Smutyanka Will Be Back Soon!

We got a call from the shop that has had Smutyanka, our Ural sidecar motorcycle, for a little over three months.  She’s all ready to go, but he lost the keys (first time in his career, apparently), so he had to remove the ignition and take it to a locksmith to get a new key made.  But, we should have the old girl back in a couple of days, and with this weather, that’s really excellent news.  The mechanic said she was both a joy and a challenge to work on, and he ended up having to actually fabricate a part or two!

Smutyanka’s return also means that I really need to get off my butt about getting my motorcycle license.  I’ve decided to go the learner permit route instead of taking the weekend course, and instead will save my money for the sidecar class they are offering in May.  Every sidecar bike owner I’ve talked to has extolled the virtues of taking a sidecar-specific class, and I think that it will go much further toward increasing my safety on the bike than a regular motorcycling class will.  Also, since I already have considerable experience riding motorcycles from when I was living in Korea, I think that the sidecar class is a much better investment of my money.

Look for photos of our newly improved Russian troublemaker soon!