Call him up. The suspension differs from your telelever; it is a conventional looking telescoping fork. The brakes on his RT differ from yours. They are linked brakes. It could be an interesting conversation that might give you some pointers on riding and handling and his experience in general.

You have my deepest sympathy, beemuker. Such a loss is disorienting and can be isolating. Your idea of using a sidecar with your R1100RT could be a good solution to keep you engaged with the world around you and lessen the effect of loneliness that often arises during a profound time like this.

Your RT has a frame perfectly suited for a sidecar, and by your description, seems ready to fit up. Explore your options, then take your canine companion along for the ride.

My wife passed  away earlier this year and left me the single parent of a standard poodle. My wife did not enjoy being a passenger so that limited my bikin' I'm riding a lot more and
There are lots of places I frequent that are dog friendly and I hate to leavre the dog home, so I'm thinking sidecar. I would only use it for short trips 30-50mi. I have a good running R1100rt and it fits well. a rig with that would be my first choice. And I would rather ride than wrench, so a good running complete bike and car would be great. I also have a non running K100 that I GOT CHEAP THAT COULD RUN. But that's a lon term project. They seem scarce, but I'm sure someone with a nice rig will eventually age out of it. advice?

I also suggest you read this thread because it discusses some of the symptoms you describe and a solution one rider discovered. The experiment might work on yours.