It's like driving around in a parade float. Maybe I should throw candy.

[elizilla]

I have been riding the Ural everywhere around town for the last month. I took the Super10 to Marietta, but the Ural is fun to drive locally and good for slow speed errand running stuff.

• Today I had a doctor appointment. (They just wanted to see me before they renewed my prescription for allergy drugs.) I came out of the doctor's office and his receptionist was in the sidecar, getting her picture taken by another woman with a cell phone.


• I was in the grocery store, pushing a cart down the aisle, and another shopper looked at me and said "Oh hi! I knew you were in here somewhere, I saw your bike!" I don't recall ever seeing her before.


• I was at bike night and another rider who was there, wanted a ride. I said "Sure, go get your helmet." He said he didn't have one, and I said I'd lend him my spare. He said he wouldn't wear a helmet, and I said "Then I guess you won't have a sidecar ride, will you?" I have given so many sidecar rides, that I have bought a special helmet just to carry around in the trunk.


• My neighbor wants to know if she can put her grandson in the sidecar for a picture, next time her daughter brings him over.


• A guy came up to me on the street and said he'd seen me on the road last week, and did I see him honking and waving? (That does happen, but I didn't recognize him.) He said he'd wanted to follow me but he was late getting somewhere, and he was glad to see me again because he wanted to know all about the bike.


• I was in a restaurant. As the waitress led me to a table, I could see the bike out the window. There was a guy out there looking at it from every angle. A man at the next table looked at me and said "I bet you can sell it to him for more than you paid." Fifteen minutes later that guy was still out there and the family at the next table were laughing. A woman joined him and handed him her phone, and he took a dozen pictures while she stood and rolled her eyes. Eventually she led him to a car, but he was looking back at the bike and almost tripped.


• It was dark and I was stopped at a light. A motion in the car next to me caught my eye. I looked over and realized they were filming me with a cell phone.


• Children wave at me from the sidewalk, all the time. People look at the bike and smile - their faces just light up.


• I am really slow. The bike doesn't corner very well and it doesn't accelerate very well. But no one seems to mind.

Overall, I get a kick out of this. I love it when strangers come up to chat. But I'm a little nervous as well - the bike attracts so much attention that I fear drawing a creepy stalker. That woman in the grocery store, that guy on the street? They have seen me before. They remember seeing me before. If I park outside a store, people know I'm in there. My activities are highly visible. I think I better keep the Subaru just so I can go places privately sometimes.

Comments

[dagibbs.livejournal.com]

Wow! That is quite the attention-getter.

[elizilla]

It's just nuts. The people on the Ural forum have a name for it, they call it UDF, Ural Delay Factor - if you don't have time to answer questions, don't take it. I wonder if a less retro sidecar would also draw this kind of attention, or if people would be less intrigued if it didn't look like something out of a WWII movie?

[dagibbs.livejournal.com]

Probably the combination of side-cars being uncommon and it being such an old-looking one.

[(Anonymous)]

Welcome to my world, Kath. It's the same rections I've gotten for the past three-plus years since buying the smart car, and also when I ride Fiona the Enfield anywhere. You eventually learn to subconsciously add an extra fifteen minutes into any trip you take in such a vehicle.

You'll get used to it...

-R

[(Anonymous)]

That's incredibly cool!

[bikergeek.livejournal.com]

If you're going to ride around atop a parade float, remember, it's "elbow, elbow, wrist, wrist." And never stop smiling.

;-)

[elizilla]

:)

[(Anonymous)]

Welcome to my world, Kath. It's the same rections I've gotten for the past three-plus years since buying the smart car, and also when I ride Fiona the Enfield anywhere. You eventually learn to subconsciously add an extra fifteen minutes into any trip you take in such a vehicle. You'll get used to it.

...And throw beads instead of candy. It scares the Natives.

-R

[mecmom.livejournal.com]

I get some of this same attention when I walk Leonardo. He's quickly becoming a DOG, though, so I wonder if people will be as attracted to him as when he was a puppy (last week).

[elizilla]

I need to come and see you, and meet him. If the weather is good next weekend, wanna go for a sidecar ride? :)

[pi3832.livejournal.com]

Like you weren't already a magnet for crazy?

I wonder if you'd still get as many fans if you had REPSOL decals on it? And how much time would you have to spend explaining the joke to non-riders?

[elizilla]

I think the crazy people recognize a kindred spirit.

[schmi.livejournal.com]

Hehe... this post made me smile. I'm glad the Ural has it's moments.

And how sad is it that a male biker would never worry about being stalked? :|

[elizilla]

Well, there's also some family stuff there that makes me worry about such things, but yeah.

My favorite kind of attention, is when I see someone do a double take from a passing car, and just light up. It's brightening the day of people I will never even speak to.