ScarabRV | On The Road

[caption id="attachment_76" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Camp at Sturgis in Days End"][/caption]
We continue to get interest in the ScarabRV. As things pick up over the next couple of days we hope to see more activity.
Mid 90′s today and high humidity but a very nice day. 8 more days for me here in Sturgis.
Last 4 are main street pics from this afternoon. Keep in mind, Sturgis Rally has not started yet.

We have been on Trailer Bill’s lot most of the day and seeing lots of activity. Sturgis is expecting 750,000 visitors over the next week and we are in a great spot to be seen as they enter from the west end.
Hot and muggy today but no thunderstorms…yet!
I promise I’ll get some pic’s together. Been busy.

Holy…
The sky opened up and dropped a heluvalot of rain in the past 30 minutes. ScarabRV is sitting unattended and sealed up, scooter is under the front drop of a good neighbors fifth wheel and I’m sitting on the back porch of this great little operation known as Days End Resort in Sturgis at the west end of town. These people have just been great. Very accomodating and very personal service. I highly recommend Days End as a comfortable stop over if you’re passing through Sturgis.
We should see sunshine in another 30 minutes or so based on my review of radar on wunderground.com . Surrounding areas truly got the brunt of the storm. It broke into 2 cells and went around Sturgis.

Having logged over 1250 miles of back roads and hiway miles, I am now in Sheirdan WY where I camped last night. I was in the small town of Hardin MT the night before, just a couple of hours up the road. DHad a pretty good rain in Hardin and stayed dry. The ScarabRV Tent needed a good wash after parking under a shade tree and being bombarded by a very small (fortunately) flock of birds that roosted in all of the surrounding trees.
Met a trio of motorcycle campers that displayed a bit of envy when I pushed the button and my tent was ready to occupy a minute later. Ladies seem to like the style and the simplicity of it while men seem to be defensive of their campers but still exhibit a bit of envy with comments like “That’s a lazy man’s camper” and “That’s cheating”, all in jest I’m sure.
So today I will continue to Sturgis (unless I get side-tracked) and check out the lay of the land. I will be looking for any location that I can secure for a day or two to allow passers by to see our product. Prospects for this late in the game approach are pretty slim but I will do what I can to get us some exposure. August 9 is the actual start of the rally so maybe this early bird will have some luck.
I have done mostly freeway driving over the past two days. Generally staying around 65 to 70 mph but have done some travelling at 75 to 80 mph to check the handling of ScarabRV and was very pleased with its handling characteristics. I will not make a practice of, nor do I recommend, travelling at those speeds but it’s good to know that, if loaded properly, it can handle the higher speeds.
Working on a few cosmetic injuries that occuered a couple of days ago. Also, heat has affected our prototype skins due to the nature of how these skins were made. Keep in mind, the prototype was built to be a plug mold and conceptual tool. It was only a couple of months ago when we decided that we needed to get a ScarabRV on the road this summer and the prototype was our only immediate answer. So the foam and fiberglass hand made body received another layer of glass to help stabilize the surfaces. Well, should have been a couple more layers. The heat builds up under the glass where the foam seems to contain the heat rather than letting it disburse and bubbles occur. Nothing we can do to remedy this on the road so… it is what it is, a prototype, not a finished product.
I will get more photo’s up shortly. Hard to find wifi in the middle of the prairies. Sure is beautiful country though.

Finally, ScarabRV hits the road on July 28, 2010.
I left Camano Island at 1:30pm, stopped in to say goodbye to my honey, got some Fuel at what we’ll call mile 0001. I wanted to see what our fuel mileage is towing the ScarabRV so we’re using the 0001 as a start from first fuel.
So, off I go with all of the excitement, enthusiasm, apprehension, anxiety, expectations…etc. It was a fun afternoon putting the ScarabRV through a number of maneuvers and establishing baselines for safe operation.
In general, ScarabRV tows very timidly. Just like any conventional trailer, keep the real weight over the axles and maintain a reasonable portion of weight forward to sustain controllability.
Those of you that decide to tow a trailer need to keep a couple of things in mind; any front end movement translates into amplified movement on the back end. A stable and confident rider can handle a trailer under any normal circumstances. Erratic adjustments in turns, abrupt changes in speed and NOT THINKING AHEAD can get you into trouble. Watch for erratic drivers ahead of you as well as conditions ahead that may affect your driving decisions and give plenty of time for corrections. Washington State requires that you get an endorsement specifically for towing a trailer with a motorcycle. There are probably other states that do as well.
So, end of Day 1, I settled in to Curlew Lake Camp grounds, north of Republic WA, for a late night stop. I found a fitting location and paid my dues to pitch my ScarabRV in a standard site. Beautiful spot with mowed grass camping area, nice showers. Wait…nice showers? At 2 am the most hellacious thunderstorm I’ve ever been in struck us with no warning. I didn’t realize at the time (but remembered shortly thereafter) that we did not have time to apply a rain fly to the prototype. I made it through the night and will add a rain fly when I get to Missoula or Bozeman, knowing that over the next 3 weeks, I will probably be in a few more thunderstorms. Preparedness for such conditions was significant component of the ScarabRV concept. We just got so wrapped up in the functional details we didn’t take time to finish all of the real comfort issues. You know…warm and dry.
Day 2 (July 29, 2010) I dried out all soggy clothes and bedding. Ready for a good nights sleep in a very sleepy little campground in Montana between Trout Creek and Thompson Falls. I’ve taken some time to reorganize (I was hell-bent for departure when I left and just threw crap into bags). I cleaned up some of the prior evening’s leftovers and had a good nights sleep.
Day 3, breakfast at Minnie’s in Thompson Falls made for a great breakfast. After consuming a half-gallon of coffee to warm my core from driving in heavy rain I moved on towards Missoula thinking I’d settle there for the evening. Well, I’m in Bozeman tonight, a good ways beyond Missoula. Dodging thunderstorms all day and looking for an interesting campground, I gave in to the urge to have a hot shower and modern conveniences.
This entry is being posted on day 3 because I have been out of range for AT&T and any wifi connection. I will try to keep entries a little more contemporary and get some facts posted with regards to performance, fuel consumption and other items of interest.
More later…