No Freeways, Hardly Any Deadlines Tour

[sleazy rider]

6/11 - Day 13 @ The Rimrock Lodge
215 Miles
Gas - $19.53
Motel - $50
Food - $50

Today was the beginning of the real reason for this trip.  A group of old friends getting together to socialize and ride some great roads.  The three of us left Chadron at 6:30 this morning with not set deadline to be at the Lodge.  Two requirements today, Wind Cave National Park and Needles Highway.  If we could fit Mt. Rushmore in, great.  If not, we'll come back on Thursday.  Northbound on 385, we quickly ran into a construction area with pilot cars.  It was a short delay.  





We fought wind all the way north to the South Dakota border and beyond.  It finally subsided when we got to the Black Hills.



The Black Hills.  Ahhh, how Mother Nature intended the world to look.  It sure is damn pretty up here.  The roads rise and fall like the tides in the Bay of Fundy.  Massively, violently and predictably.   . They also tend to wander a bit side to side while doing so.  

First stop, Wind Cave National Park..





We saw buffalo, antelope, big horn sheep and numerous prairie dogs as we crossed into the National Park.  



The roads were jammed with traffic and laser straight.





We decided to skip Mt. Rushmore today, but come back later in the week.  Next, we hit up Needles Highway.  No pics from the road, but we stopped here. A real Hole in the Wall joint.



This, this is my new iPad wallpaper.



You can point the camera in any direction and not take a bad picture.



Well, almost.  

The nicest part about the Needles?  First you take pictures, the you ride thru them!





Stopped in Hill City for a burger and then rode to the Rimrock Lodge.  The view from our back porch you ask?


 
It ain't much to look at, but the inside is pretty decent.



The roads here are, umm, interesting.



Most of the rest of the gang showed up and we cooked dinner down on the lodge patio.  The owners have given us the run of the place.  We have a full restaurant kitchen at our disposal and I can short order cook from back in the day.

Tomorrow, the Devils Tower and some more straight roads.

[JSharp]

What a great plan for a trip. No interstates.   There's a reason it's called the ugly road...

[Paintman]

Thats why i love living here   just one more week Doc said i can see how i do on a ride been going nuts here. great Trip guys glad your enjoying my neighborhood.

[Shadowfax]

Beautiful country and it looks like great weather!  Enjoy the week  

[sleazy rider]

6/12 - Day 14 @ The Rimrock Lodge
145 Miles
Gas - $9.75
Motel - $50
Food - $14.50

Today's mission - Devil's Tower in Wyoming.  Mark has spent considerable time in this area, so he got to lead.   I pulled sweep.  We rode out of the Lodge around 10ish this morning, headed north and then west thru Alladin on Route 34.  Fantastic riding, no traffic and quick.  As we turned onto Route 14, the Tower came into view in the distance.



We stopped in Hulett for gas and lunch before hitting the park.  Great burgers and good service.



Back on the road, we ran the whole 10 miles to the park in one shot.  Mark stopped us at the Prairie Dog City, a live version of Whack-A-Mole.   Some pics...







While wandering about taking pics, my lunch started talking dirty to me and persisted for a few hours.  . We made the visitor center and the rest of the folks decided to walk around the Tower.  I passed and grabbed a seat n the shade.  30 minutes went by and I wasn't feeling all that well, so I left the crew a note and boogied for the Lodge.  On the ride home, my Daytona started showing signs of an impending crank position sensor failing.  Again.  bucking like hell, wanting to stall and just acting miserable.  I'm in possession of the repair instructions and will be calling the dealer to get the part.

Made it back here and saw Don had made it from Calgary.  We BS'd about his ride and stuff.  Everyone else made it back, having endured hail and an intense thunderstorm much to their enjoyment.  I stuck around the cabin and everyone ele went off for a late dinner.

[mxvet57]

  On the ride home, my Daytona started showing signs of an impending crank position sensor failing.  Again.  bucking like hell, wanting to stall and just acting miserable.

Why does this sound like it has happend before.

[sleazy rider]

Roughly 25k miles ago and stranded in Dayton, yeah.  Same part.  

[wibornz]

You might be pressing G to rescue you way out there.

[mxvet57]

You might be pressing G to rescue you way out there.

Theres aU-Haul dealer in Rapid City.

[sleazy rider]

Ordering parts tomorrow AM.  I learned how to fix it from the last time.    Just hoping there's one crank position sensor in the States to be overnighted to Spearfish.  I have tools with me and an auto parts store close by.

[Shadowfax]

As Roseanne Roseannandana would say, " if it's not one thing, it's another."

You got my e-mail I take it...let me know if you need anything else today, I'll be in my office most of the day for research assistance  

[sleazy rider]

TriumphRat member Dave got me fixed up with a somewhat local source.  I have parts on the way from Casper, WY via UPS red.  I should be up and running by lunch tomorrow.

[MrsCablebandit]

While wandering about taking pics, my lunch started talking dirty to me...

I'm thoroughly enjoying the ride report so far!

I have to say...the above line is great! Not because it happened to you, but because I can relate. So I hope you don't mind if I steal this verbiage!

[davenay67]

The Daytona is just mad because you tweaked the turn signal....

[sleazy rider]

You should see what's left of the front one.  Just call it stubby.  It was toasted in a zero speed, rolled off the kickstand oopsie trying to check on a crashed Goldwinger in April.  

Edit:  thanks for the reminder.  I just Gorilla glued the rear one back together.  Should be permanent in 24 hours.

[mxvet57]

  I should be up and running by lunch tomorrow.

Famous last words.

[sleazy rider]

Coffee Sunday, 10am in Cedarburg?  

[sleazy rider]

I have the bike ready to have the new part installed.  UPS has decided they can't find the resort and have taken the package back to the distribution facility.    after 15 minutes on the phone with them, they're trying to reach the driver and reattempt delivery with him having my phone number.


I'm not liking the color brown at the moment.

[sleazy rider]

Open heart surgery in a dirt parking area....



The crank position sensor exposed....



The umbilical cord.  



Organized mayhem.




Awaiting Brown's untimely arrival with the new CPS.  Once I am home, I'll be starting a pissing match with them.  Red means 10am delivery for most areas, including Spearfish.  The driver took it upon himself to reassign the address to Lead, 25 miles away, to kill the rush delivery and bump it down to a 24 hour window.  

[sleazy rider]

Muwhahahahaha! It lives.      *whew*  Time to start packing the stuff.