TWALD 2018

Buckled asphalt, flooded roads and destroyed bridges didn’t stop the good times at this year’s TWALD.

By Bob Burns
Published on December 11, 2018
article image
by Peter Burtis
Peter Burtis (left) and friends came across this buckled road on CR P, north of La Farge, Wisconsin.

TWALD is all about old bikes. Anyone can go for a weekend’s ride on something that left the factory a few years ago. But to do it on a bike that is as old or even older than you are? That takes dedication and enthusiasm – and maybe a small amount of poor decision making. So you’re going to catch a little flak if you show up on something you bought last Thursday. And if you have the audacity to trailer a modern bike to TWALD? You’re in for some humiliation in front of 80 of your closest friends.

TWALD 2018 turned out to be a great time, despite Wisconsin’s Driftless region being slammed by the second 100-year flood in the last 10 years. Road closures and destroyed bridges made for some interesting detours for those of us on street bikes, while the people on dual sports had a great time ignoring the “road closed” signs.

As always, there were incidents you only get when you try to take a bunch of old motorcycles far from home. Timing mechanisms became maladjusted. Drive chains became absent. Fuel filters got clogged. Ducatis acted Italian. Issues were dealt with via measures both extreme, mundane and occasionally hilarious. And if that failed, bikes got put in various vans and trailers to return next year.

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