On 3/25/2013 5:12 PM, revmaaatin wrote:
>
> note to self:
> Please do not ask Randy any more questions.
> He is contributing to the deliquency of a rev.
> cough.
> revmaaatin.
>
> ps. great post. grin.
> Thanks for the update.
>
> --- In
DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com
> , Randall Marbach
> wrote:
> >
> > Hi Rev
> >
> > I must say it has been a hectic two years since I "retired" in March
> 2011. Karen and I were living in Burbank back then but already owned
> our weekend/retirement place up in Wrightwood. About six months into
> my retirement, we decided to sell the large Burbank house and the dog
> and I would move to WW full time and Karen would rent a studio
> apartment near the school where she works, living there week days and
> coming up the hill weekends, holidays, summer and XMas vacations etc.
> WW is about an hour and a half commute for her one way.
> >
> > When we were living full time together in Burbank, I had the ability
> to take off on weekend M/C or S/C trips once or twice a month while
> Karen stayed home with the dog... Stella is an indoor 20 lb
> schnauzer/terrier mix... and no match for the coyotes that live on
> the hill across the street.
> >
> > However, under our current living arrangement, I found now I would
> much rather stay home with Karen on the weekends when she is up here
> than take off for the weekend leaving her alone again. Net effect,
> is I havent been out on a camping trip since about September of 2011.
> >
> > When we sold the Burbank house, my 00 DRZ and the solo KLR went into
> storage with most of our furniture. The cabin was all of 850 sq feet
> with no garage or carport. I used the KLR/Dauntless Enduro S/C and my
> Wrangler to get around town. I found overtime, that the upright
> seating position of the Enduro was OK for cargo, but my wife did not
> like it and more importantly, there was no easy way to secure the dog.
> I found that the KLR/sidecar began to sit in lieu of the jeep.
> >
> > In November 2011, we decided to buy a used 2006 Ural Gear-Up. For
> around town, it turned out to be the perfect vehicle for us. The
> reverse and 2 wheel drive work great in the ice and snow up here, and
> both Karen and Stella were much more comfortable as passengers. We
> even took it on a road trip to Northern California to attend a
> wedding, and visit with a fellow Uralista in Bodega Bay. While in San
> Jose, we had Ski at Triquest perform a full service. While at Ski's
> shop he had a damaged 2011 Gobi up on jacks having just been beat up
> by Hell for Leather Motorcycle Magazine road test.
> >
> >
>
http://hellforleathermagazine.com/2011/08/here%E2%80%99s-he-deal-with-sidecars/
> >
> >
> > The plan was to send it back to the mother ship to be parted out,
> mostly because of cosmetic issues.
> >
> > In summer 2012, on a 100 degree freeway run down the hill to the
> city, I blew up the 06 GearUp... it just quit. Had it towed back to
> WW, other than a compression test, it has been sitting. The
> compression test shows 45 on the left and 90 on the right. While
> consulting with SKI on what the next steps should be, he mentioned the
> GOBI was up for sale for a very reasonable price, and I jumped on it.
> Flew up to San Jose and rode it down the coast. The Gobi is so much
> stronger than the 06. (if you are thinking of getting a used Ural,
> the bench mark year is 2007 or newer... many significant improvements
> were incorporated in to the 2007 and up). The Gobi has been my daily
> driver since it arrived in WW.
> >
> > It was always my intention to do a bake off between the KLR/sidecar
> and the Urals, but unexpected consulting jobs and a big construction
> project got in the way starting last summer until now. The original
> plan was to open up a small retirement business offering sidecar tours
> of the local mountains and deserts, but my old company called me back
> as a full time consultant... delaying my plans for a year. And we
> discovered that living full time in a 850 square foot cabin wasnt
> going to cut it... so we commissioned a construction project to create
> a 600+ sf basement under the existing cabin as well as add a deck and
> a carport out the back of the cabin. And just this past week, we were
> finally able to move into the new space.
> >
> > Two new developments... summer of last year, the small cabin next
> door to ours came on the market and we jumped on it. We are going
> call it the MojaveSidecar Inn. The plan is to open it up to family,
> friends and fellow sidecarists to come up and hang out and use it as a
> base for tours around the local area, hopefully by July. We have a
> full time tenant in there now but he is expected to leave hopefully in
> May.
> >
> > The second is that my wife decided to retire in June, so she will
> finally be up here full time in a couple of months. We plan to use
> the last 6 months of this year shaking out the business with an eye
> towards opening up the Inn for commercial customers around the first
> of the year. More importantly, I should finally have a chance to take
> both the KLRs and the Urals out to El Mirage dry lake this summer/fall
> to see how they stack up against each other and should be able to
> report back findings then.
> >
> > Now that I have a carport, I am ready to tackle the 06 GearUp. The
> cylinder leakdown tester showed up yesterday... so with a little
> luck, I should have a diagnosis next weekend. Then we can figure out
> the next steps. Once the 06, is running, the KLRs are next.. I
> have a set of leading link forks I never had a chance to install....
> so much to do, so little time.
> >
> > HTH
> >
> > Randy
> >
> >
> >
> > ________________________________
> > From: revmaaatin
> > To:
DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com
> > Sent: Saturday, March 23, 2013 8:13 AM
> > Subject: [DSN_KLR650] KLR sidecar projects
> >
> > Redirecting the topic from Randy's previous reply here:
> > It has been a while
> >
> > --- In
DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com
> , Randall Marbach wrote:
> > >
> > Randy,
> > Your side car addiction was a topic of conversation Wednesday night
> as we previewed the Colorado Back Country movies that are promoting DS
> riding in various states (this one was CO; there is one for WA and
> soon to be one for AZ as well).
> >
> > Tell us more about your KLR side car thoughts; how pleased you are
> with the sidecar project. Links, etc to other forums on your project
> as appropriate.
> >
> > Did you use a traditional semi-enclosed side car, or just a
> bare-bones platform of wheel, bucket seat and grab-bar that I have
> seen on other sites?
> >
> > revmaaatin.
> >
> >
> >
> > ------------------------------------
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> >
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>
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