In case you haven’t heard there’s a big anniversary celebration going on this year up in Wisconsin. I mean besides that one that’s happening in Milwaukee. S&S Cycle of Viola, Wisconsin is celebrating their 55th anniversary this year and they’d like everyone to join them for a celebration party. So mark Friday, June 21st and Saturday, June 22nd on your calendar and plan to join in the fun and help S&S celebrate.

The party will take place at the Oktoberfest grounds in La Crosse, Wisconsin, with a side trip to the S&S factory in Viola for breakfast, plant tours, and rides through the beautiful hills of the “driftless area” of southwest Wisconsin. They’ll start celebrating at 4 PM on Friday, June 21 with live music, vendor displays, traditional Wisconsin brats & beer and a bike show featuring 5 student-built bikes. So come out to hang out, relax, enjoy the music, scarf a few brats, swill a few beers, and ogle the bikes. Good times!

The custom motorcycles you’ll see in the show are, even now, being built by 5 high school technical education classes (with instructors cool enough to build motorcycles in school) and by the students at the PowerSports Institute in Cleveland, Ohio. All the bikes will feature the S&S X117 X-Wedge engine and a Rolling Thunder chassis. From there on we’ll just have to see what these enthusiastic young builders come up with.

Saturday, the action starts at 8 AM with a ride through “God’s Country”, as the area around La Crosse by the Mississippi River is known. It starts at the S&S facility in La Crosse, and highlights some of the excellent scenery that the region is noted for. The ride will stop at the S&S plant in Viola. There, riders will be able to avail themselves of a great breakfast put on by the Viola Sportsman’s Club and take tours of the factory where the world’s most popular line of v-twin performance parts are made. Then, it’s back to the Oktoberfest grounds in La Crosse for an evening of music, fun, food, and unbridled merriment! Gates at the Oktoberfest grounds open at 11 AM and there will be live music starting early afternoon, culminating in a concert scheduled from 8:30 to 11 PM with a national recording act which will be announced at a later date.

The festivities on Saturday will actually end up in the wee hours of Sunday morning with an after-event party at a club in downtown LaCrosse (to be announced) with hot rockin’ blues by The Eric Tessmer Band of Austin Texas from 11 PM to 2 AM. That’s when you gotta go home.
Be sure to check in for more details as they develop at www.sscycle.com/ss55

Source and images: S&S Cycles
Posted by Sam Kanish

Eric Tessmer Band

La Crosse Oktoberfest Grounds

Student Bike Builders

S&S Facility