going over to the enemy

[Sasquatch Jim]

  I have sold my DR560 with Ural sidecar.  I have been shopping for a replacement with poor luck.
 Modern motorcycles do not have frames.  At least, not compatible with sidecar usage.  I am getting a bit old to take on a major
 fabrication job like building a subframe and such.  Besides, I no longer have the shop or tools to do so.
 I have been looking with favor upon the new crop of honda side by sides.  In particular the smaller 500cc models.  They can select 2 or 4 wheel drive,
 locked or unlocked differential.  Paddle shifting 3 speeds from the steering wheel, ( a plus for a dead legged person) ,  Ropes cage, seat for the hottie alongside, and some other stuff that My sidecars never had.  Besides which if I get tired, the hottie can drive me, a feature not available with most sidecar monkeys.  I am currently setting up my Nissan Frontier to tow a trailer for this toy.  After 50 years of motorcycles Who'd'a thunk I would do something
 as dastardly as buy a 4 wheeler?  But as Clint Eastwood once famously said, "A man's got to know his limitations.  As a septuagenerian  my limitations are making themselves known.  However, as a septuagenerian I have more disposable income than before, so I am going to dispose of some of it this way.
 The Honda and trailer will cost me about 12 grand total with all the fringe things added on.  That is about the price of a decent large motorcycle and less than the indecent price of a KTM.  That's the logo of the Kost Too Much motorcycle.
 I still have the 750 honda with road sidecar for taking hotties on drive by shootings but soon will have the advantage of going on remote excursions with them too chicken to monkey in a sidecar.

[Penderic]

You could pick up a lot of admirers with this baby, if you are not in any hurry!

[pyoungbl]

OK, so what's the question?  Sounds like you have this figured out.  We all change with age and you have figured out a path that sounds pretty neat.  Congratulations.

Peter Y.

[Penderic]

This is the one that I would like to have on the farm....



Woo woo!  ;-T

[rodekyll]

They're so popular up here that some communities are considering a license level to allow them in town as well as in the bush.

[lucian]

Way cooler than the pony !

[normzone]

I don't know about that - I had one of two sisters take me for a ride in a cart only a little larger than that with a pony only a little larger than that one - it was fun.

Then there was the time one of the sisters came by my gas station and I decided to greet her at the pumps and surprise her with a kiss through the car window.

It was the wrong sister. I acted as though that was my intent...too late to do anything else.

[Sasquatch Jim]

  The first picture Penderic posted has less than one horsepower and no emissions controls.
  The second one is nice but bigger than I need.

[lomax]

Why not get one of the side by sides that are street legal and that way you do not have to trailer. Of course the off road SxS are a lot of fun if you keep them right side up. DAMHIK:  ::)

Marc

[AJ Huff]

Polaris Slingshot!

-AJ

[Arizona Wayne]

Squatch, you sound like me when I got my MP3s.  ;D   Funny if you live long enough your needs/wants change. Do what works for you at this point in your life.  :BEER:

[Sasquatch Jim]

  I would love to have a street legal one, who makes them?

[Arizona Wayne]

 I would love to have a street legal one, who makes them?

I'm talking about my Piaggio Mp3s (250/400)  Maybe they haven't made it to your island.  They're about as rare as Moto Guzzis in some places.   They're not really made for 2up riding, but they have a lot of storage and get fabulous mpg.  In your situation all you'd need is a 250.  ;D  I have the 400 for long distance.  If you want more info., PM me.

[Sasquatch Jim]

  Mp3s don't go off road.

[Arizona Wayne]

 Mp3s don't go off road.

Correct.  Some riders do but I don't.  Even a little gravel on a road is not fun. Those 2 front tires w/independent suspension don't like that. :)

[Lannis]

   After 50 years of motorcycles Who'd'a thunk I would do something
 as dastardly as buy a 4 wheeler?  But as Clint Eastwood once famously said, "A man's got to know his limitations.  As a septuagenerian  my limitations are making themselves known.  However, as a septuagenerian I have more disposable income than before, so I am going to dispose of some of it this way.
 

Nothing lasts forever.   At some point all of us are going to have to get off of two-wheelers, and maybe even three wheelers, and eventually four-wheelers ....

Just like the Wild Guzzi list and MGNOC rallies aren't just for people with Moto Guzzis, they're not even just for people with motorcycles.   They're for people with the right outlook and attitudes that get along well with like-minded people.  

There are lots of people on motorcycles that I wouldn't sleep in the same campground with.   Conversely, there are lots of people interested in and involved with Moto Guzzis who don't own or ride one, or even a motorcycle.

So when my time comes when my inner ear or leg strength says "No mo' of that now" about motorcycles, I am NOT going to try to build something that's not a motorcycle and insist to people that I am still riding a "motorcycle" and that a three-wheeler is the same as a motorcycle.    I'm, instead, going to do what is fun for me, whether that's my son riding me around in a nice sidecar, or getting a stripped-down sports car with a folding windshield, or something.   NOT to pretend it's a motorcycle and I'm still "In The Wind" and "One Of The Gang" - I don't need that to be "part of the group".   No telling what I might be showing up to Guzzi rallies on in 20 years!

I'm just going to have fun with different equipment ..... and not try to make believe that "it's a motorcycle, really" .... (coughcoughCanAmcoug hcough)

Lannis    

[Arizona Wayne]

I have news for you, Lannis, my MP3 label says motorcycle right on it.  :-*  And being able to still enjoy leaning thru corners sure beats any other so called version of what a MC is, IMHO.  :P

[Sasquatch Jim]

  I have news for you Lannis, I'm not getting an MP3.  I still have one of my sidecar rigs and don't plan on getting rid of it yet.
 I am simply looking for something else to play with.  If the trade winds weren't so strong, i might be interested in an ultralite
 or motorized parasail.  The problems with those are one, no place to store it that is safe from strong winds, the other is a place to lunch from.
 Boat moorage here is for the rich, That leaves what I am doing, or vegging in front of TV.  I've done enough of the last one while recovering from injuries and medical stuff.  I want to get off the road and chase menehunes, preferably with the help of a wahine.

[Lannis]

  I want to get off the road and chase menehunes, preferably with the help of a wahine.

Don't those things have long poisonous spines and big teeth?   I wouldn't want to catch one, I might get hurt ....  ;)

Lannis

[Sasquatch Jim]

 You obviously are smoking some really good stuff if you see menehunes with poisonous spines.
 This is one of the few photos in existence of a menehune in the jungle.  I stopped the sidecar rig and snapped quick.

 

 The girl jumped out of the hack and ran over and kissed him.

 

[Sasquatch Jim]

  Well no side by side this time.  I was informed on another forum about a BIG Ruckas for sale.  I investigated and sure enough it was on this island too.
 Well to make a short story long, it is now in the back of my truck in my driveway. When all the dust settles I will put a sidecar on it.
 It should be capable of some lesser off road stuff, it has no foot controls at all, everything is on the handlebars.  Considering that all the area I ride in anymore
 is 35 MPH except the road over the mountain and that is 40 MPH, 250cc should be enough.  It has an exoskeleton frame so sidecar adaption should be easy.
 Top speed as a solo is 65 MPH so with a sidecar I can expect 55 or at least 50.  The power plant is basically a Honda reflex engine with lower final drive.
 This should mean engine parts are still available.

 Looks like this,

 

  Okay if it won't show the picture just click here,  http://www.motorscooterguide.net/Honda/BigRuckus/BigRuckus.html

[Lannis]

 Well no side by side this time.  I was informed on another forum about a BIG Ruckas for sale.  I investigated and sure enough it was on this island too.
 Well to make a short story long, it is now in the back of my truck in my driveway. When all the dust settles I will put a sidecar on it.
 It should be capable of some lesser off road stuff, it has no foot controls at all, everything is on the handlebars.  Considering that all the area I ride in anymore
 is 35 MPH except the road over the mountain and that is 40 MPH, 250cc should be enough.  It has an exoskeleton frame so sidecar adaption should be easy.
 Top speed as a solo is 65 MPH so with a sidecar I can expect 55 or at least 50.  The power plant is basically a Honda reflex engine with lower final drive.
 This should mean engine parts are still available.

 Looks like this,

 

  Okay if it won't show the picture just click here,  http://www.motorscooterguide.net/Honda/BigRuckus/BigRuckus.html

That sounds like a WINNER.   Get one of those pukaluka guys from the woods to ride in it with you, and the girls will come swarming around .... !

Lannis

[Sasquatch Jim]

  I'd rather have the girls in it and the pukulukas get jealous about it.

[Brightblade]

If your looking for something in the three wheel department you may find a can-am spyder may work.  It's not side by side, but it may be worth considering.    Not sure what your into though.

[Arizona Wayne]

If your looking for something in the three wheel department you may find a can-am spyder may work.  It's not side by side, but it may be worth considering.    Not sure what your into though.

In no way do Can-ams fit the way Squatch plans to use this big Ruckus.  ;)

[Sasquatch Jim]

  Just for openers, the Spyder has a brake pedal, That is useless to me.  I think it also uses a foot shifter, also not good.
 Besides I just don't like them.