This little event is the real essence of rallying — no prizes, no awards, just a bunch of sidecar aficionados who want to get together, show off their contraptions, and have a gossip. It takes place in the park in this California town, along with an arts and crafts show — though these rigs often show more artistry and craftsmanship than the rest of the stuff in the park.
Some 60 to 70 sidecar outfits showed up during the day, some arriving early, leaving early, others coming later. With all the informality there was no hard count. What is always more fun is watching, and listening to, all the non-motorcycle visitors who abandon the macrame pot-holders and wooden salad bowls to come and have a look at these hacks. Maybe a few of them might decide that having one of these three-wheelers could be more fun than a Buick LeSabre.
Every year the rally gets bigger; the 5th annual should be in April of 2012.
That's gadfly Mike Wozniak blocking the view of his 2003 Centennial Harley-Davidson Ultra Electra Glide and sidecar; Mike dresses funny, owns a dozen motorcycles, and occasionally runs for governor of California.
This 1943 BMW R75 obviously avoided destruction in World War II, and owner Tom Weiss is standing to the right; the American four-wheeled General Purpose (aka Jeep) vehicle was far more efficient than this three-wheeler.
Not many of these Greeves 250 trials bikes are to be found in this country; this is a 1960 model with a '74 Velorex sidecar attached, owner Don Bachtel being in the background.
Traffic often pulls to the side when this 1998 Kawasaki 1000 police model appears in the rear view mirror; Doug Garcia attached the '02 Velorex so that wife Gitte might travel in comfort.
That little racer rig is powered by a Kawasaki 500cc triple, a rather terrifying thought; it was built by sidecar guru Doug Bingham (left) many years ago, and currently owned by Nevadan Tom Howard (right).
The oldest outfit at the rally was this 1923 Harley-Davidson with the factory-supplied Royal Tourist sidecar; back then the outfit cost about $350, but Woody Woodruff could probably get a hundred times that today.
Roger Toevs put this exemplary rig together, a 2008 BMW R1200GS pulling a DMC (Dauntless Motors Corp.) sidecar, so that he and his daughter could take a ride up to Alaska; good parent/child bonding.
Yellow is good, especially on this 2000 Harley-Davidson 883 hooked to a Spirit Eagle sidecar of unknown vintage; owners Adele and Wayne Glenn are taking their ease in the background.
This little event is the real essence of rallying — no prizes, no awards, just a bunch of sidecar aficionados who want to get together, show off their contraptions, and have a gossip. It takes place in the park in this California town, along with an arts and crafts show — though these rigs often show more artistry and craftsmanship than the rest of the stuff in the park.
Clem, send me your email address to hydroweb att yahoo dott com, I got an old pic for you! Trust all is well, cheers, Roger