The Sidecar Summer- A father/daughter ride through middle America on a Ural.

[jwaller]

My daughter and I are currently on a ride from New Braunfels, to Wisconsin for the summer. We just wanted to beat the TX summer heat and spend the majority of the summer visiting family in a cooler environment. I'm a school teacher with the majority of the summer off, so why not? Our steed of choice for this epic trip is a 2014 Ural Patrol. That alone should be enough to let you know this is going to be some kind of adventure!

We originally planned to leave by the middle of June. Before that, we had to buy new riding gear for my daughter. She's been wearing hand-me-downs from her older brother and sister, but for such a trip, I thought it best that she have new, well fitting, comfortable gear. We were going to be spending lots of time on the road. So, a few weeks ago, I bought her a brand new jacket, gloves, and helmet with a built in Sena bluetooth communicator. We got home that night and she just had to go test it out, so we loaded up in the Ural for a shakedown run up and down River Road between New Braunfels and the Canyon Lake dam.

Let's just say the Ural lived up to its reputation of stone cold reliability:

In case you can't see it, that's a broken swing-arm. Got to work on tearing it down the next day.

Say what you will about Ural reliability, but the warranty is one of the best in the business. After taking off the swing-arm, I rode up to Austin to take it to AF1. Within a few days, I had a brand new swing-arm. It was an updated design, hopefully one which will not have that sort of catastrophic failure in the future.

Before heading out on the big trip, I took a smaller shakedown trip and had my bike set-up and checked over by a very experienced Ural rider in Plano. I then headed down to Burnett to camp out at the Canyon of the Eagles resort in order to test some of the camping equipment I might be using on the big ride.

Everything checked out, so I went home to make final preparations for the trip. I was going to do the trip in three legs. The first leg would take me to Rapid City, SD to visit my son. Then, the plan was to go on to the Milwaukee area of Wisconsin for a couple weeks. The third and final leg would be to mosey our way back home with the plan to ride the Missouri and Arkansas Ozarks.

This is original plan for the first leg of the journey:

I got up on the morning of June 30 and made sure to check the valves and do a full service on the Ural before setting out. I then packed it up. We'd be riding down the road looking like the motorcycle equivalent of Jed Clampett's car.

More to follow, later.

 

[kickstand~prophet]

Hope you have a safe ride and take a bunch of pictures.

 

[jwaller]

On day one of our adventure, we got a late start and only made it to Leakey. We spent the night in our tent at Garner State Park.


This is us pulling out of the driveway

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[jhansen]

Good luck on your journey! This has the makings of EPIC!


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[jwaller]

Day 2.

We got up early and packed up our tent and all our gear. Our goal was to make it to New Mexico. But first, we wanted to tackle RM 335 and 336. We took RM 337 from Medina to Leakey the previous day and wanted to ride the other 2 of the three twisted sisters. We also wanted to take a look at Camp Eagle, something maybe we'll send Hannah, my daughter, to next summer.
https://youtu.be/wx8JmZCC14I

https://youtu.be/GNuk3tjiVoU

We stopped in Camp Wood for brunch before heading on.

We made our way to US 90 and kept going west, headed to Alpine. We took a photo op as we crossed the Pecos:

We stopped in Alpine for dinner. We topped off our bellies and I topped off the oil before heading toward Fort Davis. We got to Fort Davis just as a storm began rolling in on our planned route to Van Horn. We detoured to Balmorhea. That was a scenic ride. Probably the highlight of the day was from Alpine to Balmorhea. But then it just got..... boring. Boring and ugly. All the bad things you hear about peoples' impressions of West Texas come true. It was just a flat, practically featureless ride from Balmorhea, through Pecos, up to Carlsbad, NM. The road was flat, nothing to see but oil fields and oil trucks going up and down the road. The road was almost as rough as Hackberry Road, and this was a US highway! Those oil field trucks really take their toll on the roads, I guess.

As we got to 16km from Carlsbad, my low beam went out. So there's some folks in NM unhappy with the Ural rider who was too rude to hit the low beams. Sorry. We stopped and spent the night at a Rodeway Inn in Carlsbad. More to follow.

 

[Jeff S]

Subscribed!

Man, that ural is loud. Hope your daughter has a good set of earplugs!

 

[jwaller]

Subscribed!



Man, that ural is loud. Hope your daughter has a good set of earplugs!

Yes to earplugs but the bike's not as loud as the camera makes it seem. Until the exhaust can disconnected that is [emoji849]


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[jwaller]

Day 3.

We woke up to blue skies and cool, crisp desert air. I had a very hard time getting my daughter up to get going. Understandable considering we did over 500 miles the day before.

My plan for the day was to get us back to my planned route so we could ride in scenic mountainous terrain. We enjoyed pancakes from the Golden Arches and made our way to Cloudcroft, NM. The terrain and roads in that area did not disappoint.

https://youtu.be/D_IjsXThOXI

We rode through Ruidoso and while the area was nice, it was everything I wished to avoid in New Braunfels during the summer: ridiculous amounts of traffic and tourist pedestrians clogging the road [emoji1304].

We eventually found ourselves in the desert flats and Hannah started complaining of feeling really bad and saying she didn't feel up to camping that night. So I tried to reserve a hotel room in Pagosa Springs, CO but every thing was booked. I looked into Alamosa and booked us a room. It started to get dark and I was reminded that I didn't have a low beam, so I detoured us to Santa Fe to get a new headlight. Got that taken care of and carried on. Shortly after Santa Fe, I got a call from the hotel informing me that my reservation needed to be cancelled. Hannah seemed to be feeling really bad, so I stopped at the next hotel I saw, a Motel 6 in Española, NM. No wifi, poor cell service, a mattress which felt like a box spring, but it was cheap, available, and kept us warm. And I found I could sleep better on that bed than my own back home. Maybe it was the miles I had done that day and the one before.

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[misterk]

Great report!


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[jwaller]

Day 4.

Once again I woke up to blue skies and crisp, cool desert air. I bet you can tell that I like that. What I didn't like is that Hannah was still feeling bad. So, I was determined to get to my son's house that night, even though it was still over 700 miles away. We got on the road and before long we were in Colorado.

Hannah, not feeling well in this pic at the first town we hit in Colorado

I really wish I could say I enjoyed this part of the ride but I can't. It seems I spent 80 percent of the day going up hill into a 30 mph wind. That's really too much for a 41 hp bike with a huge, 300 lb tumor on the side. Add all that to the fact that I get hypoxia above 7,000 feet of elevation and the fact that my daughter was feeling so crummy and what you have is the recipe for one really bad day. We had stretches of over 100 miles where the land we were on was totally flat although we were surrounded by snow capped peaks. It was full throttle to try to keep up but going about 50 mph into the wind. For hours. When we'd finally hit the mountain passes, we were holding up traffic trying to go up hill. Finally, we'd hit a downhill stretch where I could seemingly get a break, and then we'd be held up by a Winnebago going 30 mph. Beautiful scenery, but really taxing on the Ural and TOO **** CROWDED.

We finally made it to Denver and a place to get a bite to eat and maybe get Hannah some medicine so she could get to feeling better.

As for Denver, as far as I'm concerned, it's just another city. Might as well be Dallas, Houston, or San Antonio.

One thing I had been doing since leaving the house is checking the oil levels in the morning and at dinner time and checking the condition of the tires at every gas stop. When we stopped for dinner, I decided to stop and replace the pusher wheel and tire. Once it starts going it goes fast. So I navigated to the nearest Walmart to use their parking lot for the swap and to use their restroom to clean up afterwards.

Never let it be said that I don't get full usage out of my tires!

We pushed on after some refreshments and cleanup and were soon in Wyoming. I really hit a second wind at the state line. I filled up in Cheyenne and carried on. And on and on. Without seeing anything. No signs of civilization. I started getting fuel anxiety even though I was carrying an additional 7.5 gallons because I didn't want to be filling up on the side of the road in the middle of the night in what my mind was telling me is bear country.

Fortunately before running out of gas, we hit Torrington WY and found a hotel to stay in. I'm glad I stopped when I did, though still 200 miles from my son's house. The next day gave me multiple reasons to be thankful for that!


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[jwaller]

Day 5.

Independence Day!

Man, the sun comes up really early in that part of WY. I thought maybe I slept in until 9 am with how bright it was at 5:30. Got up, had a shower, and went to do morning inspection of the bike. All good to go, so I went to wake up Hannah. The medicine was working. She was feeling much better bet was totally exhausted. I wanted to get on the road asap to make it to my son's house by lunch, but Hannah was having none of that. I was about to ask for divine intervention when suddenly the hotel's fire alarm went off. That got her up. Turned out to be a false alarm, but it was exactly what I needed to get her moving. Miracles do happen!

We got gas as we left town and were soon in rolling hills of grass for as far as the eye could see. "Dances With Wolves" could have been filmed there. That's what the scenery looked like.

We rode on for miles and miles passing the occasional ranch house or vacant, closed down gas station. In fact, we didn't see an open gas station until 25 km after we needed it. No problem. I had two full tanks strapped onto the sidecar just for this scenario. If I had carried on the night before, it would have been a much more stressful and difficult proposition.

We were soon in South Dakota, enjoying the scenery of the Black Hills and wondering why the locals seemed so enamored with Custer. Yeah, I know he died somewhere around there when he foolishly led his men into an ambush. Seems to me he was not worth the hero worship. But hey, we have our Alamo and Goliad, so......

Man, besides the niggle of the headlight, the loose exhaust can on Hackberry Road, and needing to swap the pusher in Denver, the Ural ran great. All the way to my son's neighborhood.

That's when the Ural decided to declare its own independence from working any more. Its declaration was a loud, horrible metallic screeching noise whenever I pulled in the clutch. But hey, it got us to our first destination before that.

https://youtu.be/G7Gh34qyUhM

I decided just to enjoy the rest of the day with my kids. There's always tomorrow to worry about a broken motorcycle.

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[jwaller]

Day 6

Spent most of the day just hanging with my son and daughter. My son had the day off, so I didn't want to spend the entire day taking care of a motorcycle. Besides, his room mates were working and one had left a car parked in front of the garage, so I had to wait until that evening before I could get the bike into the garage to start tearing it down to the clutch to make a diagnosis. We drove around Rapid City and saw the sights, what there is to see. I did get into a Walmart to buy rubber gloves and shop towels and other expendable items for the tear down.

That night, I took it apart to the clutch. For the Ural, and the way the bike is designed, being a boxer twin, that means removing the wheel, the swing-arm, the final drive, the gearbox, and the airbox. Just to get to the clutch. I was figuring the problem was either the clutch release rod or the clutch itself. I made a video of what I saw in the clutch and release rod and posted it up on Soviet Steeds in order to get some expert advice. I saw some wear in a place which looked like it was supposed to be round and smooth. There was metal filings around the back of the clutch and flywheel. It turns out that what looked like a worn bearing or something was actually the outer clutch plate, and what appeared to be something that was supposed to be smooth was supposed to have teeth. In the video, you can see the spline teeth on the second clutch plate. Those very same teeth are supposed to be on the outer clutch plate as well.

https://youtu.be/5Oe3llG54-k

 

[jwaller]

Day 7

A week on the road away from home. With a very sick bike.

I got up in the morning and answered a lot of questions and read many comments left by my fellow Uralists on Soviet Steeds. Once it was 9:00 am on the west coast, I called the Ural mothership to let them know my situation and see about whether this would be covered under warranty. I called three times throughout the morning and left voicemails. Finally, in the early afternoon, I got a return call from the guy who handles all the warranty stuff for Ural. If the clutch plates had just worn out, that would not be a warranty thing because clutch plates go just like tires and brake pads. But this was a totally different issue completely. I was reassured that they were going to take care of me under warranty. That's good. How it all works out is they send the new parts to the nearest Ural dealership and I take the defective parts there for a one for one swap. The nearest dealership is 50 miles away, so not too bad. Just have to wait for the parts to be delivered. So, now the waiting game begins.

 

[jwaller]

Day 8

Cabin fever. No calls from either the dealership or Ural, so I'll call the dealership tomorrow. I told them I'd pay the extra money for expedited shipping. I'm staying on the couch in the living room in my son's apartment which he shares with four other 18-22 year olds. So, not only do I feel like I'm imposing, it's driving me absolutely nuts to sit around with nothing to do while my son and his room mates go to work.

I got a cab to take me to the airport so I could rent a car. Forty-five dollars for a fifteen minute cab ride. I should have walked the 13 miles to the airport. But, I got a rental car. My daughter and I went to a Chili's and then to a Books-A-Million so she could get some books to read and I could peruse the motorcycle magazines over a cup of joe. That was the plan. I looked and looked for the motorcycle magazines and was not finding them. I asked someone where I could find them and was directed to the back magazine rack, towards the top. Yeah. The porn section of the magazines! That's where they kept the motorcycle stuff. "No, I'm not looking at the Hustler, I'm looking at the cover of the Road Runner magazine." Never mind.

Well, if I weren't stuck here, I might have never started this ride report on TWT. I hope tomorrow to be reporting that my parts are in and I'm putting the bike back together. Fingers crossed.

 

[BeemerlessBob]

Sorry 'bout the problems you are having but great report so far.

I think it is great that you and your daughter are taking this journey together. Problems that you encounter along the way are part of the adventure that she will fondly remember for the rest of her life.

Hope you have a nice visit with your son (even if it a bit longer than you had planned) and hope you get back on the road again.



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[philipbarrett]

Great report...following along...

 

[jwaller]

Day 9

The new clutch parts came in. I drove to Spearfish and picked them up. My daughter and I were sick of cabin fever so we took a little excursion to Mt. Rushmore and the Crazy Horse mountain statue they're working on. All very impressive. I hope to see the Crazy Horse memorial completed in my life time. It's going to be impressive. It already is and it's pretty much just a face on the mountain.

Got back to the apartment and tried to get the old clutch out. Russian He-Man must have put the old bolts in. I've snapped an allen wrench and rounded a few of the heads. I did get one bolt out.

 

[jwaller]

Day 10.

I give up trying to fix this myself. It will be in the shop in Spearfish tomorrow morning. It hasn't been a total waste of time. If I hadn't pulled off the transmission and gotten to the clutch, we wouldn't have had a diagnosis until Saturday, most likely. Parts would have been ordered on Monday and probably wouldn't have arrived until Wednesday or Thursday. So, we're still doing alright, all things considered. The parts are in, so, if the dealership can get right on my bike, I may be on wheels again Tuesday or Wednesday.

Here's to hope and optimism. If you're the praying type, I'd appreciate all the help I can get.

 

[Tourmeister]

Wow... crazy times! Despite it all, I'd be willing to bet that years from now you will both look back on this trip with fond memories!

How are the communicators working out for you? My daughter REALLY liked having them when we did a big trip together on my 1200 GS.

 

[Crew Chief]

This thread is full of what I've heard referred to as "retroactive fun". The memories will very likely be worth the tribulations. Thanks for the write up, it's a good read for us, and best wishes for the remainder of your journey.

 

[SwampFox]

This thread is full of what I've heard referred to as "retroactive fun"....

I haven't heard that phrase before, but it's fitting. Thanks for the continuing report and we hope repairs are completed swiftly and y'all are off to make even more memories.

 

[Tourmeister]

This thread is full of what I've heard referred to as "retroactive fun". The memories will very likely be worth the tribulations.

Most of my DS adventures are full of this retroactive fun It sometimes takes at least a few days if not a few weeks after the events for the fun to start kicking in... I've been working on being more "present" in the moment so I can close that gap down to where I am having fun while I am not having fun

 

[kickstand~prophet]

Enjoyed your ride report. Hate that you had trouble with the Ural. In your post #10 if you two go again make sure to take her on the train ride it is something she will really enjoy I bet.

 

[Tourmeister]

In your post #10 if you two go again make sure to take her on the train ride it is something she will really enjoy I bet.

Oh yeah. My kids loved it when we took them about 18 months ago. We went mid September right when the trees were changing colors.

 

[jwaller]

Wow... crazy times! Despite it all, I'd be willing to bet that years from now you will both look back on this trip with fond memories!

How are the communicators working out for you? My daughter REALLY liked having them when we did a big trip together on my 1200 GS.

They work great. I already had the 20s and was going to get her a helmet and attach one of the cheaper SENA communicators. She wanted a modular with built in flip down sun visor. Bilt has those and the newest ones have a communicator made by SENA so there was no problem with compatibility. The only problem, and it's not really one at all, is when I'm listening to music, it still plays in the background while using the intercom, which I like. My daughter's stops her music while using the intercom. So, for the most part, we keep the intercom off unless we just want to chitchat or if we need to talk.



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