7.28.09 - Driving a sidecar rig and helmets

I've had several people pass on very good (and much appreciated) recommendations on getting used to riding (driving?) the bike-sidecar rig. In general, these can be summarized to

Take it slow in the beginning.

Add weight to the sidecar.

I'm resisting the urge to draw a parallel between this process and the process of getting older, but feel free to discuss among yourselves if you wish.

The "take it slow" part is handled through the choice of route for day 1. No squiggly lines on the map, no roads of any significant size, and a manageable length.

Adding weight to the sidecar is another issue. Obviously, I'm not interested in sending ahead something heavy, nor do I want to carry a bunch of weights on the plane. So that leaves picking up something heavy in Wisconsin.

Right now, I'm leaning toward one (or more) 40lb bags of dog food. Our dog will certainly eat it (remarkably fast in reality), the bags are pretty durable, and I can pack them where they fit best. I guess if it rains, the sidecar cover will keep the dogfood pretty dry.

I suppose if the dogfood route doesn't pan out, I could just pick up something else heavy to put in the sidecar. Like a Smart Car...
















On another note, I packed up the riding gear last night for its UPS trip north. As a result, I'm currently wearing my "backup" helmet. My normal lid is a Shoei X11 that I bought on kind of a whim as it was really on sale. My backup is a Suomy Spec 1R. Before the Shoei, I thought the Suomy was the end-all be-all of helmets. And in reality, its pretty nice. I like the lining better than the Shoei, it vents better than the Shoei, and I like the visor better than the Shoei.



But the Shoei just plain fits me.



And that is what this trip is about. Finding the right fit.