ZukiMelt, 2002
Attica, IN
Note: If you are not interested in
the full trip report - just press your END key - the pictures follow
this article...
BACKGROUND:
This was our first trip to ZukiMelt but you can bet it wont be our
last. Wow -- this thing is a very, VERY, big Midwestern event!
Each year, the week after Independence Day, quite literally
hundreds of Suzuki owners descend on the small town of Attica, IN.
There are only 2 things in Attica - corn and the Badlands ORV park.
Which one do you think the Zuk'ers go there
to see?
We decided it would just take too long to trailer our
rigs that far and things have been pretty busy around the ol' Roadless
Gear shop so we opted to fly in and just tag along and take pictures.
Imagine our surprise when a guy off one of the Suzuki mail lists sent
us an email offering to loan us his Samurai for the weekend. Said
he lived just about 25 miles from Attica and wouldn't be able to make
it this year himself.
That man was one Mr. Mike Maddox and let me tell ya
- this guy is the very embodiment of what is great about being a member
of the "Zuki Family". One of the nicest folks you'll ever
have the pleasure of talking to.
CHAPTER I - WE GET A LOANER
- OR, REALLY, I COULDN'T...WELL OK IF YOU INSIST!:
At first, we thanked Mike but said we couldn't put him out like that.
But after a few days of hearing all these cool stories about the Badlands,
and a few hundred "are you SURE it's no problem"s - he talked
us into it. We flew into Indy - rented a car - drove to Mike's farm
- picked up our loaner vehicle for the weekend - and pointed the hood
for the Steam Corners Campground (event HQ for ZukiMelt).
What we saw when we arrived stunned both Lora and myself.
Hundreds and hundreds of Suzuki's and Suzuki owners. Each and every
one had a big smile and a warm "howdy - glad you could make it"
waiting for us. We pitched our tent and stayed up most the night oogling
the tons of fine Suzuki flesh that was laid out before us like a buffet.
CHAPTER 2 - DAY ONE -GETTING
OUR FEET WET (AND MUDDY): The first day, Lora and
I decided we'd take it nice and easy. Stick to the beginner trails
and try not to break anything on Mike's Samurai. Though we did find
a mud puddle we just couldn't resist. They have the stickiest - smelliest
- most Zuk swallowing mud there in Indiana I think I've ever seen!
The "little" mud puddle turned out to be quicksand and even
the winch couldn't get us out. We waved down a passing Zuk with a
guy by the name of John driving it. He had just bought the thing and
wasn't sure if he could help us out. But we hooked a strap to it and
a few tugs later we were back on Terra Firma. John drove off with
a big smile and a "wow - I didn't know this little thing had
it in her" look on his face.
This day also saw the "Rock Rage" - a rock
crawling competition that we opted to just observe. We know all too
well what these things can do to a vehicle.
CHAPTER 3 - DAY TWO -
MORE COMFORTABLE WITH THE TRAILS (UH OH): By the second
day we were becoming more familiar with the terrain there at Badlands.
So we got alittle bolder. Went on a trail that reccomended lockers
(even though Mike's Zuk is open front and rear). This is where our
luck ran out. About quarter of the way into the trail, we hit a big
ol' rock and broke the drivers side spring pack right in half. Thanx
to Ranger Rick for the "trail fix o' the day" suggestion
to use the winch cable to hold the axle in place long enough for us
to limp back to the staging area. Luckily when we got there we found
a guy selling a pair of front springs - which we quickly bought without
even haggling to replace the damage we did to poor Mike's rig.
We sat around there talking with Larry Harris and his
wife Terrina for an hour or so thinking this was the end of the trail
for the Roadless Gear team that weekend.
CHAPTER 4 - ONE MAN'S
PAIN IS ANOTHER MAN'S GAIN: Just about that time,
Rick Lance get's carried up to the staging area. Seems he was helping
somebody get unstuck and slipped and banged his knee up pretty hard.
He said "looks like my day is over, can't drive like this".
I moaned back, "yeah, ours too - I broke our ride". What
Rick said next just about knocked me off my chair. "Well, take
mine then! Hell, I can't drive it so somebody outta."
Now, mind you - here's a guy who had just heard how
I took the last vehicle somebody let me drive and proceeded to render
it virtually un-drivable. And yet he STILL was willing to let me take
his rig out into the Badlands totally unsupervised. I tried to pull
the ol' "no way man, I couldn't do that" line on him but
he saw right through me. He knew I was just aching to get back on
the trail and what better way to do it than behind the wheel of his
"built to the hilt" hard top he affectionately calls, "The
Mistress".
We hopped up into "The Mistress" and headed
out for the same trail that saw the demise of our first loaner. This
time vowing to complete the trail with NO damage. And let me tall
ya, Rick's ride performed flawlessly that day. She went up, over and
through everything we asked of her. Lora quickly learned the Mistress's
specialty was mud and begged me to hit every mud hole I could find
hard and fast. By the time the day was over, my "Mistress"
AND my wife were covered from top to bottom with Indiana mud.
CHAPTER 5 - THE 2nd BEST
THING ABOUT ZUKI MELT: Well, the trails may get them
there, but the huge award ceremony and raffle around the bon fire
keeps them there until Saturday night. Jim Mazolla was the appointed
pyromaniac this year. He built a bon fire so hot, the EPA would declared
it one rating below a Nuclear Waste Dump. I'm sure they are out there
right now pouring concrete over the fire ring just to knock the radiation
down a few rads.
Roadless Gear donated a full set of extended shock absorbers,
a hi-lift jack mount and a bunch of our "Jeep-wa-Dameda"
windshield banners to the raffle. Between that and the bountiful booty
donated by many other fine vendors - the raffle took until 11:30 pm
to complete. After that there was time for a few more tall tails from
the trails and off to bed.
EPILOG:
Sunday morning brought the bitter sweet sight of everybody loading
rigs onto trailers and preparing for the long trip home. Some looked
just like they did when they arrived. Others were not so fortunate.
We strolled around the camp to try and shake as many hands and say
as many goodbye's as we could before it was time for us to depart.
This was just such a cool trip. We got to finally put
faces to many of our midwestern friends we have only known through
email for many years. Plus we made many new friends.
This event is hosted by the good guys over at iZook.com
who put literally hundreds of donated hours into this event to make
it the huge success that it was. Thank you Larry, Troy, Bob and the
rest of the iZook crowd. Please don't stop doing what you're doing.
You're doing it right!
And I can't close without extending a huge THANK
YOU to Mike Maddox and Rick Lance. Man - you guys
are something else. Our trip would have been much less exciting if
it wasn't for the giving nature of you two guys. You, and the tons
of folks out there like you, are what makes our Zuki family so much
better than that "other short wheel based vehicle" family.
It's a Suzuki thing, and we all understand it...
-Figmo n' Lora
The Pix
(you know thedrill - click on pic to zoom in)
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Sorry - don't know who this is but he sure put on a hell of
a show climbing this slippery slope. How he kept from rolling
is one of the great mysteries of the melt.
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Lora waits to be rescued from our sinking ship. This is Mike's
rig that we drove on day one.
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This is Billy Bob's "Push Me Pull You" Samurai. He
grafted a front clip onto the back of his rig so you don't know
if it's coming or going. Don't know what compelled him to do
this - but man, there haven't been drugs that good around these
parts in a long time, Billy Bob.
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The "Spit-in-urai". A Triumph Spitfire body on a
Samurai. Ok, so maybe Billy Bob's been drinking outta the same
milk jug as this guy.
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This LJ-20 had everybody wanting to buy it. But the owner could
not be bribed into parting with it (and I don't blame him one
bit).
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The Rock Rage. Don't try this at home campers. Unless you are
into twisted sheet metal and broken axles. In which case, you're
my kinda folk!
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Tim Porter attacks the Rock Rage.
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Brent Bradshaw in his "Crustacean". Look again at
those tires.
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Here at Roadless Gear, we believe in going the extra mile for
our customers. Here Lora rubs lotion into a poor, sunburned
Roadless Gear customer (KC Murphy). Buy your products now and
get a free backrub at next year's melt from Lora <g>
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The Roadless Gear Bedouin Encampment. aka: Out rental truck,
tent and banner. This was our home AND shop during the melt.
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And this ain't all of them. Over 250 vehicles and 460 fine
folks attended this year's Melt.
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Here's "The Mistress". And before you ask - "YES!"
- it is as much fun to drive as it looks.
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Attendees drool over the display of raffle prizes. Each picking
out the one "I'm gonna win"
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This year's event attracted over 250 vehicles and 460 people.
This is just one side of the "atomic" bon fire.
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