I spied their truck with trailer in tow, Natasha sitting sedately on the trailer, pull into the cul-de-sac and I rushed downstairs to greet them.
Here's Phil releasing Natasha from the tie-down straps as Sharon watches on
Maria meets Phil and Sharon
One last photo with Natasha
Maria, almost ready for her trip to Oklahoma, she looks weird on a trailer doesn't she?
Natasha and the wives
The guys and NatashaPhil, Sharon, their two dogs and Maria left around 1:00PM I think, we chatted quite a bit and Phil and I briefed each other on the features of our respective motorcycles. I believe we each thought that everyone got a good deal out of this swap. I was hungry but took five minutes, and yes I was not fully ATGATT but I just went around the cul-de-sac a few times at a dead-slow pace.
The "training" I had gotten with Sanoke came through for me and I managed to do a few circles of the cul-de-sac and such with no issues and actually pretty smoothly. Note, I did this with no ballast in the sidecar yet!
Look at the wind protection afforded by the fairing and the leg protectors
Martha, aka my loving wife, sits for the first time in the sidecar, she's open to the idea of riding with me once I feel safe and proficient enough to take on passengers.
The girls in the garage, some repositioning is in order so that I can take either motorcycle out of the garage without having to move the other one out of the way first.I spent perhaps two hours total the rest of the afternoon riding neighborhood streets and roads, getting a feel for the steering, the brakes, the rather stiff gear shift and just the overall feel of riding Natasha. I had a blast!
I'd placed about 120lbs worth of ballast in the sidecar to help keep from "flying the chair" as I did my initial training. That worked out well, never felt the wheel come up at all. Little by little, I worked on increasing speed and moving in heavier traffic. I had a bit of issues with finding second gear and I am sure was holding up the cagers who were behind me. Oh well!
Right turns were a bit more stressful than left turns as I worried about "flying the chair" but I soon got into hanging into the sidecar on right turns to help all wheels keep touching the pavement.
By the end of the training rides, I had gotten her up to about 80 kph, about 48 mph, and let me tell you, it felt pretty damn fast! She sure takes a long time to get there by the way but I think that will become faster and smoother with practice once I get the "hang" of shifting her klunky gears.
First impressions: Beautiful condition, thanks Phil! Simple design and everything is pretty accessible. Her boxer engine is damn similar to Brigitta's engine layout; no surprise since Natasha's ancestors were copies of BMW's R71 motorcycle designed back before WWII.
A few spots with light rust, nothing I can't fix and coat with anti-rust stuff for the upcoming winter riding. A little touch-up paint is in order, some rubber gasket/seal material for the trunk lid and the light mounts on the sidecar fender, one of which is slightly askew.
Definitely not a BMW in terms of construction, more like a tank. Thick steel sheets comprise the sidecar, and all support points for the sidecar are beefy and workmanlike. Nothing delicate about a URAL!
There's also something weird going on with the high beam headlight switch, it shuts the headlight off for no apparent reason. The first time it happened I thought the high beam portion of the headlight bulb had burned out but no. More investigation is in order. Low beam seems just fine except that its quite weak. Same goes with the turn signals, they seem "weak" but more examination is warranted. They all seem to work though so that's a good thing.
Very happy with this swap, I have to say, I hope Phil derives the same enjoyment from Maria, the R1150RT.
I'd placed about 120lbs worth of ballast in the sidecar to help keep from "flying the chair" as I did my initial training. That worked out well, never felt the wheel come up at all. Little by little, I worked on increasing speed and moving in heavier traffic. I had a bit of issues with finding second gear and I am sure was holding up the cagers who were behind me. Oh well!
Right turns were a bit more stressful than left turns as I worried about "flying the chair" but I soon got into hanging into the sidecar on right turns to help all wheels keep touching the pavement.
By the end of the training rides, I had gotten her up to about 80 kph, about 48 mph, and let me tell you, it felt pretty damn fast! She sure takes a long time to get there by the way but I think that will become faster and smoother with practice once I get the "hang" of shifting her klunky gears.
First impressions: Beautiful condition, thanks Phil! Simple design and everything is pretty accessible. Her boxer engine is damn similar to Brigitta's engine layout; no surprise since Natasha's ancestors were copies of BMW's R71 motorcycle designed back before WWII.
A few spots with light rust, nothing I can't fix and coat with anti-rust stuff for the upcoming winter riding. A little touch-up paint is in order, some rubber gasket/seal material for the trunk lid and the light mounts on the sidecar fender, one of which is slightly askew.
Definitely not a BMW in terms of construction, more like a tank. Thick steel sheets comprise the sidecar, and all support points for the sidecar are beefy and workmanlike. Nothing delicate about a URAL!
There's also something weird going on with the high beam headlight switch, it shuts the headlight off for no apparent reason. The first time it happened I thought the high beam portion of the headlight bulb had burned out but no. More investigation is in order. Low beam seems just fine except that its quite weak. Same goes with the turn signals, they seem "weak" but more examination is warranted. They all seem to work though so that's a good thing.
Very happy with this swap, I have to say, I hope Phil derives the same enjoyment from Maria, the R1150RT.
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