This weekend was the 8th annual SKUNK Rally. SKUNK = Side Kars Up North Klub. It’s an exclusive club. To become a member you must live Up North. North is defined as any place North of a South place.
The event was Friday night through Sunday. I had originally planned on going and camping out on Friday night, but changing the tires and some other maintenance on the Ural took a bit more time than I planned. Instead, I left on Saturday morning and made the ride to Cameron, WI – about 100 miles one way. The rally was held on the grounds of the Pioneer Village Museum -- a neat place. As you can see from the photos, the weather was perfect. It was sunny and about 80F.
They had quite a lot of exhibits, and I ran out of time trying to look at them all.
You can even learn how to use a loom.
Old stoves:
Old washing machines:
Old gadgets. I like the old telephone switchboard in front of the red chair.
Woodworking tools from the last 150 years.
I arrived just after lunch and was the 21st sidecar there. There were five Urals there, and as I arrived the 2011 Gear-Up left. In total, 22 sidecars attended and about 70ish people.
My 2009 Ural Patrol dressed for summer:
A neat Triumph rig.
A Burgman 650 sidecar rig (more pics of this one in the full album):
The errant two-wheeler even showed up.
a Harley rig:
Kevin’s transportation for the rally:
Note the yellow dust in all the photos? It’s tree pollen from the pines.
Amazing how much pollen these trees were putting out in the few hours the sidecars were sitting there.
I like this sign: “Ural – 50 Years of Impeding Traffic”
Lilacs were also in full bloom and smelled great.
Cool custom sidecar frame on this Moto Guzzi.
The second lever is for the sidecar brake. Nice!
I love his backrest too.
Kevin from Scrambler Cycle (Orange) giving advice to Jeremy (left). This is Jeremy’s first sidecar -- a mid eighties sportster rig he built two days ago. Congrats!
Dinner! Lasagna, bread, salad, and ice cream for desert.
This guy “won” the gnome for riding the furthest to the rally – 416 miles. I was surprised he beat the Canadians on mileage.
Jeremy “won” the goofy hat for being the most inexperienced sidecarist at the rally – two days! The honor was almost mine as I only have about two years.
This was my door prize. A patch from the now defunct 3rd Wheel club.
The organizer (and cook) at the museum was presented with this hat. Yea, it’s a raccoon and not a skunk. She REALLY liked it.
I had a fun time shooting the breeze with the other drivers (you drive a sidecar). Talking about riding, trips, and sidecars all afternoon was a fun time!
Full flickr album of all 71 photos including every sidecar there: 2011 SKUNK Rally.
YouTube Video:
