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By Steve Johnson • GWRRA #179944 • Hot Springs Village, Arkansas
Photos by Bob Bass

Like a lot of us, between a career and kids, we found that there didn’t seem to be enough time or money for everything, and motorcycles were definitely a luxury that we couldn’t fit in. Then, in 2001, as my retirement neared, we contemplated selling our bed and breakfast, and slowing down. Kandi had sufferred with multiple sclerosis (MS) for several years, but was still fairly mobile, the kids were raised, and it was time. We purchased our Valkyrie and started riding again. At first it was just short trips to get the feel of things, and to judge the impact of her impairment on our ability to share the fun.

In May of 2002, just two months after my retirement, she was felled by a catastrophic stroke. I was told to call the kids and prepare myself, but nobody told Kandi. Then we were told she’d never be functional at any level, but nobody told Kandi. Next they said she’d need nursing home care and be bed-ridden, but again, nobody told Kandi.
In June of 2003, we relocated to Hot Springs Village, Arkansas, and with the help of our son, tried to start our retirement life over again. To be sure, things were different. A wheelchair was her only way of getting around, her memory was affected, and she didn’t talk much, as she felt like she stumbled over her words. In September, while out for a short caregiver break on the Valk, I ran into Dan Gruben of Chapter AR-E, who invited me to a Chapter meeting. I explained a bit about my situation, we exchanged e-mail addresses, and I rode away. Little did any of us know what this chance encounter had started.
I was able to make a couple of rides with the Chapter in the fall, but there was no way to bring Kandi along. In January of this year, we loaded her in our van and she attended her first Chapter meeting and met the folks that were soon to have such an impact on her and our lives.
The Chapter was planning a progressive dinner ride in March, and after coordinating with our son, we determined that I could ride and he would drive the van to get Kandi from house to house. The weather was perfect, as was the ride, but when we got home, Kandi said she had a great time, but that we had to find a way for her to go with me. At that point the discussions began. There was no way that we could get her on my bike, and a trike was out, due to the same problems, lack of leg and trunk control. That left sidecars as our only feasible option, and we weren’t too sure about that.
Much searching on the various sidecar Web sites offered little help for wheelchair-bound riders. There were some self-fabricated rigs out there, but nothing commercially produced to fit our needs. That left finding a standard sidecar that we could modify or work within its original state. Our needs were not easy to meet:

  1. We needed as much room as possible for a single seat hack.
  2. We wanted the maximum in passenger safety and comfort.
  3. We wanted the maximum in protection from the elements, yet the ability to let Kandi feel the wind in her face.
  4. We had to be able to transfer her into and out of the car with a minimum of strain and preferably accomplishing this by myself.

Over the next several weeks, countless hours were spent searching the Internet, talking to manufacturers, Chapter participants, and anybody we could find that might have ideas. We looked at sidecars that we could mount on the Valkyrie and used rigs with and without motorcycles attached. One particular unit caught our attention and, as luck would have it, it was at Heartland Honda in Springdale, Arkansas, just a four-hour drive from home. It wasn’t exactly what we were looking for, but it just might work. It was a 1998 Yamaha Royal Star tour classic with a Hannigan sidecar and only 12,000 miles.
The folks at Heartland, learning of our special needs, set to work to get us as much information as they could provide. They e-mailed dozens of pictures, measurements, and information on the sidecar and bike. Finally, we decided that we would make the drive and see if we could indeed transfer Kandi in and out of the rig. We contacted Jason at Heartland and told him we’d be coming up, and requested a quiet secluded place where we could work.
Our plan was to leave at 8 a.m. on Saturday morning, but one of us was so excited that she had me up at 4 and on the road at 6:30 a.m. Upon arriving at Heartland Honda, Jason took us around back to an area where we could work with the rig and not be on public display. To be sure, the transfers were not easy, but we were able to get her in and out of the sidecar several times. We knew we would have to come up with some custom slide boards to make it easier, but we felt sure we could do it. After much discussion with our son, who had come along to help, we decided to take the rig home, and away we went.

For the next several weeks, we set to work figuring out the easiest way to transfer her, but unfortunately nothing worked as well as we had hoped. One day, as I was looking at options, I happened upon a hydraulic patient lift for home use. The dimensions were about right; maybe that would work! Sure enough, when it arrived, we were able to get her in and out of the sidecar much easier. Now we had to figure out how to take it with us. Due to the length of the lift when broken down, many of the trailers available were not big enough to handle our needs.
At the GWRRA District rally at DeGray Lake, I was given a card for a trailer maker just 80 miles south of us, so on Monday morning I was on the phone. Not only did Eddie Spears have a trailer with the right dimensions, he had a used one that was nearly the perfect color match. After hearing of our needs, he remembered seeing my wife & me at the rally, and said, “Come on down, try the trailer and we’ll make sure that you’ll be happy with everything.” He did and we were, and some 3500 miles and many months later we still are.
We don’t ride fast and can’t ride long distances yet, so we can’t make all of the Chapter events or rides that we’d like to make. Hopefully everyone understands when we decline because we don’t want to hold the group up. It does take extra time and effort to get Kandi ready to ride and down and then out at the end of the day, but the way her face lights up when I mention riding is worth it.
My biggest problem now is that I can’t keep her off of the bike; she wants to take it everywhere. That and finding a place for her trophy from the ABATE motorcycle show in Hot Springs. Those are problems I can live with and it never could have happened without the help of our friends in GWRRA. The folks from Chapter AR-E, in Hot Springs have ridden most of our miles with us and helped us in ways they don’t even know, and the folks at Heartland Honda who worked so hard to make this work for us—all have been great.