of effortlessly carving up the roads, where countersteering or even just a gentle nudge of the knee or slight shift of weight were enough to initiate a change in direction, making a sidecar rig go where I wanted to go seemed like a LOT of work! I'll have to work on the chest and shoulders next time I visit the gym.
"It will pull to one side or the other depending on whether you're accelerating or decelerating" was another fundamental truth. Being forewarned, I expected this while rolling on or braking. But it was noticable even when shifting gears, a funny little wiggle with every shift. Nothing bad, just a little something to roll into my perception of the new normal.
Some things that surprised me, but shouldn't have. With all the rain, there were several puddles on the roads. When the sidecar tire hits a puddle, it pulls the rig that direction. The ride is also bumpier with a hack. I'm used to standing on the pegs and using subtle shifts of balance to avoid rough sections; now I have an outrigger to worry about. But the biggest challenge for me...
Sidecars add a bit of width to a bike.
I'm one of those riders who like to use my entire lane. I will move left or right to make myself more visible to cagers at intersections, to see around a curve, or just to see what things look like over there. There were a couple of times I came very close to trimming the weeds at the side of the road; must be more aware of my new dimensions. In fact, that very thing caused me a slight bit of damage today. After riding rural, less traveled roads from Lake George back to Stowe VT and covering about 120 miles trouble free, I swung wide at an intersection in the middle of town and the hack wheel kissed the granite curb. I barely felt it, but it was enough to scrape the rim a bit and to remind me that there are a few more feet to the right of me than I'm used to.
Must work on remembering that.
So here I am, safe and sound after my first ride. There's a pair of 07 GSes tucked in the garage, one of them a hack rig that will let me share the joy with my dogs.
Oh yeah, and the wife.
