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27 January 2010
The trip to Steelhorse Classics turned out to be a group of one

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Well, "Dave L" did meet me for breakfast at Pop's diner. He told me that he would not be joining the group, but did want to sit around and chat for awhile. Of course as it turned out, we were the only ones in attendance. But that's OK, the food was excellent, and we had a great time talking over all sorts of stuff. Motorcycles and ride related to start, and then drifting off to talk of visits to the Philippines (we were both Navy).

We had both been across the infamous bridge between the naval base and Olongapo city, the bridge itself was OK, but the water that it crossed was referred to as "Shit River". The smell coming up from that stream of evil liquid was more than some people could stand. More than one sailor had lost his lunch from the stench. One of the guys that was with me in 1965 made only a few steps, he threw up, turned around, and went back on base.

Another thing I remember from that little city was the "Tri-Shaw". This was based on a Honda 90 or equivalent, the locals would manufacture a sidecar, complete with a kind of a roof, and use the result as a taxi. Now 90 ccs may not sound like much, but they treated it like it was a 74 ci Harley. Of course most of the folks there are very slim, so they did not weigh it down much. I tried a couple of rides, and it was kind of a struggle, both for the machine and the driver.

The waitress at Pop's was very nice to us; we had taken a big table just in case everyone showed up and of course it was just us two. Anyway, we broke up the discussion around 0900 or so, and we parted company.

The ride up was chilly, hell, it was cold, but not that bad, my Tourmaster Jacket really does the trick in bad weather.

I got to Steelhorse Classics (http://steelhorseclassics.com/) without any problems, as I pulled in to the lot I first thought they were closed, no bikes outside, then remembered that they normally keep everything inside until the temperatures get up into the springtime levels.

I quickly found the Ural floor bike, a very nice "Patrol" model, in Forest Green, and was told to go ahead and try it out. Hmmm . . . what happened to all those big footed Russian Soldiers who were supposed to be able to ride this thing?

There was not enough room for me to fit my foot, those 15 wides needed more space than was available. I tried (carefully) but could not get my boot between the bottom of the carburetor and the brake pedal. The brake linkage for the sidecar wheel presented a problem, my foot was resting on it no matter what I did, and I did not think that was a good idea.

It was a little tight on the left side as well, but I could manage that OK, just kind of click it in with the side of my boot sole. Oh well, so much for the three wheeler, dang, and it has so many things that I like. Let's see, two wheel drive, Brembo brakes, an actual reverse gear, a trunk at the back of the sidecar. I could even get a mount for the 7.92 mm "M-13" if I wanted, hmmm I don't think the State Police would approve of that.

I have included some pictures, mostly new ones from the factory page, one very old one of the German military three wheeler. This last one I believe is a "Zundap", mainly because of the cylinder head; I don't believe that BMW made any flatheads.

I left the showroom, and got back on 64 heading east, the traffic was starting to thicken up a bit, but it was still a pleasant ride, it had even warmed up a tad. I stopped off to see Phil (our editor) and we shot the breeze for awhile.

Phil was working on his "Last Page" for this week, and we had a good time discussing which "Fan" picture to use. I hung around for awhile longer, and then got back on the road home.

I have added a couple of shots from last year, when I went to Key West. Fun place, I stopped in at the "Hogs Breath Saloon" and had a beer, I also talked to several folks there at the bar; everyone but me was on vacation.

I read last week that the big Iguanas were starting to fall out of the trees in Florida due to the extreme cold weather (Al says it's just a symptom of Global Warming), anyway, the temps in the Keys have been down in the low forties, which sounds warm to us, but the Iguanas start to go numb if it gets below eighty.

I would just as soon not be around when they do, getting hit with a twenty pound hypothermic reptile could hurt you. This will probably cut down on the number of Lizards for awhile, maybe the Chickens will start to make a comeback. Some of the guys told me that the wild Chicken population on the Keys had really dropped since the Lizards became numerous, they may not be able to catch an adult, but they will gobble up the chicks and the eggs.

Alright, enough rambling for now, ride safe, and watch the cagers carefully.

(as in Attila, not as in sweetie)
hun@bikerenews.com

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