Sidecar Musings

So, the old Bad Idea sidecar bike has been officially registered as a 1976 Chang with our glorious state. This was the last hurdle with this bike, and now it's legal. It's not easy working with the DMV and CHP with this kind of oddity for sure. My secret weapon was Nancy at CARS in Temecula. Sure, it costs a few bucks but if you've got something with weird registration or title issues, the ladies at CARS get it done. The phone number there is 951-694-4331. I think they might be the last business in the country to not have a website. Ol' Officer Friendly at CHP was a weirdo but got the job done. I actually rode the beast to and from work today, which was the first time I've really put any miles on a bike and sidecar other than just around the block a few times. I've made some random observations about sidecar driving after today:

Everyone is in a hurry except me

Everyone stops really fast except me

Old people have the opposite of their usual reaction, they all smile

Taking BF Josh and Mike D. to lunch on it today was really gay, and all of us were strangely OK with that

Taking the kids to yogurt after dinner was even better

One of my dogs is too old to get in, the other too hyper to sit still long enough to ride

Willis will dig it

Wide bars make sense. Turning a bike rather than leaning it is odd, especially scary at about 45 mph

45 is the top speed, so far

I wouldn't take the best sidecar rig on the freeway

I need a mirror or we're all going to die

It's really practical to be able to haul so much crap to and from work so easily

Reverse gears rule

You can bring a drink on the road

Gear oil makes things shift better

Splitting lanes is hard

Being able to talk to your dog, kids, friends while riding is kinda fun

Two of you could be pretty drunk and still pull it off (that was Mike's epiphany)

Kinda nice to not have to put your feet down at lights

I'll probably never ride it more than 10 miles or so from the house