For those who missed the announcement, back on 23 August 2019 I was on my way to work on my Victory XCT when I was rear-ended by a young guy who was distracted by his phone while driving. My bike was totaled and I'm continuing to heal from my fractures.

I intended to ride again, although it would be a long time before I could have confidence in my legs holding up a bike. It's been almost six months and my legs, pelvis, and hip still aren't ready. However, I would browse ads on CycleTrader to keep myself motivated and focused on goals.

One day I saw an ad for a sidecar rig. I joked to my wife that I wouldn't need to worry about holding it up. She said, "Well, why don't you look into it?" I did, and 11.5 weeks post-wreck, a week and a half after the doc cleared me to use my legs, I rode it home from St. Augustine (about 230 miles). I was sore when I tucked it in the garage, but it surely was satisfying.

Driving a sidecar rig is a totally different animal. Especially when it comes to right turns. Inertia makes the bike want to tip outside of the turn, causing the hack to come off the road. I'm comfortable enough with it now that I have taken my wife for rides. I'll be taking my 7 y/o granddaughter out with it soon, too.

While it doesn't lean over and slice through curves like my previous bike, it has me up and riding. It hurts climbing on, but once I'm in the saddle I'm going. It's an '09 Road King Classic.

Glad to still be here. This could have been very messy. My wife came within a hair's breadth of being a widow that morning.

I started two threads, one in GD and the other in the South Carolina HTF. The GD thread was archived, but I've maintained the one in the SCHTF with updates.

Hmm...? It's clear in my view.

Tire -

Get trained. There's very little that transfers from your experience of driving a car, especially steering. Trying to steer a bike the way you do a car is a recipe for unpleasantness.

Find a Motorcycle Safety Foundation course.

It's very different, but it has me riding while I continue to heal.

Huh. I just learned something. Thanks for the tip, @K1rodeoboater . Didn't know I could direct upload. Haven't done a lot with pictures.

Yes, it's a Texas Ranger. This rig is on their homepage.

Haven't ventured into flying the chair. One day... I have had the third wheel off the road once, entering a curve a tad hot. It got my attention.

Haven't found any classes in my area. I've read a lot, including "Driving a Sidecar Outfit." Working on going from theory to application.

Got you beat. I was 53 when I got my bike license..my wife took the course with me..
As mentioned..take the course..it will be extremely beneficial.
I've gone down twice since I got my license..both times on the same bike in the same circumstances..so what I originally thought was operator error turned out to be mechanical..
Our instructors told us it isn't a matter of if you will go down but when...apparently I'm an over achiever.
A tip a friend of mine told me is..if you are going down, let go of , get off the bike.
He was a 3 time motocross champion up here and knows a thing or three about going down and he said that is a big problem with people that ride on the street as apposed to dirt track racers..we try and stay on, save the bike where they bail off.

Another one is when someone says, "I had to lay it down to avoid a wreck."

No. You traded a two-vehicle wreck for a one-vehicle wreck.

If you "lay a bike down" you abandon any hope of control and now you & your bike are two projectiles sliding down the road.

The first half dozen times I stopped my left foot went to the ground out of habit.

@KCGunnr - What's your overall assessment of the Ural? I've read a lot of opinions at opposite ends of the spectrum (love vs. hate). I've heard they take more maintenance, but the maintenance is easy.

One thing I've wondered about is the frequency of oil changes. 2500 km seems pretty frequent these days.

The 2-wheel drive sounds like a lot of fun. I'll keep them in mind.