The Courtyard Marriott in Mechanicsburg is the venue of choice. They provide a reserved area of their parking lot for the group with room for trailers. We piggyback with the Speedster Owners Group. There is usually a discount through the group for room rates.

But…It’s way to early.

Now that this subject has been brought up, who is heading up this years meet? I was led to believe Corey was only doing it for the one year.(And he did a hell of a job, I think)

Anybody know?

Flat Towing:

It’s really no more difficult than towing around your block, except you need to be aware of the fact that you can not back up.  This may cause some problems when getting fuel.  Truck stops work well.

You will be tempted to go the same speed as traffic.  Do you want the top up or down?  Your choice.  Either way the top or the tonneau will tend to fill with air and billow up.  If the top up, then you might want to run some tape up the seam where the side curtain meets the windscreen else one (and then more) of the snaps comes loose and they “unzip” and you lose a side curtain.  If you tow top down with the tonneau installed, I recommend removing the toad’s steering wheel else you may wear a hole in your tonneau.

I prefer bright magnetic stop and turn signals and attach them to the toad’s bumper over-riders and then put a wrap of gorilla tape around them for security against vibrating off.

I usually pump up the toad’s tires to 28-30 psi and carry a small air compressor.

Be careful and choose a hitch receiver that allows the tow bar to be as close to level as possible favoring a slight up (from toad to tow vehicle) angle so that on emergency stops the front of the toad doesn’t try to rise.  Remember that you will have NO tongue weight, so if your hitch is loose in the receiver, it will rattle and annoy you the whole trip.  Wooden shims and/or tape can help to make the toad quieter.

….and I won’t repeat the good fatherly advice about toads being in neutral, emergency brake off, steering wheel unlocked, stopping distances, mirrors, practice runs around the block, gawkers, and about being able to see the toad (depending on the tow vehicle).  You might be more comfortable attaching a bicycle flag to the rear bumper of the toad (if so, put it dead center on the rear bumper).

Flat towing is the way to go.  I have flat towed many thousands of miles between Connecticut to Florida and countless shorter trips.  Never a problem except the (old) Garden State Parkway in NJ where it was prohibited (1960’s).

• This reply was modified 6 years ago by Royal.

Ed

Thanks for all you work in keeping this even going.  I will have to miss this year.  My sister and I are walking the Camino de Santiago from Porto, Portugal to Santiago, Spain in May 2019, about 160 miles.

I have flat towed from Chicago several times with no issues.  Have towed with tonneau cover on each time and have not experienced any wear due to steering wheel.  The one issue I experienced was the cables feeding the tow light were somewhat loose at the rear fender and flapped in the wind repeatedly hitting the fender and scuffing some of the paint.  I now make sure the cables are tapped to car body with no slack.

Al Greig

Hey everyone it’s time to buy your Carlisle tickets at 20% off.

(pictured: Richard Wobby’s Allison TD)

Most of you know they do this sale every year but for you newbies: The Carlisle Kit and Import (nka “Import and Performance”) Nationals is this club’s main east coast gathering and has been for the past many many years.

With rare exceptions our members go “non-judged” but every so often someone ponies up the extra sawbuck and probably wins a trophy, as happened a few years back with Cory Drake’s Famous Hoopty Special.

Get your tickets early and enjoy getting your window sticker in the mail weeks before the May 17 show date.

And please remember to click the “club” box and scroll way down to choose the “Speedster Owners” option when you buy. This is how the Carlisle poobahs take the club census and the more people we sign up the bigger our free canopy is.

The canopy is just what’s needed to keep everyone from becoming sunburned whist enjoying a cold one or three during the show.

So click on over and commit before January 2 to save 8 bucks, and also tell your friends and neighbors. More is better, and you don’t need a Speedster (or a TD or a Spyder) to show up and hang with us.

Euros, Francs…anything but Bitcoin.

My plan is to debut the Spyder but that was my plan last year too so let’s not be too hasty with the predictions.

Done.

All I need now is a car.

oh…

and good weather. Definitely need good weather.

Update on the hotel reservations for Carlisle. Some of the Speedster guys had trouble registering when they called the above number and were handed off to national reservations. Here’s what to do, via Alan Merklin who arranged the accommodations:

New phone number for hotel reservations  717 300 7026 Between 8am & 4pm you are making your reservation with Charity Shreffler Event Manager  . Be sure to mention the Speedster Owner’s Group !       Do Not use their 800 number.

Get your event pass (window sticker) Here:

http://www.carlisleevents.com/carlisle-events/carlisle-import-and-performance-nationals/default.aspx

I will be posting information regarding the Saturday dinner/banquet in a few days, and I’ll be collecting those checks.

I wish I was but its no where done yet. I’ll tell you of my progress ( lack there of) when I see you

that would be great. if we get enough of us to show up. I will do a big BBQ at my house we might be able to  talk Billnparts to show up lets see who else is up to it