Sidecar STUFF; offbeat...etc.
© Copyright, 2011, R. Fleischer
stuff.htm
sidecar section, #5
(1) In late 2001 I
still had a part-ownership of a condo in Palm
Springs (Kalifornica). An upscale restaurant in the area had been
rented out for a party for a friend of mine, an older retired actor,
a movie-star, whom
I used to ride with in the Los Angeles area when I was a kid.
I was, as a favor, to be
playing the piano in the restaurant bar that evening. Always wanting to make a stand-out
appearance and entrance (create a scene and bolster my ego), I
decided to drive my sidecar rig to the restaurant.
I told someone I was going to do that, and that I had planned to
wear my tuxedo to add
to the effect. He would have none of that!.....and
insisted I wear a tuxedo from his store, that had an extensive display of Liberace-type items.
This was QUITE a fancy tuxedo, with many hand-sewn panels of pianos, long tails,
etc. The sequins alone were dazzling. It did not
fit very well, but who cared! It
came with a 8 inch-wide rainbow colored bow tie.
I wore my Engineer's boots!
There was Valet Parking that evening. The
smallish parking lot was very full, as was any nearby place to park.
The 'guests' had mostly arrived early, and were doing a LOT of
drinking. I pulled up to the Valet stand, turned off the motor
of the sidecar rig
and tossed the keys to the Valet. The look on his face was priceless.
A mix of my sequined outfit...and the 'what do I do, how do I
drive THAT THING'. He did not want to touch the rig, I don't blame him! I ended up
parking it on the sidewalk near the entrance. He ended up making up
stories....a wide variety of them I found out about much later.
While I knew the 'party-boy', and, slightly maybe a dozen of the other
folks there, most of the 100+- 'guests' did not know me! The Bartender
put a bowl on the piano, winked at me, and the bowl began to fill up with
tips! I was only going to play before dinner, and a bit afterwards.
The money in that Tip Bowl was mostly fives tens and
twenties! Who was I to turn down tips? 'T'was a great ...and
LONG.....evening!...and the party went on past
sunrise the next day.
(2) No comment necessary on this photo:
(3) I was taking a longish trip on my first 'street' sidecar rig, a R100RT with a Ural chair. This must have been about 2003. I was parked at an cliff type of overlook, with the Snake River Canyon steeply and far below me. The only other vehicle was a Harley Davidson. I did not see the rider. I decided to relieve myself (urinate) before leaving. No restrooms, of course. I climbed over the guard rail, and started to go a few feet down the cliff, so I was not in sight of any vehicles on the road. I cleared around one large bush and a tree, and found the Harley rider, with his girl friend, both naked, having a 'nooner'. Rather embarrassing. We ended up talking for half an hour.
(4) I parked the sidecar rig in a large highway turnout, on highway 50, just West of Sooner Summit, just a bit past where Hy 28 joins Hy 50, as one comes from Carson City, Nevada, towards Lake Tahoe. There was a slight slope to the left. I left the bike in first gear, as many sidecarists do, as it acts as the emergency brake. I was sitting about 50 feet away when the bike jumped out of the gear it obviously was not fully in-to. I chased the rig as it headed across the right side of the highway towards oncoming traffic in the other lane. It was an exciting event, as I JUMPED onto the rig, and almost fell, and grabbed the front brake, which caused the rig to turn, and try to throw me off. Ever since that event, I have carried a piece of 2 x 4 lumber, to block the front or rear wheel as appropriate.
© Copyright, 2011, R. Fleischer