The Tao of Walking Ridge

After a few hours to get the Continental sidecar well connected to the 1973 Moto Guzzi Eldorado, I strapped down the battery, fitted some after market air cleaners to keep the dust out the carbs, fabricated a seat bracket for the solo seat, and was ready for the first trial run.

A half mile shakedown had some oscillations.  I noted the tire pressure was just a bit low, so I raised it to 21 psi front 25 psi rear.  This handled much better.

After a mile or so, I got the hang of the rig. The firmer tire pressure was a great help.  A spongy feeling combined with the car tugging can be really spooky.  But with the firmer pressure, response to the handlebar input was predictable, and the only thing that got tired was my throttle handle hand fighting the return spring.  After three or four miles down the back roads at 30 mph, I decided to see how it handled on paved roads.  At 50 and 55 mph it was pretty comfortable.  I did not have to do any panic stops at that speed, but there was nothing spooky that happened cruising along.

I stopped at a local Starbucks for some morning espresso.  After my espresso, the bike fired right back up.  I took a residential road back and found a person backing his car up with the hatch open.  After a couple of weaving maneuvers, I decided to downshift to first and give him space.  Then I lost all drive, stuck in neutral.  Fortunately I could coast to a little parking spot near a walking trail.  I discovered my shift linkage was broken.  But if I could just get it into gear (after starting it, which requires neutral) I could get it home.

However, it was now that I discovered I’d FORGOTTEN A TOOL BAG.  Geeez.  How forgetful.  I was actually trying to think of something to put in the sidecar for a bit of weight.  TOOLS WOULD HAVE BEEN A GOOD IDEA!  I walked a couple blocks to a drug store and got some duct tape, but I wasn’t quite able to get 1 shift out of the bits left.  A Harley Davidson rider named Joe stopped by.  He rode home and came back with tools.  Eventually, we figured out a really big screw driver could be used to pry on the linkage of the transmission and snick it into 1st gear.  We got it started.  Joe kept it running while I held the clutch and pried it into 1st.  Then I hopped on and rode it 10 miles home at around 18 mph.  Fortunately, I knew back roads for the entire trip.

While Joe and I were working on it, a gentleman walked up from the local paper.  He “is always on the lookout for a good story”.  Call it the “sidecar effect”.  He thought it looked interesting and wondered what I was up to with the rig.

So, first ride, made it home.  A little bit of sidecar wobble in first gear, less than 20 mph.  But not enough to bother with a dampener.  (UPDATE:  The wobble was greatly reduced by raising tire pressures and improving the sidecar alignment at a later date.)  With both hands firmly on the bars, you can prevent or stop it.  I was able to relax and look around on the way home.  I saw turtles crossing the road, and watched the countryside go by.  The solo seat looks cool, and is fine for 20 minutes.  But not what I’d want for an hour long cruise.  But I got the rig for crawling back roads anyway and for that, so far so good.

Yeah, it isn’t running right now.  But the broken bit is basically a small turnbuckle.  It is very possible I can get one at the hardware store and be back out this weekend. Perhaps more importantly, I think I know why it broke. The lever on the transmission was not at 90 degrees, more like a 45 degree angle. So the lever on the foot shaft was at a similar angle. Great for high loads. Not so good for travel, which is what the tranny is looking for. I found it pretty hard to shift, and now I think I know why. To do it right will require taking the arm off the trans and rotating it on the splines. Ditto for the foot levers, which will require at least loosening the exhaust. It won’t be a 10 minute job, but when it is done it should shift much better and be fixed for good. Just part of sorting out a vintage bike.

       - the Muse

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 9th, 2009 at 1:33 pm and is filed under Journal, Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.