Ural Chronicles VII 2022-07-08 update Air pressure in your tires. Check it. Don’t trust knock Amazon valve caps that are supposed to show green-yellow-red when the pressure changes. And we all know the air leaks out of the crappy Russian rubber. Russian rubbers… I wonder if those leak too? My tires were waaay low as I thought the valve caps were working. I had tested them … Continue reading Ural Chronicles VII
I’ve been lax in updating here. Sorry. I’ve been spending most of my time working on a photography project. Check it out at the link below – 7th-and-lincoln.com and 7th-and-lincoln.com/about-project I am taking a photo of Jack Kerouac’s grave site every day this year. It is the 100th anniversary of his birth. He was born, lived, and was buried in Lowell MA, where I … Continue reading Jack Keroauc grave site photo project, HOWL and other poems – no Ural content
I sat on the scooter in the motel parking lot, looking at the road. Turn left and commit suicide. Turn right and go home. In 2009 I had just gotten divorced, sold off, donated, gave away, or threw out everything I owned. Everything except for what would fit on the scooter – a couple of dry bags with clothes, camping stuff, tool kit, spare parts … Continue reading Ural Chronicles VI
William Least Heat Moon says “the open road is a beckoning, a strangeness, a place where a man can lose himself.” I agreed to the beckoning but I haven’t lost myself on the road yet. I’d like to though. I spent the last 5 days driving my Ural. around New Hampshire and Vermont. Got right next to Canada, saw border patrol pickups on side roads … Continue reading Ural Chronicles V
The trip begins 9-4-2021. Lowell MA to North Wooodstock NH to Gorham NH. After the first two nights, there are no plans. Loaded into OsmAnd on my phone are tracks for Hampster Ride, NE Backroad Discovery Route, NH Flatlander (DR & AR), Western Maine Dirt Loop, Dirty Dog, Puppy Dog. I have few more GPX files on the phone or saved to Google and I … Continue reading Ural Chronicles IV
Why do I drive a Ural sidecar? Why does anyone do anything? Money? Fame? Chicks*? You won’t get much of those three with a Ural. Money goes out the door on new farkles, replacements for parts that shouldn’t have broke**. Fame is fleeting, reduced to Ural Delay Factor*** at gas stops and ice cream stands. Chicks? Well, its a sidecar. Probably the geekiest type of … Continue reading Ural Chronicles III
“I’m never getting in that thing again!”, said my friend Alan. We had been cruising around Hollywood Boulevard on a rental Ural cT. In & Out Burger, up and down the street, just having a good time while I was in LA for a few days for my work. I rented the rig through Rider Share, from a crazy Russian and his friend, another crazy … Continue reading Ural Chronicles II
The sidecar body was crushed in shipping. It should have been a sign. On my first ride, the left muffler exploded. It should have been a sign. In 1999 I bought a Ural Tourist 650cc from a small, two bay mom and pop motorcycle shop, Timberland Cycles in Farmington, New Hampshire. Ural had recently started importing sidecar and solo motorcycles in to the USA. Most … Continue reading Ural Chronicles
My motorcycles are all named Gosling, after Goose’s bike in the origianl Mad Max movie. Gosling I Goose’s Kawaskai Gosling II 19?? Yamaha U5E Gosling III 197? Honda CB360T Gosling IV 1976 BMW R60/6 Gosling V 1975 Honda CB550 Gosling VI 1999 Kawasaki Concours Gosling VII … Continue reading Goslings
Aug 6 of last year I posted a quick review of Firstgear Jaunt T2 I purchased from www.motorcyclegear.com. Update – it’s not waterproof. Well, it *is* kinda waterproof. The outside fabric is not, but there is an internal Hypertex membrane. It might be waterproof but the whole jacket gets waterlogged, and very heavy, and all the zippers and vents leak even when closed up. It … Continue reading UPDATE – New jacket – Firstgear Jaunt T2
