Mr. Happy saga

Funny read about Mr. Happy......

http://www.aerostich.com/mrhappy/mr-happy-gone-bad-letter

'Tis the season

of pea gravel on Wisconsin roads. One of our favs, County SS has received the dreaded chip seal from Lund, Wi., onward. You been warned, brother.

This post is Mr. Sock Puppet Approved

VBR Roadcrafter competition..... All the news is here

Our man Christian represented us well in the who-can-get-in-and-out-of-their-Roadcrafter-fastest competition at this weekend's VBR rally in Duluth.....

The Roadcrafters are carefully placed on the stage.

Christian appears to have the lead over his competitors

A grasp of the main zipper and it is into the home stretch

What? A stuck zipper. Victory slips away

An interview that will soon make its way to every large media outlet world wide

No prize, but a handshake with Andy Goldfine, the founder of Aerostich and designer of the Roadcrafter riding suit

The Very Boring Rally in pictures

No bee stings to the head, I made my first VBR in Duluth. Looking forward to going again in five years.

Fisticuffs are the norm in the VBR campsite as far as it goes for members of the Ironworks Motorbike Club

Rob did not hear banjo music; he created the banjo music

Very nice HRD Vincent Black Shadow. Rare. Don't touch. Tim did and got arrested.

VBR rally grounds. More tents on the other side of lodge. And in the trees. And elsewhere.

Old Skool trials bike

Trials rider goes up rocky slope

The VBR's version of an umbrella girl

Bultaco getting ready to make the climb 

Please meet Harvey Danger

The latest in adventure cases;  made by some company call SalVal

Mr. Happy and Mr. Happy. And Mr. Not-So-Happy

Mr. Happy is a photo whore

Little Timmy waxing poetic over a stogie.

Paul going for the last drops in discarded beer bottles. Hey, nice Norton, tho.

Though we'd like to be at Indy, partying in the Hyatt's pilot lounge....

we are not this year. Sad as it may sound, scheduling difficulties prevented any members of the Red Wing Ironworks Motorbike Club from traveling to Indy for the 2013 Moto GP, happening this very weekend. Fortunately, we will catch all the GP actions from the comfort of Sir. Robert's super-ass huge couch in front of his super-duper large-ass TV.   But in case you are wondering, this is what a lap at Indy looks like from the cockpit of a GP bike.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVnXAQA4jqw&feature=player_embedded

Not that I want to be thinking about this now, but......

The days are getting shorter, the nights a little cooler and before long.... Never mind. The thought of the riding season drawing to a close is depressing enough. But hey, it is time to get the annual Red Wing Ironworks Motorbike Club Octoberfest on the books.

The details:
When: Saturday, Oct. 5
Time: 5 p.m.
Where: Bill's backyard
I will get a keg of Rush River. Bring something to pass around, and be prepared to learn new swear words.

This message approved by Tennessee Tuxedo and Chumley.

Next up: The Very Boring Rally

The Aerostich once-every-five-year Very Boring Rally is on the calendar for Aug. 23-25 at Spirit Mountain in Duluth. So far on the Ironworks roster for attendance is: Little Timmy, Christian, Bill and Sir Robert. If you miss it, you will be sad, like this guy below, and you will be forced to listen to his music all weekend long.

First annual Ironworks Motorbike Club's Burning of the Piano Celebration at Windbeam Farms

Photos only, no story. We have headaches today. Sorry.

What 100,000 feet looks like from a motorcycle

What follows is a day by day diary compiled by Mark:

Day one --  I slabbed it to Fairmont to meet Neal and Brett and from there we dipped down and rode across northern Iowa, southern South Dakota before spending the night at the Indian casino in Niobara, Neb. Crossing the Missouri River at Yankton, SD into Nebraska was gorgeous. For me it was about a 650 mile day. 

Day two -- We road across the northern edge of Nebraska on the Outlaw Train & Bridges to Buttes Scenic Byways. People joke about Nebraska, but along the rolling hills nestled alongside the Missouri River was fantastic. We were usually at least 40 miles between gas stations. Not a problem for me, but we didn't gamble on the 160 mile range that Neal and Brett have. We then dropped down to Carhenge in Alliance, Neb. before making it to Denver for two nights.

We rode in temps from 58 to 97, sun, showers, torrential rain and hail this day. All fun.

Day three -- The 100,000 foot ride. A well-planned ride of 300 people, 80% Beemers.  My rear tire was shot and fortunately the ride started from one of two BMW dealers in Denver. I had a 7 a.m. appt and we were on the road by 8 a.m. The bad news is it was expensive, about $50 more than at my dealer.

The Aerostich is perfect for this because it might be raining on one side of the mountain, cross the other side it'd be sunny. Like that all day long. The day ended in a downpour so fierce I just couldn't see anything. We were too putzy and missed the post-ride dinner.

The cattle standing on the road coming around a bend was interesting. Happened a couple times. Open range.

Day four -- This was our exploration day. It's hard to say what the highlight was, there were so many. One was the 14-mile-long road to the top of Mount Evans, the highest paved road in North America ending at about 14,200 feet. No guardrails, narrow road, amazing views. I was light-headed just standing up there. Neal and Brett overcame their reluctance of going to high up places. Lots of amazing roads to ride hard and fast. A few were clogged with traffic and it was hard to pass. About a 325 mile day that ended in Fort Collins, Colo.

Day five -- Hopped on 75 miles of slab to Cheyenne, Wyo. before going across Wyoming. Went past sign that said next gas 72 miles. Saw armored Humvees checking on MX missile silos in the middle of nowhere, the dashed across Nebraska before making it to Assman Implement in Mission, S.D. five minutes before closing. Neal talked farm with them for 30 minutes. Bought hats.

We were going to follow the Missouri River for a while, but it started to get dark and animals were crossing the road so we popped up to I-90 and spent the night in Kimball, S.D. We took the last three rooms. Everyone else was either headed to Sturgis or on their way home.

Day six -- The forecast was for storms and we didn't get as far as we expected the days before so we reluctantly slabbed it back 620 miles.

Out of the way places.....

Mark, Brett and Neal on the return from the 100,000 foot peaks ride in Colorado. This is somewhere in South Dakota. Wasn't this a Seinfeld episode?