WELCOME TO THE THUMPERGARAGE!
(05-12-22)
MY SIDEHACK ... Jerome Kahn, #5372 - KS.
(Editor's title: Who says you can't TRAIN an old dog? - Ha! Ha! Ha! - get it? "Train" an old dog? - #000)
Back in early February 2022, one of our local MC members, Dwain Hiebert, FSSNOC #5174 - KS, posted at a Prairie Pups MC meeting that he was selling his sidehack. It is a 2003 Suzuki LS 650, a 650cc Single, with a 1973 Jawa Velorex sidecar affixed to it. I immediately gave him a deposit!
The day I got it, I rode it around and around my driveway. Boy, I quickly learned that it was really strange and difficult to steer. The next morning, I went to my shed to ride it and there was a puddle of fuel under it ... ugh, I had forgotten to shut off the fuel valve!
I added fuel and pulled it out of my shed to ride it about the neighborhood. I got to the end of my driveway and it wouldn’t move forward, the clutch seemed to be disengaged. Thank goodness, I only had to push it back a tenth of a mile!
Dwain came by to see if he could figure out what was wrong, no luck. He put it on a trailer and hauled it to our local motorcycle shop. They determined that all that fuel ended up on the floor because the carburetor had a bad float valve and a bunch of fuel ended up in the clutch, shredding the clutch.
May 3rd (yep, three months later...)
After $800 in repairs, Dwain and I split the repair cost, he is a true gentleman, new clutch, fuel valve, and carburetor overhaul. Dwain rode it from the shop to my house.
May 7th
I adjusted the shift lever to better suit my foot and boots, I repaired the lighting on the sidecar and added an LED light to the front so the mostly-blind cage drivers can see me.
May 9th
I have been riding it around town, getting used to the quirks of riding a sidehack. I have watched YouTube videos and read articles. The big takeaway so far is, take turns slowly, especially to the right, roll on throttle in a right turn, roll off throttle in a left turn, and lean your body in the direction of the turn to help keep the sidecar on the ground. Yeah...
I am having to keep in mind that there is something on the right-hand side of my motorcycle now so no more hugging the fog line! The more I ride it, the more fun it is. My biggest worry is that I will forget to put my feet down when I ride my other bikes ... time will tell.
Because it has the sidecar, I have been running my errands about town without having to burn a lot expensive gas and diesel. People seem to really like seeing the sidehack, I get a lot of smiles, especially from the ladies, teehee. The previous owner had a woman pull up her blouse when he rode by. I am a 280 pound 5’7” fat boy and will enjoy the attention. To be modern and politically correct, my preferred pronouns are Brilliant and Handsome 😊
May 10th FSSNOC ride to Durham, KS. (for a Moto-Coffee destination)
Met Jack, #0000, at 9:45AM at his house, followed him to Durham KS, 72 miles, all good except I really needed to be in the sidecar heading East with the typical 20mph Kansas Southern winds with gusts to 30. That was the least fun, trying to keep the sidecar on the ground, and when we got onto 56 Hwy, I was a definite road block, running 50mph on a 65mph highway. I would have preferred to go 40, but I would have been a grease mark on someone’s grill. Thankfully it was only for four miles!
Anyway, before and after the highway, we stair-stepped our way East and South on peaceful county blacktops, very scenic, truly an experience of endurance and controlled panic.
We met with several other FSSNOC’rs at the Main Street Café in Durham. Dwain and his better half, Ro, were there on their Rebels, they were very surprised to see that I had ridden that hack all that way. Turns out, Dwain never rode it more than 20 miles! I think I impressed him with how crazy I really am.
We had a lovely lunch, lots great lies, boasts of grandeur, and laughs. As usual, I was the butt of many of their jokes, gotta love those guys and gals.
I burned 1.7 gallons riding 72 miles, a little over 42MPG, not bad. Fueled up the beast and met Jack on the road, we rode to Tampa, KS, a cool little town. Then we took the scenic ride home, prolly 80 miles. At Inman, Ks, we took a sorely needed butt-break. That is where Jack took a picture of me with the sidehack (see photo above).
(Editor Note: We chose the above photo to allow us to continue our story line in the last few weeks of "Thumpers and Trains" here on the ThumperGarage. As you read last week, this connects us with our destination for our ThumperCafe in Iowa in June, we eat at the Derailed Bar and Grill in Marne, Iowa. - #000)
Another 25 miles and I was home. The hack is now in my driveway cooling down, it was 92 degrees outside.
Because of my limited experience on the sidehack, I was nervous about doing this ride but, it turned out to be a great learning experience without any permanent scars to remind me of the lesson.
In conclusion; it has been said that riding a sidecar is its own unique ride and requires a completely different skill set. It no longer rides like a motorcycle, or a trike, more like a go-kart with a front wheel missing.
I think it’s going to be a great around town grocery getter as gasoline nears $50 a gallon. - Jerome Kahn
"FSSNOC" ... more than a club, it's a LIFESTYLE!
#########################################################################
Good Morning, FSSNOC Emperor
Your comment about the “level 2%” grade through Kansas got me researching the digital Encyclopedia we all have today. I could not find anything that would verify your 2% grade comment, but did come across a picture of a section of railroad bed near Hutchinson, Kansas (ThumperVille). The only missing item would be a dust trail from your FSS.
Another bit of RR trivia is about water tanks (and fuel stops) that started this thread of ramblings were spaced 7-10 miles (early days) before the “tender car” was added behind the engine to carry additional water/fuel then the distance increase to 100-300 miles (hmmm range of a 4 - Stroke Single) depending on the grade.
Also, one needs to remember these early steam engines were a one pass thru of the steam, no condensing of the steam back to water.
Ever wonder where the term “Jerkwater town” came from? Yep, it is related to the Steam locomotives need for water. Many stops along the railroad lines evolved into new settlements. When a train stopped for water and was positioned by the water tank, the boiler-man swung out the spigot arm over the water tender and “jerked” the chain to begin watering. This gave rise to the 19th-century slang term “Jerkwater town” for towns to insignificant to have a regular train station.
Yes, Hutchinson KS has a very nice modern train station.
Keep on THUMPING
FRAN #1440
(REPLY) Again, Awesome stuff, Fran ... and, boy! ... does your research fit into the conversation!
Let me add to your great information, if I may... #000
Grades are expressed as the rise in feet per 100 feet of length. Mountain grades of anything exceeding 2% are actually considered somewhat excessive from what I read. A 2% grade track would or could rise or fall 2 feet for every 100 feet of length, so in a mile of 5280 feet, that could be a rise of up to (52.8 x 2 = 105 feet) or a bit more than a ten story building, thinking of it like that, WOW!
One such article talked about a more normal allowance of .95%. Another source commented that on main lines, grades are generally 1% or less and anything approaching 2.2% is rare.
The steepest grade known is said to be near Madison, Indiana, where the "short line" track rises 413 feet over a distance of 7012 feet - a 5.89% grade!
BNSF has a 3.3% grade as it works its way up and over Raton Pass in New Mexico, now considered to be the steepest existing grade for a main line train track in North America.
Now ... if you all are still with me, this IS relative information and it DOES have a measure of relativity here on the ThumperGarage FSSNOC website.
Here's why, see below:
Borrowed from our website's Event Page:
"Our FSSNOC THUMPERCAFE is to be held on JUNE 17th, a Friday.
Our premise is to arrive in tiny Marne, Iowa where we are slated to dine as a group at the DERAILED BAR and GRILL at 4:00PM on June 17th, Friday!"
See, did you catch that? The Derailed Bar and Grill ... this is train country. One of the area's particular delights, as one rides through all those little bustling, and some not so much, towns, is to notice the influence of the train industry, still quite noticeable from a modern sense, but wait until you see some of the railroad stations from yesteryear, example: the Rock Island Railroad Depot, built in 1898 in Atlantic, Iowa (6 miles from Marne - wonder if that had anything to do with trains needing water?) ... Hey, should we do a contest for the best train-related photo taken on our collective trips to Iowa (and it'd have to include our Thumper within the frame, right)? - #000
#########################################################
Hi Jack,
Thanks for publishing my articles! It's awesome to get a little bit of recognition!
Regards,
Alan W. (FSSNOC #5029 - Washington)
(REPLY) Alan ... Thank You! It was a pleasure and WHAT a project you guys did (see the centerfold in TN#147) ... and your article in TN#147 has already inspired FSSNOC #5286 - California (Alan Smith) to send an article for the upcoming TN#148, containing several recollections of his adventures with streamlined motorcycles.
Alan is very active in aerodynamics as they pertain to motorcycles and I have ridden with him on a cross-the-USA ride, me on a bright orange sportbike, and he was on what looked like an F-16 without wings ... what a delightful time! I will say this, no one, I repeat, no one even noticed me! All eyes were on Alan's moto-plane ... read about it and others in Thumper News #148.
And, should Alan's name be familiar to readers of Thumper News #147, he shared a funtastic trip on his KLR650 down to Texas and return on pages 29-32 in TN#147.
Alan, I'm planning to use your contributed article in TN#148, should you desire to add more info to it as time goes by, sent that as well ... Thank You, Alan!
Should anyone else have comments on motorcycle "streamline-ing" or aerodynamics on two wheels, please send us your comments...
FSSNOCthumpers@yahoo.com (photos can be sent as an attachment)
I'm from Kansas, aerodynamics would be worth millions to us in the Springtime of the year ... ask any local motorcycle rider! - #000
#########################################################################
FSSNOC ... IS on a national YouTube Podcast - don't miss it. Advise your friends to view it as well...
Wanna listen/view a podcast ... DO CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZb4CgjfmEk
The podcast above was generated by Janus Motorcycles in Goshen, Indiana. EP.#1 ... In this podcast, FSSNOC #000 (Jack) is the guest, hereby being interviewed by Richard and Grant from JANUS MOTORCYCLES.
Play/View time is a tick over an hour so some popcorn might be nice, I like the chocolate drizzle kind, btw. Formal wear (FSSNOC club t-shirts, cap, etc...) adds to the mood, but not mandatory. Contact your friends, invite them in, share as you like. No cheat sheets, no prompt boards, no prior discussion was used to make this podcast.
If you like it, tell JANUS at 574-538-1350 JANUSMOTORCYCLES.COM
And, this podcast is for entertainment only...
(05-12-22)
MY SIDEHACK ... Jerome Kahn, #5372 - KS.
(Editor's title: Who says you can't TRAIN an old dog? - Ha! Ha! Ha! - get it? "Train" an old dog? - #000)
Back in early February 2022, one of our local MC members, Dwain Hiebert, FSSNOC #5174 - KS, posted at a Prairie Pups MC meeting that he was selling his sidehack. It is a 2003 Suzuki LS 650, a 650cc Single, with a 1973 Jawa Velorex sidecar affixed to it. I immediately gave him a deposit!
The day I got it, I rode it around and around my driveway. Boy, I quickly learned that it was really strange and difficult to steer. The next morning, I went to my shed to ride it and there was a puddle of fuel under it ... ugh, I had forgotten to shut off the fuel valve!
I added fuel and pulled it out of my shed to ride it about the neighborhood. I got to the end of my driveway and it wouldn’t move forward, the clutch seemed to be disengaged. Thank goodness, I only had to push it back a tenth of a mile!
Dwain came by to see if he could figure out what was wrong, no luck. He put it on a trailer and hauled it to our local motorcycle shop. They determined that all that fuel ended up on the floor because the carburetor had a bad float valve and a bunch of fuel ended up in the clutch, shredding the clutch.
May 3rd (yep, three months later...)
After $800 in repairs, Dwain and I split the repair cost, he is a true gentleman, new clutch, fuel valve, and carburetor overhaul. Dwain rode it from the shop to my house.
May 7th
I adjusted the shift lever to better suit my foot and boots, I repaired the lighting on the sidecar and added an LED light to the front so the mostly-blind cage drivers can see me.
May 9th
I have been riding it around town, getting used to the quirks of riding a sidehack. I have watched YouTube videos and read articles. The big takeaway so far is, take turns slowly, especially to the right, roll on throttle in a right turn, roll off throttle in a left turn, and lean your body in the direction of the turn to help keep the sidecar on the ground. Yeah...
I am having to keep in mind that there is something on the right-hand side of my motorcycle now so no more hugging the fog line! The more I ride it, the more fun it is. My biggest worry is that I will forget to put my feet down when I ride my other bikes ... time will tell.
Because it has the sidecar, I have been running my errands about town without having to burn a lot expensive gas and diesel. People seem to really like seeing the sidehack, I get a lot of smiles, especially from the ladies, teehee. The previous owner had a woman pull up her blouse when he rode by. I am a 280 pound 5’7” fat boy and will enjoy the attention. To be modern and politically correct, my preferred pronouns are Brilliant and Handsome 😊
May 10th FSSNOC ride to Durham, KS. (for a Moto-Coffee destination)
Met Jack, #0000, at 9:45AM at his house, followed him to Durham KS, 72 miles, all good except I really needed to be in the sidecar heading East with the typical 20mph Kansas Southern winds with gusts to 30. That was the least fun, trying to keep the sidecar on the ground, and when we got onto 56 Hwy, I was a definite road block, running 50mph on a 65mph highway. I would have preferred to go 40, but I would have been a grease mark on someone’s grill. Thankfully it was only for four miles!
Anyway, before and after the highway, we stair-stepped our way East and South on peaceful county blacktops, very scenic, truly an experience of endurance and controlled panic.
We met with several other FSSNOC’rs at the Main Street Café in Durham. Dwain and his better half, Ro, were there on their Rebels, they were very surprised to see that I had ridden that hack all that way. Turns out, Dwain never rode it more than 20 miles! I think I impressed him with how crazy I really am.
We had a lovely lunch, lots great lies, boasts of grandeur, and laughs. As usual, I was the butt of many of their jokes, gotta love those guys and gals.
I burned 1.7 gallons riding 72 miles, a little over 42MPG, not bad. Fueled up the beast and met Jack on the road, we rode to Tampa, KS, a cool little town. Then we took the scenic ride home, prolly 80 miles. At Inman, Ks, we took a sorely needed butt-break. That is where Jack took a picture of me with the sidehack (see photo above).
(Editor Note: We chose the above photo to allow us to continue our story line in the last few weeks of "Thumpers and Trains" here on the ThumperGarage. As you read last week, this connects us with our destination for our ThumperCafe in Iowa in June, we eat at the Derailed Bar and Grill in Marne, Iowa. - #000)
Another 25 miles and I was home. The hack is now in my driveway cooling down, it was 92 degrees outside.
Because of my limited experience on the sidehack, I was nervous about doing this ride but, it turned out to be a great learning experience without any permanent scars to remind me of the lesson.
In conclusion; it has been said that riding a sidecar is its own unique ride and requires a completely different skill set. It no longer rides like a motorcycle, or a trike, more like a go-kart with a front wheel missing.
I think it’s going to be a great around town grocery getter as gasoline nears $50 a gallon. - Jerome Kahn
"FSSNOC" ... more than a club, it's a LIFESTYLE!
#########################################################################
Good Morning, FSSNOC Emperor
Your comment about the “level 2%” grade through Kansas got me researching the digital Encyclopedia we all have today. I could not find anything that would verify your 2% grade comment, but did come across a picture of a section of railroad bed near Hutchinson, Kansas (ThumperVille). The only missing item would be a dust trail from your FSS.
Another bit of RR trivia is about water tanks (and fuel stops) that started this thread of ramblings were spaced 7-10 miles (early days) before the “tender car” was added behind the engine to carry additional water/fuel then the distance increase to 100-300 miles (hmmm range of a 4 - Stroke Single) depending on the grade.
Also, one needs to remember these early steam engines were a one pass thru of the steam, no condensing of the steam back to water.
Ever wonder where the term “Jerkwater town” came from? Yep, it is related to the Steam locomotives need for water. Many stops along the railroad lines evolved into new settlements. When a train stopped for water and was positioned by the water tank, the boiler-man swung out the spigot arm over the water tender and “jerked” the chain to begin watering. This gave rise to the 19th-century slang term “Jerkwater town” for towns to insignificant to have a regular train station.
Yes, Hutchinson KS has a very nice modern train station.
Keep on THUMPING
FRAN #1440
(REPLY) Again, Awesome stuff, Fran ... and, boy! ... does your research fit into the conversation!
Let me add to your great information, if I may... #000
Grades are expressed as the rise in feet per 100 feet of length. Mountain grades of anything exceeding 2% are actually considered somewhat excessive from what I read. A 2% grade track would or could rise or fall 2 feet for every 100 feet of length, so in a mile of 5280 feet, that could be a rise of up to (52.8 x 2 = 105 feet) or a bit more than a ten story building, thinking of it like that, WOW!
One such article talked about a more normal allowance of .95%. Another source commented that on main lines, grades are generally 1% or less and anything approaching 2.2% is rare.
The steepest grade known is said to be near Madison, Indiana, where the "short line" track rises 413 feet over a distance of 7012 feet - a 5.89% grade!
BNSF has a 3.3% grade as it works its way up and over Raton Pass in New Mexico, now considered to be the steepest existing grade for a main line train track in North America.
Now ... if you all are still with me, this IS relative information and it DOES have a measure of relativity here on the ThumperGarage FSSNOC website.
Here's why, see below:
Borrowed from our website's Event Page:
"Our FSSNOC THUMPERCAFE is to be held on JUNE 17th, a Friday.
Our premise is to arrive in tiny Marne, Iowa where we are slated to dine as a group at the DERAILED BAR and GRILL at 4:00PM on June 17th, Friday!"
See, did you catch that? The Derailed Bar and Grill ... this is train country. One of the area's particular delights, as one rides through all those little bustling, and some not so much, towns, is to notice the influence of the train industry, still quite noticeable from a modern sense, but wait until you see some of the railroad stations from yesteryear, example: the Rock Island Railroad Depot, built in 1898 in Atlantic, Iowa (6 miles from Marne - wonder if that had anything to do with trains needing water?) ... Hey, should we do a contest for the best train-related photo taken on our collective trips to Iowa (and it'd have to include our Thumper within the frame, right)? - #000
#########################################################
Hi Jack,
Thanks for publishing my articles! It's awesome to get a little bit of recognition!
Regards,
Alan W. (FSSNOC #5029 - Washington)
(REPLY) Alan ... Thank You! It was a pleasure and WHAT a project you guys did (see the centerfold in TN#147) ... and your article in TN#147 has already inspired FSSNOC #5286 - California (Alan Smith) to send an article for the upcoming TN#148, containing several recollections of his adventures with streamlined motorcycles.
Alan is very active in aerodynamics as they pertain to motorcycles and I have ridden with him on a cross-the-USA ride, me on a bright orange sportbike, and he was on what looked like an F-16 without wings ... what a delightful time! I will say this, no one, I repeat, no one even noticed me! All eyes were on Alan's moto-plane ... read about it and others in Thumper News #148.
And, should Alan's name be familiar to readers of Thumper News #147, he shared a funtastic trip on his KLR650 down to Texas and return on pages 29-32 in TN#147.
Alan, I'm planning to use your contributed article in TN#148, should you desire to add more info to it as time goes by, sent that as well ... Thank You, Alan!
Should anyone else have comments on motorcycle "streamline-ing" or aerodynamics on two wheels, please send us your comments...
FSSNOCthumpers@yahoo.com (photos can be sent as an attachment)
I'm from Kansas, aerodynamics would be worth millions to us in the Springtime of the year ... ask any local motorcycle rider! - #000
#########################################################################
FSSNOC ... IS on a national YouTube Podcast - don't miss it. Advise your friends to view it as well...
Wanna listen/view a podcast ... DO CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZb4CgjfmEk
The podcast above was generated by Janus Motorcycles in Goshen, Indiana. EP.#1 ... In this podcast, FSSNOC #000 (Jack) is the guest, hereby being interviewed by Richard and Grant from JANUS MOTORCYCLES.
Play/View time is a tick over an hour so some popcorn might be nice, I like the chocolate drizzle kind, btw. Formal wear (FSSNOC club t-shirts, cap, etc...) adds to the mood, but not mandatory. Contact your friends, invite them in, share as you like. No cheat sheets, no prompt boards, no prior discussion was used to make this podcast.
If you like it, tell JANUS at 574-538-1350 JANUSMOTORCYCLES.COM
And, this podcast is for entertainment only...