The Tao of Walking Ridge

Since I was 12, I dreamt of riding a motorcycle with a sidecar.  More than 40 years later, the pieces fell into place.  I found a Moto Guzzi Eldorado with a Continental sidecar that needed some work, but ran.  I drove well into the night (there was even a full moon), got a room and slept for a few hours, then pressed on into West Virginia.  The scenery was magnificent, adding to the coolness of the adventure.

Finally I arrived and discovered a great classic looking sidecar rig. The sidecar is made in India, and is often attached to the Royal Enfields that are still being made there. The power was supplied by an 850 cc Moto Guzzi Eldorado. Imported in the early ’70s to compete with Harley Davidsons, the Eldorado was ridden by some Police, and developed a reputation of reliability for its era.

We had to disconnect the sidecar to package the pair, but my full size GMC Sierra was able to take both units with the tailgate up and room to spare. It was really nice not having to haul a trailer through the mountains, and the 5.3 L engine had no trouble keeping up with traffic.  The only disappointment was the box being about three inches too narrow to drive the whole rig straight in!

This particular bike is not all factory original, which actually makes it more fun to restore.  It opens up the creative possibilities.  It is a 1973, but has been retrofitted with later front forks and disk brakes.  Plans are for a solo seat and a new paint job in addition to the expected mechanical work.  The new paint job will be a great opportunity to try some pinstriping.

       - the Muse

This entry was posted on Friday, September 4th, 2009 at 12:02 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.