Sunday, October 3, 2010

SKUNK Fall Ride 2010

Yesterday, we attended our first SKUNK event! SKUNK = SideKars Up North’ Klub. From the website: “Membership is very, very exclusive.  Only those who lives Nort' of anyone else can join.” The ride started at Scrambler Cycle in Cameron, WI (about 90 miles NE of Minneapolis).

We left Minneapolis at 8am and began the long ride to Cameron. Google predicted it would take about two hours and it did. The temp was 39F so it was a bit chilly as we rode on US-8. We took my SV650 instead of the Ural because my wife wanted to “lean into the corners” and I didn’t have time on Friday to get it ready to go (fairings, electrics, etc). I’ll get plenty of quality time with the Ural soon once the snow flies. :)

We eventually made it and were greeted by Gust, Wayne and his son, and of course Kevin.

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We’re looking at Gust’s 2007 Ural Patrol. He has lots of farkles and extras to stare at:

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Here’s my SV wishing it was a sidecar for the day:

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Kevin’s Sabre:

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Wayne’s very cushy GL1500:

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Gust’s Ural:

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It was a bit cloudy when we went to start, but the temp had come up to nearly 45F!

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Kevin has a lot of cool bikes hanging around:

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Including his Dnepr:

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Did I mention Kevin is a good mechanic? His Honda is rocket powered… look at it go!

 

rocket powered sidecar

Kevin took us on a little tour of the back roads near his shop. We eventually wound up at the Murphy Flowage Campground, so Gust could see his water, rocks, and stuff.

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I bought a box of these Little Hotties and Warmers as a backup to the electrics for this winter.

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My wife really enjoyed using hers while we sat and talked about bikes at the first stop. She was surprised how long they lasted as it was still warm by the time we got home.

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We stopped for lunch at the Birchwood Cafe and had a good time shooting the breeze some more while enjoying warm beverages and food.

We saw about ten pheasants crossing the road. It was amazing they didn’t fly away when Kevin and Wayne rode by. Wayne commented that it was the most pheasants he’d seen in one place in forty years! Hard to see in the photo, so I added some red arrows. Most had vanished into the forest by the time the camera caught up.

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The fall colors were out in full force.

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About 100 miles later, we ended back up on Kevin’s shop.

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He demonstrated his smoke making skills with a few donuts. (see video below)

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He’s getting a new tire for his pusher and wanted to finish it off in style. Nice!

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It was a good show! We took refuse in the shop as it was a bit breezy outside.

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Scrambler Cycle looks quite nice for a place that is less than a year old!

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We eventually said our good byes, and started the ride back to the Twin Cities. We took MN-95 south along the St. Croix River to enjoy the fall colors some more along with the massive traffic jam the colors caused.

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We made it back to St. Paul after 282 miles of riding. The over night low is set at 30F, so I really need to get working on the Ural.

Thanks again to Kevin for organizing the ride. We had a great time riding and chatting.

Full Flickr Album here.

 

Youtube video of the donuts:

(recorded in 1080p - click the HD link!)

 

Vimeo video of the donuts:

2 comments:

  1. Sidecar Donuts looks like great fun! It sounds cold where you are, compared to Arizona, but you had a great deal of fun by the sound of it.

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  2. Gary: They were fun to watch, and I think Kevin enjoyed them as well. My wife got to play monkey and couldn't stop laughing. It is getting cold overnight. The low last night was 30F with the high in the 50s and 60s. Fall is here, and winter is fast approaching!

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