SKUNK Rally 2011 - Sidecars!

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:

Flood Run – Spring 2010

The Spring 2010 Flood Run was held on April 17. It originally started in 1965 as a charity event to respond to the river flooding by placing sandbags in Winona, MN. The flood of ‘65 was one of the worst floods of the Mississippi River in recent years. The river crested at 25 feet! It caused $200 million in damage and made 40,000 homeless. In response, Wisconsin senators created flood relief legislation in response to assist future flood victims.

This year the charity was the kid’s at Gillette Children's Hospital. Riders were encouraged to purchase a $10 wrist band with the proceeds going to the charity above. The wrist band provided many discounts including food and lodging, but many of the discounts seemed to be at bars.

Many of the bikes stopped in Maiden Rock, WI, but there were several other stops all up and down Mississippi River on WI-35 from Prescott to Fountain City and up MN-61 from Minnesota City to Hastings.

Vendors were setup on both sides of the railroad tracks. Trains went by about every 30 minutes.

The main road, WI-35, was packed with bikes for miles:

The day was filled with mostly Harleys and other cruisers:

Some sport bikes showed up:

Even a couple nice cars showed up:

Some vehicles didn’t seem to belong:

With a license plate of “H8WNTR”, this guy needs to get a Ural:


Indian was one of the vendors that showed up:

This one is for you Gary:


Video on Vimeo:

Video on Youtube:


NOTE: I'm not sure why I didn't post this earlier. I just found it in the drafts folder complete as of last April.