From Halifax to Seattle

There is a Ural dealer meeting in Redmond, East of Seattle in Washington, the first for all the dealers in North America, United States and Canada, by the end of October 2005. Terri and I, back home in Halifax, were thinking of going as the new dealers in Nova Scotia, Canada, first by air, then we figured since Terri, my newly wedded wife, has not been anywhere West of Ontario, to take the car. But after all kinds of planning we decided that the two of us would not be able to leave our businesses for such a long period. Considering the sky rocketing gas prices and that I do have some experience doing long trips on the motorcycle (in May this year I took my Yamaha Road Star from Halifax to the Grand Canyon and back) I finally settled on taking the motorcycle and somehow thought that this might be quite suitable for a motorcycle dealer meeting after all. Now sitting at Tim Horton's one day having a coffee, Terri and I again started pondering the idea and that it's going to be November by the time I am coming back to Halifax. Well, and knowing our Canadian weather, there is a good chance of hitting snow on the way. Long story short, why not take the Patrol, our brand spanking new Ural sidecar motorcycle. Now this is the story of the two weeks of driving the Ural Patrol from Halifax to Redmond or from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. Half of it through the strong and free North country of Canada, where the climate has so much in common with the Urals native Russia, and the remainder through the great United States, where people have always been good to me. My planning was quite simple, I just pulled out my notes from all the other motorcycle trips to know what to take. Then considering the sidecar, there was so much more room for more useful stuff. So I decided to take a container of our most tasty spring water and a bag of apples freshly picked from the Annapolis Valley in Nova Scotia. And my Jeep's car jack, a relatively small thing, which would allow me to easily lift the sidecar. More metric tools, a spare oil filter, extra oil, more fuses and my carburetor balancer. Then more stuff to wear in cold weather, my winter boots for example - there would be no way I could take those along on my Road Star. Finally on a Sunday afternoon, three days later, I was ready to go…

Sunday, October 2nd 2005

I left home at 1 p.m., and to be honest, with not too much confidence. I already worried that I might not make it up the Cobequid Pass in Nova Scotia towards New Brunswick, never mind the Rocky Mountains. Add to that, I noticed that I was getting cold knees and realized that I have forgotten to put the knee covers on. Even worse, I left them at home. I am traveling at 50 miles per hour comfortably along the highway and the Ural runs better than I thought. This was the first time I ever took my Patrol on the highway. It had 1,300 km on it and was run in well. I stopped at Tim Horton's for a coffee and when I tried to leave, the electric starter would not work. No problem, I just used the kick-start, but again it did not add much to my already low confidence level for making it across the continent. Somewhere past Moncton, New Brunswick, I put my little tent up. It was a clear, beautiful night with the Milky Way right above me. I concluded that after all, I have come a long way in just one afternoon.

Monday, October 3rd. 2005

The electric starter has worked only sometimes the day before and I have checked for a loose cable, but could not find any and could not fix the problem. Anyway, this morning I had to use the kick-start and I was glad to get the Ural moving again. Still low on confidence, I ran out of gas on the highway to Fredericton and immediately figured that this is the end of my trip. It took me a while to realize that all I had to do is switch to reserve. With my Road Star, I have it all down to a science, while driving, I know exactly where to reach in order to switch to reserve. But with the Ural it came so sudden and there was such an instant drop of speed that I pulled over and started to worry. My lack of confidence got even worse. At my next coffee stop at Tim Horton's I was not able to leave again, this time no power at all. I pushed the Ural off the road, took my helmet, gloves and jacket off and got to work. I figured immediately that the starter problem must have compounded itself, leading to this disaster. No power, nothing, no juice. I checked the fuses, all seemed fine. Then it finally dawned on me. I simply had by mistake the cut off switch flipped up. I told myself not to worry so much anymore and be more confident from now on. My Ural thanked me for that and we both had an easy ride to Quebec and found a nice campground for the night just before Cabano. It was a warm night and I decided to attach the cables for my heated vest now, while still warm, before it's getting colder and I was sure that this was only a matter of time. Now that was a smart move.

Tuesday, October 4th, 2005

Beautiful sunrise this morning and I got going before 8 a.m. Very nice fall leaves and great rest stops. Past Reviere du Loup I found a lot more traffic on the road and a very strong head wind. It was hard to keep moving beyond 70 km/hour, but I tried. I had noticed before that my mirrors where shaking. I was unable to see the traffic behind me while going less then 80 km/hour. I made it to a nice camp ground again. There were lots of black flies, so I went to sleep early and I thought about leaving before sunrise for Montreal. It was a very warm night again and hard to fall asleep. Maybe also because I started wondering how I was going to get through Montreal on my Ural.

Wednesday, October 5th, 2005

Early morning thick traffic but I got through Montreal very relaxed. Stop and go before the tunnel underneath the St. Lorenz River and I kept shutting the engine off to not overheat. It must have been past 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit). The Ural hit exactly 2,500 km while going through the tunnel. I got onto the 401 and went for breakfast. I thought I deserved it. I almost lost control in a right turn off the main highway. I obviously went too fast by not paying enough attention to the road, instead I was visually checking out the restaurant near by the turn, if it would be a suitable place to rest for a while. I learned my first lesson in sidecar driving. Don't get caught in a right turn going in too fast. Slowing down and going off the gas while turning right will make it worse, since the sidecar wants to keep going. More about this later. I made it to Peterborough and looked for a reasonable Motel. It was getting dark when I decided to go back to a Motel in Cobourg just to save some money, when I noticed that my headlight was dead. I should mention, that I have left from home with the high beam not working, a problem which I had investigated for days, even taking pictures of the cables inside the head light and emailing them to the guys in Peterborough for additional help. So here I was on the highway in the dark for the first time and no headlight at all. Anyway, I did enjoy my first real bed again, since leaving home.

Thursday, October 6th, 2005

This is the day I was going to surprise the guys at Peterborough, now called Ural Canada. And it will also be the day, when I find out that the head light got smashed in by a rock, which hit the centre right on, just following the cracks. One nice part about the headlight, I should mention, is that by trying to figure out why the high beam did not work, Terri purchased a new and identical headlight at Canadian Tire, which is our main source for everyday parts for motor vehicles here in Canada. We wanted to find out if the problem could be fixed by just replacing the headlight itself. How easy it was to get a replacement. I gladly shared this wisdom with Mike at Peterborough, who welcomed me with a real Ural shirt of my size, the one with the boxer engine on it. This one I will keep for myself. Before I went to see the fellows in Fowler's Corner, I prepared myself by studying the maintenance videos carefully. But really, there was no need, the guys did not waste any time and put my Patrol in and went to work. I tried to get my hands dirty too by taking the back tire off and doing the oil and filter changes. While doing this, Simon, who is the new Ural guy, and Ryan, who is the old Ural expert, got going on several fronts. Replacements for cracked fuel lines, which I did not even notice and new fuel filters in a straight line instead of the old 90 degree angle arrangement, re-torquing of the head bolts, valve adjustments and new grease for the back tire bearing. Simon did the final drive oil change and it was a pleasure to see how he turned the wheel back and forth to remove as much of the old oil out as possible. Then Ryan and Simon wired two new wires to the backlight and the sidecar head light, which for whatever unexplained reason stopped working as soon as they got the high beam fixed. The idea was that Sergey will figure this one out and they were perfectly right, but more about this later. By the way, I have left with a dead horn, it stopped working at some point weeks ago. No problem, I got a new horn. I wish it was working while going through Montreal. A few instances would have justified using a horn, but then maybe it was a good thing not being able to do that. And I finally met Scott, who was the very first Ural guy I had talked to on the phone back in February. Anthony runs the computers and he let me hook into their Internet, so I was able to let Terri and Haila know, how I was doing and that I was alright. Unfortunately the email did not work for me, but there is always a way around, I used our FTP site to drop the news and left a short message for Terri on MSN. Funny, it turned out that this became exactly the procedure of brief communication at the Ural headquarters in Redmond. Well, one of the tough things while traveling is the lack of communication to back home. The cell phone I carry is extremely expensive to use and only good for emergencies, unless you have a special plan which I don't. When I went to the Grand Canyon from Halifax and back in May this year, I got stunned with a $1,500 cell phone bill upon my return. Back to the good guys in Peterborough. Simon adjusted the sidecar, it was pulling to the right, meaning not enough toe in, and exchanged the jets in the carburetors, since I had some trouble with the idle. The engine sometimes seemed to go out of control while waiting at red lights, so much that I had to shut it off. Anyway, I will find out that the problem was a bit more serious with Sergey's help, the grandmaster of Ural maintenance and repair. But that story later. I asked for spare parts, like extra spark plugs, oil filter, cotter pins, fuses and they gladly gave them to me. Gerry arrived and I got to see his new Retro, what a nice piece of art. Reverse handle up on the gas tank for the right hand, hand brake or emergency brake as it is called in North America, a term which I have a hard time using, because in the old days this brake was used at every stop, not just emergencies. The main reason why most of us get blinded by break lights at night while waiting at traffic lights. But back to Peterborough and not get excited. Ryan pointed out to me that the front strut holder was loose and I should watch it, they had that problem with some of their Urals too. Gerry was so gracious to invite me to his farm and allowed me to put up my tent on his fresh cut grass for the night. On the way there I got to follow another Ural, Gerry's Retro. Now that was special. It should happen again with Ryan and his Retro in North Dakota, but later more about that. Before I forget, nobody, not Gerry nor Scott nor Mike charged me any money. Maybe they forgot, but I don't believe that, they are just great guys.

Friday, October 7th, 2005

This turned out to be maybe the most difficult day of the journey. It started with a bit of rain in the morning. This got me up early, I sort of jumped out of the tent. But first the good part of the day. I met Gerry's wife, Petra and as it turned out she was born in Berlin, or better in Wilmersdorf, a part of former West-Berlin, a place I called home for 12 years of my life. I studied at TUB in Charlottenburg next to Wilmersdorf. Now that is a nice surprise. Both invited me in for a shower, a coffee and later a most wonderful breakfast. This was just before Canadian Thanksgiving. It turned out that Petra gave me such simple instructions, how to get onto the main highway, that I absolutely had no problem to get going. But that was the end of the good part of the day. Filling up at the gas station - I always keep track of the mileage using my little hand held, on which I have a sophisticated spreadsheet set up. I have used it on previous long motorcycle rides before and now it has evolved and works many ways, gallons, liters, US$ and Canadian$. I immediately noticed that I was using 10 Liters per 100 km. I figured that maybe removing the carburetors the day before had something to do with this. We might have lost that much gas, but I was not sure and decided to pay close attention at the next fill up. I addition to it, this day brought quite a drop in temperature, today it never went beyond the single digits in Celsius or higher then 40 Fahrenheit. The engine would not slow down in idle, more problems, speeding up like crazy. It got worse on my way to Sudbury, no torque. The fastest I could go was now 45 km/h and it became almost impossible to get up a hill. I had to pull over. The engine almost stalled, when I tried to accelerate. In my desperation and thinking of the long weekend ahead and being in nowhere, the most worrisome combination I could think of, I called Terri to get the phone number of the guys in Peterborough. I got Gerry on the phone. And was he ever helpful. He promised to investigate and call the other guys and asked me to call him back at home in an hours time. And most of all, he told me (and that's something I only usually hear from Terri, the best of all wives) that he will come with a helicopter, if necessary, to get me out. Now it doesn't matter if or not this would have had really happened, but it helped at that point in time. It gets you back up on your feet. I stopped at the next gas station and topped up the gas, since I was not sure how much I was burning. And I guess this was a very good thing. I called Gerry back and he was talking to the guys. I had good news for him, Patrol got better and I could remember the moment something got unplugged while driving. So I suspected bad gas. Well, Gerry gave me good advice to, for example, take the tank off, get all the gas out, fill it in coke bottles and look for the dirt in the gas. Since it was getting dark, I instead opted for the next Motel. But again, talking to him helped me getting my confidence back. I found a Motel just 60km before Sudbury and I stayed there for the cold night.

Saturday, October 8th, 2005

It is cold this morning, -3 Celsius or below 30 Fahrenheit. I put more clothes on and I should not forget to mention that the guys in Peterborough gave me a set of leg shields. I put them on the Patrol before I got going today and it made a big difference. The sun comes out and the Ural runs well. I stopped for a coffee and met Paul and later Dan and I am sure that both will buy a Ural from Gerry, since I am still in Ontario. As it turns out Paul knows of Peterborough and met some of the guys at a show, although he has not met Gerry. Whatever, I gave him the scoop and Gerry, if you read this, I sold a motorcycle for you. A new problem pops up. I am driving on a nice even stretch of highway going 50 to 55 miles/hour and I noticed vibrations which seem to occur just about every second. Every second the bike starts shaking maybe 4, 5 or 6 times as if someone grabs the frame and shakes it. It definitely does not come from the road, it's too evenly happening in the exact same interval. I started thinking of my early days of engineering. A drive shaft or what's called 'Gelenkwelle' in German, is supposed to be shifted at their ends by 90 degrees, or? I was quite sure that I have learned that at University. I had tons of time to ponder the thought while experiencing the rattles. Well, it took me until afternoon when I finally made up my mind and stopped in a small town before Sault St. Marie, before crossing over into the United States. Richard and Chris helped me holding the sidecar, while I was lining up the drive shaft - the ends now shifted 90 degrees to each other. Both guys ended up helping me by not just holding the sidecar, but also by using my tools and putting the bolts back on. They had so much fun, saying that you don't get to do this every day. It turned out to be a nice sunny day and so we took our time and sure enough attracted a crowd of people. Some bikers giving me the stories of why there has to be a damper for the steering, they proceeded by going back many years in motorcycle history. That was so much fun, that by then the troubles of the previous day were forgotten. And now I was hopeful that I have solved the vibration problem. As it turns out, I did not. Same old, same old. I cross into the United States before evening and surely attracted the attention of the US border guard who graciously waves me through after exchanging some nice lines about the sidecar. I still had some Nova Scotia apples in the sidecar, which could have given me trouble. I found a beautiful Motel and got the room with the Eagles. As a traditional pipe carrier I took it as a good omen. One more comment towards the drive shaft. It turns out that, once I was able to check on Ryan's Retro in North Dakota, which was the first Ural I have ever seen in the United States and which was assembled by the pros in Redmond, I knew for sure that the guys in Peterborough did exactly the same. Live and learn.

Sunday, October 9th, 2005

It is a sunny and cold day. I am in Michigan now, follow highway 28 and still experience the same vibrations. It's a beautiful day and for the first time my mileage drops below 7 liters/100 km. I take every change to sit in the sun to warm up. The engine runs really well and for the first time goes 65 miles/hour. I stay for the night in Superior. The camera battery went dead, it's too cold.

Monday, October 10th, 2005

It's Thanksgiving in Canada and here I am in the United States and it is Columbia Day. It's a very foggy morning. I had to get my rain gear out. The fog is not only wet it's also cold. It's not pleasant at all. I keep going on highway 2 and I will do that all the way just about to Redmond. In Grand Rapids, Minnesota the sun pops out. I stopped in Dear Lake for breakfast and started wondering if there is anything else I could to reducing the vibrations. So I stop at the next Rest Area checking and tightening the spokes. I also leveled the sidecar a bit better, a slight adjustment where we left off two days ago. I took another break at a Rest Area, sat in the sun and smoked my first tobacco. It's so beautiful, the leaves are turning. This in all was a very good day and I managed to travel 500 km in total. I called Terri to find out the address of the dealer in Minot, North Dakota which is on my way. What a nice beautiful sunset it was, when I stopped at the Motel for the night.

Tuesday, October 11th, 2005

This is a very nice morning. Since I got to my Motel late the night before, I am somewhat tired today. Before having breakfast in Ruby, I did manage 120 km. I got a bit too chilly this morning and should have taken a rest earlier, but then there was no real opportunity. With eggs and hash browns I tried to warm up and decided to take it easy today. In Minot I use the first opportunity to fill up and got into a conversation about riding a motorcycle while it is as cold as it is. Anyway, I asked for directions to the dealer K&H Golf Cars in North Dakota and was lucky. I just had to go steep down a dirt road, which the Patrol managed quite nicely, just got a bit muddy. And I found them relatively easily. Ryan's parents are so sweet, they let me warm up first and even made me a coffee. Ryan then went to work and helped me realigning the sidecar drive shaft again, back to how the guys in Peterborough did it. It was nice to be able to see closely their two Urals, one Retro, one Gear-up and how they were assembled in Redmond, since they got them like this. I got the real thing straight from Russia twice, with the sidecar mounted sideways onto the left panel of the box, and I put them together just with pure common sense. He also helped me putting the old jets in for idle only. I was hoping this would help the annoying high idle when sitting at the traffic lights. In the morning it seems to be fine but after driving for maybe an hour it becomes very difficult in cities and towns along the way. Only good thing is that the number 2 highway is not very populated, at least not where I am going right now. I asked Ryan's dad how much I owe them but no, they would not accept any money. Instead they offered me to stay for the night. Also, I got to see a magazine article about the Urals, where they got the bug from and I got to see a picture of Ilya for the first time. Before I left, I also did an engine and transmission oil and filter change. Ryan and I then went to the nearest bank with our two Urals, his Retro and my Patrol. While leaving their property, Ryan gave me a glimpse of his advanced riding skills. He managed to keep the sidecar up until he got to the main road. That was quite impressive. By the way, they also let me drive the Retro, that was an experience. I noticed how much quieter it was compared to my Patrol. Did not think much of it until Sergey told me that the alternator gear was no good and now that problem is also solved or better I can hear now other things, but more about this later. Ryan and I said good bye to each other at the bank and I am still thankful for their contribution to my successful bit to cross the land on a Ural. Thanks guys.

Wednesday, October 12th, 2005

I begin to write about how the day before ended. I did not make it to Williston. The good news is the picture below, I was able to take, while I was still on the road that late.

Wednesday, October 12th, 2005

The bad news is that I had to ride quite some time in the night. Unfortunately the Motel I got to first after sunset was full. An hour later I drove into the next already very dark. No lights, so almost missed it. That's why I don't like driving nights on a motorcycle, besides I also got very cold and for the first time I had to put my heated vest on not to freeze to death. Anyway, while I stopped the bike and before I got off my helmet, gloves and whatever else, a car pulled next to me and managed to get out and into the office so quickly that I was just amazed about it. I guess that's why my first question was, you guys have still a room left. Depends what the guy picks, was the answer. Well, it did not matter, I got the very last room for the night. The owner and I had a great talk after, he showed me his beautiful Harley and I proudly showed him my motorcycle and sidecar made out of high quality Russian Steel and about the same weight as was his Harley, just for a quarter of the price. The next day was warmer but windy. I wanted to go South but turned around since the wind did not let me go faster then 45 miles/hour. And at that speed I noticed days ago, my side mirrors were vibrating too much, I could not see a thing in the back. Since knowing this, I always tried to avoid this speed for a longer time period, if possible. Therefore back on highway 2 again, and this was my plan from the beginning on anyway. It was still a bit of wind from the left side and I run out of gas since I needed way more then the usual and blamed in on the strong wind. I have a spare canister mounted on the sidecar step, so no big deal. At the next gas station I am ordering breakfast. I bought a battery for my carburetor balancer, I guess the button to turn it on, sticks out too much, so that, by just storing it away, it kind of turns itself on and stays on until unfortunately the battery is empty. I am heading to the Rockies with now very strong headwind. The road is wet, so are my pants, but I feel great and I am confident to make it in the Rockies. And I did. I passed Glacier National Park (sorry no comparison to our great Canadian Rocky Mountains) on the way to Columbia Falls and checked in a Motel and shaved my beard off.

Thursday, October 13th, 2005

It is cold driving this morning. I am heading to Libby and had to stop to put my heated vest on. It's just above freezing. I started figuring out the remainder of the trip and I came to the conclusion that I should make it to Redmond Sunday, which puts me a week ahead of schedule. But then I am glad that I now have a good change to get there even though early, better early then not getting there at all. There is rain in the forecast for tomorrow and I decided to keep moving today while it's still nice out. The number 2 highway takes me through Spokane, where I lost my way and ended up downtown. I remember a conversation there, while driving. They guy yells over.. 'Is that a Ural?' and I answer that it is indeed a Ural and he says... 'I heard about it, but never saw one'. My response was 'I believe you'. There was no time for a longer conversation, since the traffic kept me moving on. But this is just one of many instances where I have been talked to nicely, I should also mention here, that sometimes it got on my nerves. I had just about anything between 'may I look at your bike?' and 'what kind of bike is THAT'. You may appreciate, that while I was trying hard to keep my mind focused either on my bike, my stuff, my valet or just tried not to spill gas, the second kind of comment was less welcome. So I decided to not to answer every question blurred out in the open and not necessarily addressed at me by not picking it up. By the way, in Canada the most common question was 'how old is it' and surprisingly the same question was most common in French Canada as well. So, I said "it's brand new" or I said "it's 8 weeks old" or I said "it's actually this year, the year is 2005". Believe me I got more puzzled looking faces than you can imagine, so I tried telling the story of the Ural, bit by bit. Eventually I tried a different strategy to keep it short and simple and started saying '1939'. That's when I finally got the nods in deep respect. The mountains are stunning. I easily made it back on highway 2 leaving downtown Spokane and made to Wilbur. I managed to get the very last room. The Motel across the street was filled up. I was told that it is hunting season, and just about everyone is out there hunting. That made me hungry so after I got settled I took my Ural for a spin across town. I took a guess that Montana had no helmet law and left with just my warm hat on.

Friday, October 14th, 2005

Leaving my room and getting the Ural packed, a pick up truck pulls over and an older but very alert and active looking woman gets out. We start a conversation about the Ural. As it happens, she was looking for a tricycle and never thought of a sidecar. We spent the next 20 minutes talking and I was able to fill her in with all my positive experiences of the last days of driving. I figured then, that I should make up a list, since there are so many wonderful advantages in driving a Ural. First the butt, she asked me. Come to think of it, I do notice that where I am sitting right now typing into my computer, my behind hurts. Anyway, I drove across Newfoundland and had a sore butt, I was driving a V-Star across Canada and had no problem, other than a sore neck, which I got fixed on Vancouver Island upon return. The Ural did not cause me any pain anywhere, surprisingly. It doesn't look as comfortable as a low, easy going, leaned back chopper, but believe me I have not sat anymore comfortable anywhere, not even on my Road Star. And you can take your eyes of the road and enjoy the surroundings, which I must say, was the most significant positive experience. Don't take your eyes of the road, but what a difference it makes, if you can relax yourself from constantly searching the road surface for bumps and pot holes. And there is a lot more, like warm boots, but I will get to this later. We went on talking about knees and I told her that my knees wobble too from all the soccer I played in the past and because of the many times I popped them out. Stopping a 700 lb motorcycle really hard and bringing it down to one knee was always a worry, even though my left knee never gave in while stopping my motorcycles. In any case, one obviously has not to worry driving a Ural. Even pushing a heavy motorcycle backwards, can be a challenge some times and again the reverse gear of the Ural makes this move a breeze. It reminds me of the day I took my Patrol down the Halifax waterfront for the first time on a Thursday night when the bikers were hanging out at Perks. I did not have to say anything when I parked my Ural out in reverse. The reverse gear did all the talking. Getting back to the lady in the pick up truck, I gave her the Ural's website and left her with the best impression. What a beautiful drive, fall is all over and the mountains are so pretty. I am going over a pass and along a river and eventually get to the Columbia River valley and I am so amazed by the beauty of the orchards, It's warm again and I started peeling off layers of clothes. Which was a mistake, which I should have known, but now pay for it dearly. Well I am sitting here with a major cold, while I am writing this, hoping that I will be all better, when I start to head back East again. I picked up a bag of freshly picked apples and left three dollars in the slot provided. And that in the sharp contrast of prepaying for gas. Anyway I felt more like back home in Nova Scotia, where people still trust each other. I am having coffee and my first chocolate pie since I left home. There is no rain yet. The orchards remind me of the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia. Getting closer to Seattle, the traffic is definitely increasing a lot. I got lost and somehow missed the turn off number 2 highway onto number 522. Instead I managed to get on number 9 south and finally reached 522 this way and onto the 202. Rain is coming down hard while I am at a gas station. Good timing, I am almost there. At a bicycle store in Redmond, which was still open on this Saturday late afternoon, I ask for directions and finally arrived at the Ural headquarters of North America in Redmond, Washington. It took us exactly two weeks to get here.

Today is Thursday, October 19th, 2005

…and I am sitting here at the Comfort Inn in Kirkland next to Seattle writing this story. There is still much to tell about riding the Ural. For example, steering the Patrol by acceleration and deceleration. Going into a left turn, speed up before and slow down in the curve. The sidecar wants to keep going and helps you turn left while you slow in the curve. Now with a right turn do exactly the opposite. Slow down before the curve, then in the curve speed up and again the sidecar will help, this time by lagging behind, helping you turning right while to speed up in the curve. This works really well. What you should not do is go in too fast into a right turn. If you must slow down in the right curve, the sidecar will be counterproductive and will work against you. Now the most dangerous situation is, while all this happens, you also go downhill. Be very careful and patient until your senses have figured out those motions. My confidence was increasing by the day. I started putting my feet up, the right on top of the front strut, the left on top of the engine guard, thinking I should design and machine something suitable for this kind of 'Lazy Boy' driving. How about some kind of grill on top of the cylinders to warm the gloves? There is almost too much time thinking while driving these great distances, There were also problems and sometimes they seemed to add up, but still not serious enough that they could stop me and my Ural from arriving at our destination three and a half thousand miles later. And it comes down to whether or not you are able to diagnose the cause. Sergey, whom I met in the meantime, did exactly that. He instantly diagnosed the problem I falsely thought were with the carburetors. The left cylinder lacked compression. According to Sergey, who went to work on my Ural immediately early Monday morning, October 17th, in his own words: 'no good'. He was the only one present at those early Monday hours, but at this point considering that I still have to make it home by riding the same distance in probably even colder conditions, he was the only one I really needed. I knew his name, introduced myself by also pointing to the Patrol parked outside and the map of North America inside the office building. He asked me politely to sit down at, which turned out to be, Jason's desk and soon after engaged himself by moving my Ural inside his shop. I could not sit around for much longer and soon joined him and my Patrol out there. It was also Sergey's birthday that day and I know now that he loves his native Russia and his family and friends in Irbit very much. He also exchanged the pet cock, again he said 'no good', added a few improvements like the T off the pet cock while resetting the valve seats of the left cylinder. Then he told me that the bike was too noisy and he replaced the alternator gear with a new one. There is still a bit of noise he told me, but it should be gone, once the new gear is run in. Well, I can't hear any noise at all. As a matter of fact, now I am hearing all kinds of other noises and I will be back with Sergey with the unhealthy steering noise coming from the front wheel, I always suspected but couldn't hear much of it just very rarely. Anyway, I will now be able to drive home without ear plugs and I thought before that this was the way it is with a Ural. Sergey installed a new tire on the back rim and the Ural large windshield, which will help me a lot riding home and, thanks to Dennis, matches the green color of my Patrol just perfect. My little third party windshield I took off our Savage the day before I left, was just not able to cover my shoulders, which took quite a bit of cold air coming here. It should also help keeping my fingers warm and I might go back without installing heated grips. Before I forget, Sergey solved the problem with the wiring, according to him, the wires were mixed up. Now the extra two wires are history, it only took Sergey a minute. It's wonderful to watch the expertise of Sergey unfolding as he goes about my Patrol. This alone has made my trip worthwhile. And I must say the Ural is better performing then I ever imagined. I learned that the Ural needs someone who looks after it with a great deal of understanding, knowledge and experience and it will thank the owner in return. If all is done professionally, you got a motorcycle like no other and I guess this is my final thought and we will do our very best in the future and do no less to all the Urals, that come our way towards Atlantic Canada and I thank Sergey for that. Also thanks to my most precious wife Terri and my most lovely daughter Haila, without whom this would have not come true. Now I will look after my cold and I look forward to next weeks dealer meetings and training sessions with the dealers and the Redmond Ural crew, Madina, Jason, Pam, Tina, Roberto, Dennis, Sergey and all the, Roberto would say, 'amigos', I have not met yet, before my Patrol and I will be on the road again with the wind in our back, heading East. Cheers to all you Ural-fans out there. Spasibo!

Thursday, October 27th, 2005

I am heading home. And that, after twelve wonderful days in Redmond and Kirkland where I also finally met the rest of the Redmond Ural Crew, Gary, Ilya and Dmitri. Some of those early days I had to look after myself, keep warm and rest, so that I could get my cold under control. After getting better I spent time in downtown Kirkland and at a biker's pub where the Patrol created a lot of attention and the fact that I drove the rig from Nova Scotia. Sunday I got ready for the Ural Technical Training Course and the Ural Dealers Meeting, also by changing my hotel. Monday was a big day with lots of information to digest. I noticed that many of the dealers present were quite experienced and knowledgeable. It was great to learn so much from Sergey and Jason (Dmitri and Madina were helping out with translations) but also from my fellow dealers. Sergey asked me to bring my Patrol Wednesday morning. He wanted to check my front suspension. So I rushed in that morning and tried to be back at the hotel for the dealers meeting. That morning Sergey gave his final touch to my Ural motorcycle and I knew then, that I will be fine getting home. Our big North American Ural family is working hard for future success. Ilya set the goal by focusing us on the strength of the Ural. I know that this is a home run strategy. Too many businesses are making the mistake by spending their resources on their weaknesses. I got my homework and now I am ready to return.

I left immediately after the very last and most impressive presentation was finished. Not before saying Good Bye to Madina. She wished me good luck and that could prove to be very helpful indeed. I made sure that I have given my farewells before to all other Redmond Ural guys and my fellow Canadians, Ken and Gerry and made sure I exchanged business cards with some of our United States dealers.

Heading home. The night before I plotted my way out of Kirkland with the help of Google Earth. I should not get lost again. Easily - I found my way onto 522 and 2 going East. I stopped for air. According to what I learned it's now 35 instead of 22 psi for the sidecar and the front and for the rear it's 40 now and not 35 psi. Steven's Pass was upon me and my Patrol managed it with bravour. Did I see snow up there? It was getting dark when I picked a motel for the night in Wenatchee.

Friday, October 28th, 2005

Early start, 6 a.m. and still dark. Doesn't look too good. Rain is coming down and makes driving miserable. But I think positive and I am thankful that this is not snow. It's cold, just 36 Fahrenheit, but this was expected. This time I got not lost in Spokane and managed to get through very easily. Traffic was also light. Getting into the Rocky Mountains again is always a pleasure, sun or rain. But the engine is acting up, similar to bad gas. It suddenly slows and by doing so pulls the rig to the left. By suddenly accelerating it does the opposite. I have to be careful and concentrate on those sudden moves. The road is slippery. After two more gas stations, the problem remains but does not get worse. I am wondering now, since the last incident, back in Ontario on my way here, was also a rainy day. The only real wet day of the trip and that's when I thought I had bad gas. Anyway, it's better as it was in Ontario and I keep going. The mileage is up a bit, maybe Patrol does not like rain. I am seeing pictures in my head of rain dripping into the gas tank while I fill up. And that front wheel is acting up again. Sergey checked it and according to him, "no problem", so I try not to worry. This might be the rain's fault too after all. Just before sunset the road dries up and it stops raining. My Ural is drying up too. After a while the engine runs smoother, so there you go, it's the rain's fault. It gets dark and just before Glacier National Park I stay for the night and get ready to conquer the Rockies. Unfortunately there are rain and snow showers in the forecast for tonight and tomorrow morning, but it could be a lot worse. I drove 640 km today and that calls for a record distance for my Patrol. Considering that the days are getting shorter and on top of that I go East (and left Pacific time today), this is quite significant.

Saturday, October 29th, 2005

It's cold this morning. It is dry out while I am leaving my motel. Shortly after, in the mountains, it starts raining a little. While I am driving carefully through the winding roads in the Rocky Mountains in early hours in the daylight a huge dear runs down a slope and crosses right in front of me from the right to the left. Was I ever lucky, that was close. The front brake definitely is working well. An hour later there is a truck with the truck driver bend down under his dashboard, fiddling around somewhere, forgetting where the lane is. Anyway, he is driving over the centre line towards me. There goes the horn. Twice lucky. As soon as I hit the continental divide, it's drying up and I feel the wind in my back. Tailwind, great, that's what I was hoping for. The sun is coming out and the day turns into a beautiful day after all, and my worries crossing the Rockies are forgotten. The luck stays with me. In Glasgow I manage to roll into the gas station with no more gas left in the tank. I made it to the pump but not a meter further. I stay for the night.

Sunday, October 30th, 2005

It's a beautiful morning. Checked the oil perfect. The Patrol runs very well. This is a gorgeous day. Once I cross into North Dakota, it starts cooling off. Dark clouds are showing towards the East. It's amazing how far you can see here. A huge dead and dry bush is being blown across right in front of me. It happens so sudden that I got scared for a moment. I reach Devil's Lake in the dark. Urals' run was very smooth all through the day. I almost drove 600 km today and these are the second most driven kilometers in a day since I left Halifax. The tailwind helped with the gas mileage. I met Cynthia at a gas station. She never knew anything about Urals or Russian motorcycles. She got so very interested in my Patrol that she asked for a business card. She was thinking of a trike for her off-road driving and never considered a sidecar motorcycle before. She was very knowledgeable (she noticed the drive shaft) and also very polite. Now she says she will start saving money to eventually buy a Ural.

Monday, October 31st, 2005

This is again a dry morning and very beautiful. It's so much easier to get ready to go, when there is no rain coming down while you pack the bike. I fixed a loose connection of the front left signal light. I checked the front tire, used my jeep's jack to bring the front of the motorcycle up. There is some play in the steering but the wheel seems fine. The noise coming from the steering when turning right is awful. I decided to ignore it, besides Sergey checked it before I left and he couldn't find anything wrong. I filled up shortly after leaving Devil's Lake and took pictures. That's when I noticed that I stayed at the motel next to me on my way to Seattle. See the picture of the Patrol in front of the motel and the most beautiful sunset. Now I start heading into the darker clouds in Minnesota. There are rain showers coming down and the engine starts sputtering while the roads are wet. When the heavy rain is starting the engine seems to work fine again. I stopped for a bowl of tomato soup. I thought this would be the right thing to do before getting completely wet and cold. Halloween is everywhere and I started missing my girls at home. I made it to Superior, Wisconsin in the dark and checked in a motel for another night.

Tuesday, November 1st, 2005

What a nice morning. And it turned out to be the most beautiful day going back to Halifax. I changed the engine oil and oil filter and the transmission oil. Lake Superior looked stunning with the sun, the wind and the waves. It reminded me so much of home in Nova Scotia. The left signal light finally gave up working, I have to get a new light bulb. Another milestone... Patrol hit the 10,000 km mark, I thought it was worthwhile to stop for a moment and celebrate. The sunset was most spectacular. It was such a good day that I kept driving in the dark for a bit longer before I stopped for the night.

Wednesday, November 2nd, 2005

Frost in the morning and very cold indeed in Michigan. At -3 Celsius I witnessed a most beautiful sunrise. Just before getting to the Canadian border in Sault St. Marie, heavy fog came in and reduced the visibility to a minimum. The fog also made it so much colder. And instead of saying something nice to me, like how was your trip... or go to the next Tim Horton's here in Canada and warm yourself up with a cup of coffee and have a nice day, customs waved me over into a garage where to uniformed young woman with gloves went through all my stuff and all the could find was some tobacco I used to sprinkle over the Patrol to ask for a safe trip. It was considered dry and old and of no concern. I couldn't help it but muttering about the treatment crossing the Berlin Wall for many years and that I am used to this kind of harassment. Half an hour later, I was sitting at the Tim Horton on the Canadian side of Sault St. Marie in Ontario enjoying my first real good cup of Canadian coffee again. The Patrol is sputtering again, this time really bad and at whatever speed. I stop and check things out, but can't find anything obvious. At least I pick up a new light bulb and fix the left front signal light. It's sunny again towards Sudbury. Again, around Sudbury the engine is acting up. It reminded me at the problems around the same area heading towards Seattle. But I decided not to go to Peterborough, instead try to head straight home. Since it's late in the year and the earlier I get home the better the changes are to avoid the snow. I was driving the engine very careful to avoid the miss firings as much as possible. I stayed for the night just before North Bay.

Thursday, November 3rd, 2005

It's a cloudy, but nice and dry morning. I get going at sunrise around 7 a.m. Around North Bay the engine is sputtering again. Later on while it's getting foggy, the engine runs smoother. I stop for a coffee and when I was leaving Tim Horton the engine suddenly dies. I knew then that this was serious and got my tools out, for something to do. Ken from Ontario, who I met at the dealer meeting, suggested to me to take steel spark plug cables with me on my way back, since he had some problems with the original Russian ones and replaced them all. While I am thinking about this, I grab my cell phone and call him up, but unfortunately the answering machine comes on. I leave a message. Then I started to investigate by pulling the spark plug cables off the connections to the spark plugs and noticed that the end of the right cable looked different then the left. One has a bit of a white layer inside the other one doesn't and it looks as if it burned away. I got the knife and cut a piece off, now both ends looked alike. I pushed the cables back in the connections and back on the spark plugs, started the engine and surprise, all seems working just fine. All was great for maybe 50 km and then to my despair the engine started sputtering again. I made it through Ottawa ok but and stayed 60 km before Montreal for the night. Ken called me back and asked me to check the air filter for water and the spark plug cable connections at the engine side. I did that and the air filter, which was ok but had to quit doing more work since it was getting to dark. I called Terri, who suggested to get some gas de-icer. I was going to give this a try tomorrow first thing and went to bed, so I could get up really early to make it through Montreal.

Friday, November 4th, 2005

I got up at 4 a.m., worried sick since I had to go through Montreal with the Patrol not really running that good and I still don't know what causes the problem. First gas station I got gas deicer and filled up too. My hopes did not materialize, it did not get significantly better. But it seemed good enough to get moving. Montreal is always so busy and is not easy to get through. There is a good change to get lost by taking the wrong exit. But this was the least of my problems and as it turned out, I was able to follow the signs perfectly fine which kept me moving on the TransCanada Highway until I made it through the tunnel onto the other side of the St. Lawrence River. But I was slowly but surely loosing speed and torque while on the other hand there was no way to stop with cars and truck coming at me from behind. The minimum speed as 60 km/h and I just managed to stay around that and not get run over by the traffic. I memorized the phone number posted on signs along the highway, which you were to call if there was an emergency stop. I was praying hard until I had a change to stop and by that time I was pretty sure that I was running on one cylinder only. I touched both with my hands and it was the right one which was cold. I pulled the cable, cut it 1/4" shorter to show the white insert and it was barely long enough to put all back together. The engine run perfect again, I called Ken and Terri and left a message that I was flying home. I met John Rogers at the next gas station and he is so impressed with the Ural, he might be another Ural driver in the future. The sputtering started again, this is devastating. There was no more cable long enough left to cut another piece off. I was so lucky to find a garage near by and I moved slowly towards it. They had only one old spark plug cable. I replaced the faulty right one with that one, gave 20$ for the job and was back on the road shortly after. It was not supposed to be my best day, instead this turned out to be the worst of all the days driving to Seattle and back to Halifax. Just before Quebec City, the same problem again, but not quite. The right cylinder was running perfectly fine, now it was the left one not doing well. Quebec City had a Canadian Tire store, where I could get new wires, but were was it. I decided to not go into the city by chance and cross over the St. Lawrence, instead I stayed on the highway and pulled over at the next gas station, filled up and ask for the next store, which was Levis, Quebec. Luckily it was only a couple minutes, which for me was half an hour of driving and extremely frazzling, since again I had only one cylinder working by now. I made it to the Canadian Tire store and picked out some spark plug wires which I though could make work. Back on the parking lot, the wind was so strong that I had to hold on to my tools. Believe it or not, while I was trying to make one of the purchased cables fit, it started snowing. I managed, put it all back together started the engine up and voila was back in business. I called Terri to let her know that just maybe I will make it home on my own. But she has left home already and was driving by the Halifax airport towards New Brunswick to rescue me. I was back on the highway and going towards the Quebec-New Brunswick border, when the snow started to fall heavier and heavier. Trucks were not just throwing snow balls at me, while passing, it was more like snow people coming at me. But I could care less, since I was going home and the Patrol was running better like never before. Visibility was getting compromised and the highway was covered in snow and I had to slow down to around 70 km/h but was still going strong. I just wanted to get home. I noticed a truck signaling me with high beams, passing and the driver waving at me. I finally figured that he might have a problem and stopped to find out. As it turns out, he offered me a ride in his truck to his destination just past the Quebec border in New Brunswick, where he was from. I called him an angel and it made me feel to be almost home, since he was the first Maritimer I have met since I left for Seattle. While driving towards the New Brunswick border, we have seen several cars in the ditches and police cars with there lights flashing. Mark told me that I was the talk of the town. All truck drivers where talking about me on CB Radio, but he says, in a good way only, nobody made fun of me or said that I was crazy. They figured that I got caught in that snow storm and just wanted to get home. How true. Mark and I got the bike off the truck in the dark and while he passed his truck onto another driver, I got ready to drive to the next motel, which Mark helped me find. Thanks Mark, I don't think I will ever forget this. I checked in and shortly after Terri arrived. What a wonderful reunion. Finally I was back, even though I had another day of driving.

Saturday, November 5th, 2005

Terri and I got up after sunrise, not too late but for me later then usual. Snow is everywhere, and the snow plows are out, clearing the roads. We are only a few hundred meters from the U.S. border. The Patrol starts up just fine and we get going. Terri is following with the car and that put me so much at ease knowing if I had to work on the bike at least I could get in the car to warm up or use it to get stuff. Anyway, still snow for the next two hours of driving but half way to Fredericton the snow disappeared and the road started drying up. I am going 65 miles an hour. Terri told me that I was going 100 km/h. Unbelievable, how well the Patrol moves along. Or is it that we both realize that it's now only a hop, skip and a jump home. We stop for a coffee and pace ourselves towards the New Brunswick border. No problems at all. I even passed a truck. At the border we usually stop, since it is such a nice visitor centre there. I have seen them all in Canada and I think that Nova Scotia has the best of all. We get to the Cobequid Pass in Nova Scotia at daylight still which is really good. No fog, no rain, cloudy and even a bit warmer now. We make it to Truro while it's getting dark and now it's just 100 km to get home. This trip is coming to an end with the best day following the worst day. We were not sure if we would make it home today, but we did. I have driven an amazing 680 km this one day with top speed, which is by far the most of any day I have driven between Halifax, Seattle and back. Tired but very happy the Patrol and I arrive at our new dealership building. Terri has worked hard to have the inside all finished before I got back and so all I had to do is drive my Ural Patrol into the new Ural motorcycle repair shop for the night and out the next day into the sun for the first day home. And thanks to all who have helped us on our way along to make this happen and bring it to a successful ending.