The ultimate road trip for motorcycle enthusiasts. Myself, Lisa, Levi and Lil drove non-stop from Bellingham, WA to Sturgis, SD in 26hrs. We towed a two-bike trailer with the Durango and traded off driving along the way. Somewhere around Montana the rear end started howling and getting worse as we went. Determined that it was a bad bearing in the rear end and decided to push through, as it was nighttime and nothing we could do anyway. She pulled through like a champ and upon arrival she went to the dealership for an $800 repair. Great start to the trip, lucky thing I budgeted an extra $1000 for emergencies. Would it be bad luck to hope we don't have anymore?
We stayed at a couple's house in Spearfish Canyon about 15mins from downtown Sturgis. The couple that owned the place, Denis and Karen, were awesome hosts. Each year for the rally they open their home to a select few people to stay with them. They have a small piece of heaven back in the hills that is undisturbed by anything. Could not ask for a finer place to stay or better people to stay with.
We spent some time downtown, which was crazy, but we rode hard each day. With mostly riding we probably only touched 20% of the rides in 5 days. The riding was second to none and is some of the best scenery I have ever scene from the road. Had a FD t-shirt with us that we had the stars sign, Arlen Ness, Ron Simms, Paul SR & JR, Jesse James. Cool stuff and it is now in a shadow box at the station with an OCC Fire Bike die cast model below it.
Our luck ran out during the last day riding in Custer State Park. Taking a low speed left hand turn the bike hit a dip and bottomed out the frame causing a low side wreck and tossing Lisa and me to the pavement. I think this happened because I mocked a donkey standing in the road just two turns earlier, mother natures way of returning the favor. Lisa took a ride to the hospital via ambulance, and I rode the bike to the hospital where I tried to play doctor and fix myself. Note to self, don't do that again. Some painful road rash but nothing serious.
Levi and Lil endured a hailstorm of biblical proportions riding back to camp to get the trailer, and come back to pick us up. Hey I got an idea he says, "Our buddies are in the hospital in pain but lets stop for dinner shall we". That was a tough couple of nights sleep healing that up. All in all an awesome trip that was full of adventure. We were a little less pushy on the ride back and stayed at a hotel midway through. Sturgis is one of those things you have to do in your lifetime and I will definitely be back again for more. The Simms is back and better than ever with new paint and a Hayabusa has been added to the fleet. Hhmmm, which one to take next time? |
