September 2018 - Pleasant suprise after missing the Jack Taylor ride weekend in Yorkshire

Early in September I unfortunately had to miss a ride that I had been looking forward to for a long time due to unforeseen issues on the home front. This was the Jack Taylor weekend down in Yorkshire,  it was a long weekend/bank holiday with three day rides heading out from the same start point, that being the Rusty Bike Café in Swainby.  I was only going for the Saturday ride what with just being back from Germany and then away for work, but sadly didn't work out.  I made my apologies to all and wished everyone a safe and happy weekends riding.
I was looking forward to meeting up and riding with fellow Jack Taylor owners, most of whom I hadn't met before but had chatted to quite a few over social media groups and forums previously so it would be good to put some faces to names as well as meet and ride with new people. It was also going to be that bit special as Ken Taylor would be at the start each day. He was looking pretty good for a man over 90 years old.
Hopefully I will get down for next years ride or for any of the other day rides that may happen to be organised by Eric, the gentleman who put this weekend together.
The photos posted on the facebook group and flickr from various people show what a great weekend it was with some really stunning Taylors on show.
It wasn't all bad for me that weekend as I did get out riding on the Monday as that is the ride posted below with Brian to Drumochter pass on the LHT so there was a bit of riding once sorted and of course the sidecar with Caleb.
I was really surprised and touched when I received through the mail this week the ride handouts with map, route guide and a page of Ken Taylor bio all signed by Ken with his trademark signature of 'Have a nice ride', something he was famous for writing on the box's containing your new Jack Taylor bike or frame being sent out. This was really nice of Eric to organise and of course, for Ken to do as it certainly means a lot to me and I am very grateful and appreciative that you thought of me  even though I couldn't make it.
I will do my best to pay it forward.

Jamie

09/09/2018 - Big Dummy Sidecar Shakedown ride!

Finally got a break in the weather this weekend and with the base fitted to the sidecar frame Caleb and I then got it mounted up and adjusted before we took it out for a shakedown ride for a few miles. First half of the ride Caleb rode his own bike and as we made a few stops and tweaked/aligned/tightened things a bit and generally made sure it was safe and sound but also that I was used to the handling as it is very different to the norm. Having ridden motorcycle sidecars in the past I had some idea of what I was in for and sure enough those memories cam flooding back pretty quick, not all of them were good memories I might add. This sidecar can be set up two ways, and they are very different ways that require very different riding styles and adjustments to how to handle the bike depending whether your turning left or right. Now first off I set it up how you would a m/c sidecar with making sure it is aligned level or almost and making everything rigid. This results in a very direct steering machine that is hard to turn left as you can no longer lean and you need to learn to steer and needs a bigger circle to do it in and it also takes a bit of effort, then to turn right you have to steer again but try and weight the sidecar side to stop it tipping, so far similar to what I know but haven't practiced in a very long time. The other way to set this up and I would imagine the best way with a light load such as Spot our dog who this is being built for, is to take the tension off the mounts, effectively loosen them so that the sidecar will swivel up and down, thus keeping the wheel in contact with the ground for most if not all of the time. This means you can ride almost normally as the bike will lean on both sides when turning. You are always aware of the weight on the left side, but a almost normal ride for the most part. The sidecar can also be mounted on either side but UK law states that any sidecar must have the rider on the right hand side and sidecar towards the curb. Certainly on the bicycle I would want it this way as I wouldn't want to hang it out into traffic. Caleb soon let it be known that he wanted a shot on it. Told him to use his footrest as a hand hold and keep his left hand away from the wheel. While we have fitted the base there is no body or box on it yet, nor hand holds and had to remind him it is for the dog :) We had a few rides on it this afternoon. :)

Now to pull the base back off, sand it, varnish it and then look at building a body for it.

Happy riding indeed. Jamie

September 7, 2018 - Parts for wheel build for Big Dummy and LHT.

The plan early last year was to build a new standard front wheel for the Big Dummy so we can go back to a normal size when we go touring or on overnighters etc to take away some of the drag from running the fat tyre up front. I didn't want to just put an old 26 back on as I wanted to build one with a dynamo hub so we didn't have to always make sure we were carrying battery lights and we could charge the power box for the phone and camera etc.
So sometime around new year I bought a SP PD8 dyno hub and a pair of Ryde, formerly Rigida, Sputnik rims, 26' 36 hole heavy duty touring rims. I have known these rims over the years to be pretty solid, heavy duty rims that seem to be bomb proof. I suspect  the fact they weigh a fair bit is one of the reasons they are so tough.
I started thinking about building these again back at the start of summer but still I only pulled them out the loft this week and double checked the measurements so I could order some spokes. Not sure why it is taking forever to do but I do think it is because the Dummy runs fine as it is and we haven't been doing any distances on it lately that it seems there's no rush.
While I got a pair of rims I am only going to do the front for just now as I like the big Hookworm tyre on the back and running with slightly lower pressure makes for a more comfortable ride for Caleb. For this front I am hoping to put a Surly ET 2.5 tyre on.  While this hub is for disc brakes to suite the Dummy, the rims are also suitable for rim brakes which means I can use the dyno hub on the Long Haul Trucker as well, will be a big benefit on there for when I'm away for even a few days at a time.
So measurements done and hopefully order the front spokes in the morning. This should let me build them up in the next week or so. I have my standard Dummy forks hanging on the wall of the shed ready to just drop straight on so not a big job to swap it over at all.
Will post when there is more to show.

Jamie