Tom and Carol went to Italy, attending an R75 BMW and KS750 Zundapp rally.

He tells us about his trip: "It wasn't feasible to bring my bike, so we got to be sidecar passengers as we rode through the hills of Emilia-Romgna in columns of about 130 sidecars and a few VW kubelwagens and 1 schwimmwagen. We had a ball. And ate very well."

The rally was 4 days and included lunches and dinners which were all multicourse meals. We would ride through the hills to various towns and then have a banquet consisting of antipasti (usually local cured meats like prosciutto), a primo piatto e.g. tortellini in brodo, a secondo such as bistecca alla fiorentina, contorni and desserts. I love the Mediterranean diet!

After the rally we went to a little town in the Reggio Emilia Appenines called Castelnovo ne' Monti and went day hiking. We were there for 4 nights then 4 nights in Bologna. We flew in and out of Bologna."

See photos below of Tom Weiss's R75 Military version BMW with Royal sidecar, here in the United States.

Tom Weiss's R75 Military version BMW with Royal sidecar. This rare vintage BMW motorcyle has:

• 8 forward gears
• a complex transmission embodying a 2 stage range-change gearbox with 4 off highway gears
• four road gears
• 2 reverse gears
• a lockable differential for the sidecar drive.

Modern sidecar rig in the sunshine.

Battleship Galactica, a wonderful R69S with Steib S501 sidecar. This rig has traveled thousands of miles across the United States.

People love to see a train of rare restored vintage sidecars traveling together. Right to left, R69s with Steib S501, R69S with Steib S501 and Bruce with R60 and Geko sidecar.

In the Kevin Brooks Motor Works shop, aligning the Steib S501 onto his restoration of this R69S BMW motorcycle. Kevin's restoration wins prizes everywhere, including Menlo, Wa.

Another photo of Kevin's restoration of this georgous R69S with Steib S501 sidecar. Restored for Brent and Sue Hansen, this rig catches everyone's attention as they travel across the United States. Brent designed the custom paint scheme.

Restored R60 Vintage BMW motorcycle with S350 Steib sidecar, front and rear view.

This is Bruce's georgeous rig. The bike is an R60 BMW with a Swiss sidecar called a Geko.

The bike trailer is a Czechoslovakian PAV 40, built originally for Jawa Motorcycles in the 50s and 60s.

He wins prizes each time he shows his bike, and not just because he is so good looking.

This great photo was taken on a trip to Mount St. Helen's- the group caused quite a stir as people ran over to see the unusual array of vintage beauties. From front to back: BMW R60 motorcycle with S350 Steib sidecar, 1963 BMW R69S motorcycle with S501 Steib sidecar, BMW R60 motorcycle with Geko sidecar, 1968 BMW R69S with S501 Steib sidecar.

Working lights on Bruce's Geko sidecar means he's ride-ready 24 hours a day on his R60. Georgeous paint job. Here is handsome Bruce on his R60 BMW motorcycle with a Geko sidecar. Note the custom paint job he designed; this man, sidecar and paint job catch everyone's eye as he roars down the road. He went ahead and added powerful lights so that he can drive georgeous Kathy down the coast to Napa Valley, California, and tour all the wineries.

Brent and Sue think nothing of roaring up the coast from the Bay Area to Washington in their beautiful 1963 R69S BMW with S501 sidecar. Their pilot Little Bit, spotted sausage doggie, is in love with Sammi, who lives in Olympia, WA, which might be why they happily make the trip. Sue learned how to drive a sidecar rig, and now they split the driving. Here they are, participating in Kevin Brook's annual vintage rally. Our buddy Scott is camera shy, and is lurking in back on the BMW that he rebuilt.

David's R90S BMW motorcycle conversion with a Steib TR500.Here is David giving Jeff his first sidecar ride. David's R90S BMW motorcycle conversion with a Steib TR500 sidecar rig is a beautiful sight to see. David has been riding and piloting sidecar rigs for years.

Vernon Wade's BMW in the snow. Photo copyright Vernon Wade.