The reason it has been so quiet.

Well...
Crawler did fine for a while.
I did get me a trailer...you know for 'just in case'.
Didn't really need it though.That was until....we made a roadtrip.

So I traveled from up here around Chicago down to see my folks in Louisiana in early July. I wanted to bring the Crawler to run 'round with my old man and his True Blue Harley Crew, so onto the trailer he went.
Got down there fine...riding around went great, even 'converted' some Blockheads into possibly Foilheads.

On the drive back my ole tired van soiled the sheets and died on the road about two hours out of my folks driveway.So...my trailer got towed back the the ol' Homestead while The Wife, Cub and I made our way home via Amtrak.

A few too many weeks later (around Sept 30th) I was able to procure a new vehicle capable of towing my rig and trailer home....however....The rig had sat for a bit on trailer....out in the weather. In the Louisiana Rain...with the added benefit of Hurricane Issac. Crawlers guts got a lil wet...enough to seize the top end and royally crud up the carbs.
So far I have pulled the jugs, and checked the pistons(surprisingly they look fine)if ya don't count the rings....rusted. 
Cylinder sleeves had some rusting as well...a pass with some scotch-brite and a hone....all looks well.Oil in the pan and tranny are shockingly unwatered down.

The carbs though...oh woe be the carbs.

I can't even get the slide to move on the left side carb after three days of soaking...gawds only know what is in the pilot passages.Sooo...the Mikunis are well and truly dead.
So I picked up some Pekar carbs off of FleaBay. They should have bolted right on, but what was I thinking...no such luck.Out comes the tap and die set to retap the heads...
While digging at that...I found one of the rockers was getting pretty worn, to the point I have basically no adjustment. 
I have spent the last lil bit(the frozen months) scrounging parts and planning.
Hopefully in the next few weeks I am gonna start a total rebuild and update, from cylinders out.
Items to be done.

• Clean and Hone the cylinders.
• Mount new carbs.
• replace fuel tank with an older tool box style.
• redo the exhaust...going to go to dual fishtails.
• possible redo the alternator block plate in something tougher than plywood.
• think about actually mounting the seat...

Update:May 22

Well, the total loss system is working out ok...I have been getting around 200 km per cycle with no worries, usually with over 12 volts still in the cell. Although to date most of those trips have been a collection of small jaunts. No long road trips all at once. However, the weather has finally turned into something I don't need 15 layers of insulation to ride in and the Boy in in daycare now...so that may change.

I did do a 140km (~70 miles) night ride last week, and I learned something very important....the stock headlight sucks.
So...replaced the old 6014 incandescent headlight with a 6024 halogen bulb, and added a PAR52 floodlight to the sidecar.
I still have the headlight and flood on separate circuits, so I can add them and subtract them as needed.
I now have enough light I am sure...but want to keep the amp consumption down if I can so as to not impact my range.

Still now the odd oil leak from the final drive and oil pan now and then...but I am just gonna accept it as me doing my part to keep the blacktop shiny and move on.

Wanna know what really astounds me? The UDF is awesome...but the fact that seems to amaze most folks is not that Crawler is Russian. It's not that he is a sidecar rig, it's not that he is full-time 2WD. It's that it only has kickstart.
Seriously.

A quick observational note...

Ok,
I am sitting at a suburban Starbucks...anyone who knows me, knows how weird that sentence alone is, but my defense is it's a work thing.
However, I am marveling at an odd ill social function.
I consider myself a 'rider'....meaning I not only own motorcycles but ride the damn things every chance I get. Often not to get someplace but just to RIDE it.
As in turn miles on the clock...as in eat bugs...as in get a sore ass and sometimes a weird sunburn.
I am surrounded by guys who are 'living the dream.'
They own motorcycles (several of them $10000+ machines)... And they rode them here to hang out.

At Starbucks.

I am used to the 'bar hopper' riders....the guys who ride from biker bar to biker bar to swagger around and act like outlaws for a ill bit.

But Starbucks?

Really?

In someway, society has failed these people. They can't even get 'being a antisocial badass' right.

Starbucks....wow.
I need to go eat some bugs.

I know it has been a while...

Sorry for that.
Life finds a way......to screw with me.
Not your problem...I know.
I wanted to share a lil vid that I shot this weekend.

Still working it out...

Well, it's winter. It's cold, and snow is coming soon.
This is the time of year when I resign myself to treating any gas left in the tank, hooking up a battery tender and calling it a season.
Not this year...this year I am still riding, or Ural-ing, or whatever.
The first thing I figured out...even though the Crawler ain't fast, it dosn't take much speed to rapidly multiply how fraking cold it is.

A spin around the block results in me not being able to move my mouth and my hands are burning cold.
There are ways around this...get the proper gear. However, I don't want to end up with 2 sets of gear if I can help it, so I as always find a way to make it work.
The first issue I addressed was my numb face.
Normally I wear an open face helmet, but was considering picking up a snowmobile helmet for the winter.
After a bit of thought..I ended up just acquiring a snowmobile helmet breath curtian and figuring out a way to mount it to my current helmet.

If it looks lil like a fighter pilot helmet...that's not all bad is it?
To this I have added my bib snow parts, and a parka.

Throw in a pair of wool sock under my insulated boots, and we have everything kinda handled...except the forepaws.

I know I might get some flak for this...but I HATE wearing full finger winter gloves when I ride. The reason is, every bike I have ever had requires some 'in-flight' adjustments. There is always something to tweek (idle/air mix screws) or wiggle and I hate having "Muppet Hands" with the dexterity of one Dr. Zoidberg. So...I have ordered some handlebar muffs...like so.

Hopefully these paired with some lighter gloves will help.

Post Holi-daze Update..

Well hello boys and girls, wanted to give ya'll a little look at what Crawler and I have been up to.
We have made it back from the G424 meltdown, and are back on the road.

From this....

 

To this....

 I went ahead and removed the stock bench seat, replacing it with a solo seat from a KZ1000 Police bike and building a rear fender rack out of scrap wood in the shop.

For those of you with sharp eyes...the white scribble on the tank is me noting starting odometer readings with a piece of chalk. I painted the tank with chalkboard paint which allows me to make notes and directions right on it...I think it's pretty kewl.

Some more snaps from today...

My "Official Salute" pic.

My "Oh Crap I'm stuck!" recovery system....

Approach with caution...or you'll spook it.

Ready to try my luck...will it start? WILL IT?

 

 

It Lives!!

Sorry for the lack of action shots, I did have my helmet camera on during the ride and might be pushing a little video later tonight....maybe.

Wiring Diagrams...

Just so they are out there in the wild for other folks to use, here are a couple of versions of the diagrams detailing the way Melee and I laid out Crawler.

and here is one without the colors, if you want to use your own, and so it's a lil cheaper to print out.

Also here is a quick video of how it all works....