klr sidecar projects

[Randall Marbach]

Good question.... The bake off will be about what sidecar combo, KLR versus Ural, will be the best all around southwest rig.... i.e. Crossing a sandy riverbed.... Hill climbing .... snow covered or not Fording a stream, etc. etc... tbd I am really impressed what Vern, i.e, the Red Menace... the father of KLR sidecars, has been able to accomplish with his rigs. http://adventuresidecar.com/ (BTW ... the monkey in the sidecar logo on his site is me....) OTOH.... I read what Mr COB... on soviet steeds is able to do with his Urals... for example... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iz1sTwI536k Now, having owned both KLR/Enduros... and Urals.... I find, as an old fart, I like them both.... and am gravitating more towards sidecars than two wheelers...... but I do love my DRZ two wheelers. I guess the older one gets... the more I hate the thought of falling down.... and I love coming to a stop sign and not having to put my feet down. Lots more feeling to follow. Randy from Wrightwood ________________________________ From: RobertWichert To: revmaaatin Cc: DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com Sent: Monday, March 25, 2013 5:20 PM Subject: Re: [DSN_KLR650] Re: KLR sidecar projects So these El Mirage runs will be land speed record attempts, or what? Robert Wichert P.Eng. LEED AP BD&C +1 916 966 9060 FAX +1 916 966 9068 ===============================================

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. > > > > > > > > ------------------------------------ > > > > List Sponsors - Dual Sport News: http://www.dualsportnews.com > > Arrowhead Motorsports: http://www.arrowheadmotorsports.com > > List FAQ courtesy of Chris Krok: http://www.bigcee.com/klr650faq.html > > Members Map > https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=212558560286766214899.0004d0fa9f1732283bb6f&msa=0&ll=38.522384,-109.489746&spn=6.831383,9.624023Yahoo! > Groups Links > > > > > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ List Sponsors - Dual Sport News: http://www.dualsportnews.com Arrowhead Motorsports: http://www.arrowheadmotorsports.com List FAQ courtesy of Chris Krok: http://www.bigcee.com/klr650faq.html Members Map https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=212558560286766214899.0004d0fa9f1732283bb6f&msa=0&ll=38.522384,-109.489746&spn=6.831383,9.624023Yahoo! 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[mark ward]

Is shipping slow for everyone? I used to ship or get a package, by UPS in 3-4 days, CA, Fl., WA. etc. Cross country. I received my expected delivery date notice, 8days ONLY 330 miles. Columbus OH. to Grand Rapids Mich. Both Major Cities. & Major Warehouse Depots , As said, I used to receive a Package from Seattle, Ect. in 3-4 days. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]