“RPOC”

Definition: Russian Piece O’ Crap, or, a term of endearment (really) for one’s beloved Russian motorcycle.

Usage: I don’t know what happened to this friggin RPOC. Now hand me the BFH so I can sort this buggerin’ bike out!

Svetlana recently crossed the 1500km mark, and it got me thinking about the Ural so far, and what it’s been like having it.

• After my bad corner a while back, and coupled with being away a lot, riding Svetlana again was a little rough. The bike felt tippier, a little unfamiliar, almost as if I was just getting used to having her again. That’s now smoothed out — just takes time, and a clear head, and plenty of riding time.
• Speaking of feeling tippy, indeed she did. I couldn’t figure out how much of it was psychological and how much was physical. I think it was a little of each — as if suddenly I was scared of how Sveta would handle, especially around turns. But again, I just kept getting on to ride, and making sure I was really thinking about my technique. After a few rides, this tippiness feeling has faded. My mind and body remember how Sveta handles, how she feels on corners, and it’s okay.
• Posture isn’t everything, but it’s close. I noticed that whenever Sveta did feel tippy, my posture was off. Straightening up my back, checking the bend and tightness of my elbows, readjusting my hands on the grips — all this helped. Above all, though, being mindful of my posture helped the most. If Sveta felt weird, it was because I was slumping over. The moment I straightened my posture, the handling improved. I’m not saying you could balance a book on my head while I ride — though it’d be an amusing sight — but sitting up straight makes for better technique and a safer, smoother ride.
• Being on TV is fun. Last week, one of our local TV stations did a story about Svetlana, Jodie, Ella and me. I’d never been on TV before, but it was pretty easy. We had a fun time riding around, and it was great to see the story — but even better to hear the fun comments from our friends and family who saw it. The story focused mostly on how sidecar motorcycles, once pretty rare, are making a comeback, and how their appeal goes far beyond the stereotypical “biker”.

All in all, these first 1500km have been fun and challenging, and I’m stoked for more. I’ve got another 1,000km to go before I attempt to do Sveta’s next maintenance interval, and that I’m sure will be an interesting bit of posts (albeit with most of the swearing edited out). For now though, I’m getting in all the fall riding I can, and enjoying these last clear skies before the rains return to Western Oregon.

It’s been far too long since I got on the various Ural message boards. The IMZ board… ADV Rider’s Hacks… Soviet Steeds… I’ve been missing the good discussions and interesting questions. Between summer and a big trip, I’ve hardly been checking email, but now things are more settled down and I can get in there again.

Have you been to the boards? If not, be sure to hit them up for all things sidecar and Ural. Here’s a full listing of Ural and sidecar message boards:

Ural Sidecar Motorcycle Message Boards

For the past 2 weeks, I’ve hardly thought about riding a motorcycle. Feels a little hard to believe, but it’s true. Jodie and I are just back from a great vacation, relaxing and full of friends. It’s been a brilliant time, but it’s also good to get home, see Svetlana sitting patiently in the garage. The tires will need a top-up, and I need to get some gas in her. But we’re home, and it’s riding time again.

Strange – since getting back, I’ve been thinking a lot about motorcycles…

Like I mentioned yesterday, it’d been ages since I’d ridden. So this morning I rode Svetlana to work. It’s funny how things felt a little unfamiliar. I had to think about the controls, from pulling out the enricheners to get the Ural going, to remembering how much to shift my weight on turns and curves.

It was all worth it though. By the time I rode home this afternoon, I felt back in control, felt the smoothness coming back to my technique. Setting up turns smoothed out. Acceleration and shifting got easier, more fluid.

The one funny part: when trying to start Sveta up, she wouldn’t turn over at first. I tried a couple of times, but had no luck. At first I wondered if I was out of gas. Then I thought, “Well, it’s pretty warm today, maybe I don’t need the enricheners?” I’d pushed them, hit the starter — and she fired right up.

Nice.

It’s good to be back in the saddle.

Feels strange, too. I haven’t ridden in about a week. Mostly circumstance, with a touch of weather, but by and large I’ve either been doing things at home, or it’s been better for Jodie and I to have used the car. But I can feel the twitch in me. It’s good to have a break sometimes… but it’s also time to ride.

I think I’ll be taking the Ural to work tomorrow.

Note to self: Skin and hot J-pipes shouldn’t mix.

Didn’t want to leave the house this past weekend, with Eugene in its annual 100-degree, 4-day heatwave. Did want to fire up the Ural though, and did so on Saturday night. After letting it idle for a couple of minutes, I noticed that it looked like my right mudguard was slipping down a little close to the right engine head.

I hopped off the bike, knelt down to see if I could jiggle the mudguard up — and got myself a nice wee burn on my forearm, where I brushed against the already hot J-pipe.

Ouch.

Now that I finally have my Ural, I get a huge kick when someone else receives their new Ural. In addition to this chap getting his new Patrol, he also has a sweet list of mods, which I’m noting down as good food for thought for when Jodie and I start doing some more customizing:

“Bike was delivered on Friday. Gold leaf graphics and spotlight were installed prior to delivery. It immediately went into my garage for waxing and installation of goodies”

Follow the whole discussion: Soviet Steeds - Finally…photo’s of new ‘08 Patrol

Speaking of the “goodies,” here are some of the ones I just might have to add to Svetlana:

• chrome med kit box
• carpet kit
• side skirt
• deerskin cover over rubber tubing on windscreen ‘grab rail’ stainless steel
• awaiting vinyl covers for buggy topside foam edges

Stupid rookie mistake

Bit of a freakout moment last week, and frankly I’m surprised Sveta and I are okay. Basically, on the way home from running errands I wound through a parking lot at a local park, to wrap up a quick fun jaunt before heading home. Then I took a corner wrong.

The sidecar wheel bumped up onto the curb. Then I really screwed up, and must’ve shifted my weight left — because suddenly, the sidecar was in the air, and I was leaning really, really far left.

“Oh crap,” I thought, “I’m going to crash.”

Bike was still going forward. Luckily there was no one in the path of the bike and no traffic in either direction. I got across the access road, amazingly still on 2 wheels. I shifted weight to the right and put the tub down, then drove over the opposite curb and brought the bike to a stop. Amazingly, I didn’t even stall the engine.

I powered down, dismounted, walked around the bike and checked everything over. All looked okay. Only thing out of whack was my shaking hands, only thing damaged was my pride. I drove home without any other events. Once home, a scotch on the rocks helped settle my nerves.

Freak accident, nearly complicated by a stupid rookie weight shift mistake. Can’t believe I didn’t wind up under the bike. Can’t believe I misjudged that wheel-to-curb distance.

Be careful out there. And mind how you shift that weight, no matter what’s going on.

Lessons Learned

• Mistakes happen. How you respond is often more important than the mistake itself.
• Always shift your weight the way you want the tub to go — because that’s the way it’s going to go.
• Don’t panic. I wanted to panic, could feel it gnawing at me, but I also had a woman to get home to, and in one piece. She’s more important than panic. I thought about Jodie, and got the Ural back under control.
• If the tub comes up and you don’t want it up, shift weight right and put it down.
• Stop evenly.
• Keep an eye on your surroundings; I knew I had leeway to fix this situation, because I scanned around me and knew there was no one nearby who could get hurt, and nothing for me to run into.
• Don’t beat yourself up too badly. Mistakes happen to everyone, just also be sure to learn from them.

This is the kind of reminder that makes you shout, “hell yeah!” and then grab your gear and ride. This tale of near misadventure shows what great things can happen when plans fall through – only to liberate you from having plans in the first place.

“This recipe for adventure is available to any one of us, but is rarely prepared because we all live so well planned and convenient lives that we seldom think of it. The ingredients are very simple”

Follow the whole adventure (and recipe): Recipe for One Hell of a Weekend | Helmet Hair - Motorcycle Blog