The Brass Monkey Sidecar Rally

The Brass Monkey Sidecar Rally

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For those of you who have never been on or heard of the Brass Monkey Sidecar Rally let me try and bring you up to date.

In the early seventies a dedicated group of Southern California sidecar enthusiasts were looking for a way to replicate the great Elephant Rally in Europe. The Elephant Rally, in those days, was known for its extreme winter weather, usually including copious amounts of mud, rain and if possible snow. In 1973, it was decided to hold the first American style Elephant Rally keeping true to its cold winter weather theme. The American Rally needed a name
to let participants know what to expect from this new motorcycle/sidecar
gathering. It had to say winter rally with a possibility of harsh weather.
“Cold enough to freeze the nuts off a Brass Monkey”, was a phrase used by many motorcyclists of the day, and if you were a true all weather rider, you
knew just how cold this was. So it was decided that the new rally would be known as the “Brass Monkey”. For the first few years it held true to its charter phrase and a lot of brass monkeys and motorcycle riders sacrificed those body parts to the God of cold. Over the years, thank goodness, common sense has prevailed and the “Monkey” is now held in more hospitable areas.

For 2016 it will be held in Death Valleys, Texas Springs Campground, President’s Day weekend, February 12th – 15th . The new more civilized Brass Monkey is still a tent campout but, it is allowable to motel or motor home it, whatever you prefer.

This is not an official SoCal Sidecar ride

I’m co-chairman of the Brass Monkey and have enjoyed all the rally’s I’ve attended. Its great fun and if you like camping out and enjoy Death Valley this time of year you should consider.

With that said, we'll just call this a Mike Smith special event.