Yesterday morning they called just as I was getting in the shower, to tell me they'd be here this morning between 8am and 10am. Then they called again at 5pm yesterday to say that they had reached the limit of hours they can be on the road in one day, and they were parked at a truck stop a couple miles from my house. I could come and get it there that evening if I liked. Twist my arm...!
So Steve drove me down there to get it and ride it home.
The bike windshield wasn't on it, because I didn't send it. The mirrors were on it, but tucked in and tightened so they couldn't be positioned, and we didn't bring a wrench. So I had to ride it home without mirrors or windshield. The windshield was no big deal, but the lack of mirrors was nerve wracking!
It had a little tendency to tankslap at low speed, but the Ural does that too, and it was amenable to the same fix - give it a little gas and it stops. It tracks very straight and true, not like the Ural where you have to fight it all the time. I was please with the handling.
The new electric push button shift is very precise, but not intuitive. The red button upshifts and the green button downshifts. Seems backwards, but if there's a convention here I don't know it, and it shouldn't matter once I get used to it.
I have hyperlites on my brake lights, but the sidecar doesn't have them. This could be confusing for drivers behind me. Considered moving one of the lights over to the sidecar side, but that would be a heck of a wire run, since they are run off a controller that's in the bike tail. I think I will just order another hyperlites kit and attach it to the sidecar taillight.
The bike was delivered with the tonneau cover installed. It's kind of difficult to install and remove with the snaps. I am going to put some zipper-ease on the snaps and see if that makes this easier. The sidecar windshield folds down under the tonneau cover and this led to the one delivery flaw. The edge of the windshield has damaged the upholstery on the sidecar seat, in transit.
I am going to see if they'll send me a replacement seat cover. And next time I fold the windshield down like that I'll put something in between to protect the seat.
The rear luggage rack is hinged at the back, and latches at the front with hardware that I think is sourced from a jeep.
The interior of the sidecar is neatly carpeted but you can lift the carpet floor mats to see the fiberglass interior of the tub. The seat pulls out and you can access the wiring behind it.
The front end mods are very interesting. I took some close up pics and put them in my sidecar album. I also put in some pictures of the shifter mechanism.
This morning we drove it out to the local coney island where we like to eat breakfast on weekends. It drove well and Steve liked the sidecar accommodations.
After breakfast we decided it would be fun to go home and get the Ural and take them both out to a motorcycle shop about 20 miles away. Both bikes needed fuel so we went to the gas station. This is the trip where I got into trouble. Tankslappers! Terrible tankslapping. And stuff like this is worsened when you get tense. Every little ripple in the pavement was setting it off, and I couldn't get it under control without stopping the bike. I gave up within a couple blocks and limped home. Steve then took it for a test ride and was able to get past it fairly easily. Me, I am just too tired. I will try again tomorrow. But I think I may need a steering damper. I have posted to the Super10 forum to see if anyone there has one they can recommend. And I will see what DMC suggests when they open on Monday.
Sidecar album with pictures of last night's first ride, and close ups of some of the mods
