Petey and I spent the week end at Vintage Harvest. We were the only sidecar rig among a bunch of vintage farm stuff. The hit this year was a wooden combine pulled by a mule team. And I'll post my favorite photo of some 500 I took this week end. One lady editor of a magazine had us pull down with the vintage vehicles so she could get our photo.
What did we do today? We dodged thunder Storms. Our plan was to tour the Badlands of South Dakota. The Forecast was for scattered thunder storms. What scattered means I really don't know but it is the only day we have open this week. The Short brothers and wives took off from Rapid City and rode the back road (highway#44) to the Badlands. toured the visitor center. It was a beautiful cool blue sky ride. We did lunch at the Badlands Cafe and returned to the rigs to start our return. There was storm #1 in the west. At a high overlook I stopped to take pictures of the storm. Now we can see storm #2. We stop and the next overlook to take pictures of storm #2 and now we see storm #3. We get on the road on the way to Wall SD. Yes Wall Drug Wall SD. We run through the edge of storm #2 and get a little damp and my gang will not let me stop to picture storm#3 because we need to race it to Wall. We Beat the storm to Wall, cover the rigs and spent some time in Wall Drug. They have nickle coffee and $1.60 doughnuts. The storm passes in about 45 minutes and it is an hour home on I90 interstate. 172 miles and we were only dampened by one storm.
Wall Drug is a trip. In 04 on the way to the Guzzi national I had my picture taken with my arm around the wooden hooker in the main hallway
My ride down through the bottom of the badlands road was at 112 degrees F. I just took it easy and listened to the oil thinning out inside the engine.
In '98 or '99, Barb and I were at the Badlands during the Sturgis rally. This is some years prior to adding the sidecar. We'd just entered the east entrance with friends and pulled in at the first pull out. We'd seen a cop just ahead with a bike pulled over. His buddy came back and told us they were stopping and citing anyone who didn't plant both feet at the stop sign saying you didn't make a complete stop. Revenue enhancement at it's best. I wonder if that were today what they'd say about putting no feet down at the stop sign...
That "two feet down ticket" was a good revenue getter at Sturgis back in the eighties. Tens of thousands of non locals for a week or so to milk back when it was a biker event. Lots better now with hundreds of thousands showing up for the motorhome/trailer family event it is now. Most will unload the bikes at least once while they are there for the Classic.
Lonnie
Yep. I haven't been since 2000 but still have the shirt "I rode my bike to trailer week." Never been on three wheels. It was hard enough to find a parking spot on two. Used to think I'd take Archie. Now maybe someday I'll take Petey. Maybe...
The wife and I picked up our new DMC sidecar and rode the Bonnie down to Chico, CA (with my cousin and his wife in the lead). Had a couple "butt-clenchers" in the chicanes of the Pacific coast range, but the new rig performed flawlessly and we arrived with huge smiles and no worse for the wear. Thanks to Jay and Barry! Visit https://www.facebook.com/dmcsidecars for a few pics of our ed-venture.
Nice outfit!! Glad you had a great trip too!!
Son Ian and I rode over to the dealer to pick up some oil for upcoming oil change. Can you here the OOOOs and AAAAHS from the salesman there. They posted this on their Facebook.
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Just sharing my excitement.......hubby finished my sidecar conversion friday night........650 suzuki cruiser & velorex sidecar..........first time terrifying.......2nd time oh.........3rd time out and i'm hookled !! can't stop grinning!!
I really like that country out there. In 1962 we were up at Ellsworth air force base from west Texas launching upper atmosphere balloons and one of them came down in the badlands. We were never able to recover it but I enjoyed touring wall drug.
I put the custom "Badlands Express" FXDWG/Spalding rig on Craigslist and here since I can no longer pilot the outfit.
The "C" bug has got me down so far that I was only able to put on 150 miles in the last year. I had hoped for a lot more.
Hate to see it go, but I hate looking at it, knowing I can't handle it anymore.
Someone's going to get a nice rig.
Lonnie
Worked a little on the running lights, one kept going out of adjustment. Friday afternoon my wife and I rode to Anamosa, IA, 235miles. Saturday went to J&P Cycles store and then to East Central Iowa Sidecar Rally. Met and visited with many attendees. Arrived back home about 6:30.
We're going to the Sidecars in the Flint Hills Rally this week at Council Grove, KS, and next week to Jane's family reunion near Lawton, OK. Sort of the last hurrah before harvest.
1998 Valkyrie Tourer/
Motorvation Formula II LTD
Lonnie, good luck with the sale and best wishes for the future and all challenges that come your way.
What Petey and I did with the rig this week end. Went to the UMCI breakfast and meeting Saturday then rode over to Cheap Shots for the Les Burton memorial ride with NW Classics MC. Only to find out we were a little early. Like 25 hours too early. So yesterday we rode the Les Burton run with the Classics. Both days were excellent. Weather, people, roads and food. All excellent.
I'm afraid I am late. We didn't do this ride today or yesterday. We did it Saturday. The Short Brothers and wives rode the canyons again. This time we stopped to view the falls - Roughlock and Bridal Veil - both in Spearfish Canyon. It was a beautiful day for a ride in the Black Hills. It was too early for the fall colors but the colors are beginning to change. We had lots of company wherever we went.
