I have enjoyed reading ride reports for years so I thought that I would try doing one. I am going to load it with pictures because I am not very good when it comes to writing. I have taken 3 long distance motorcycle trips the last few years and everyone that I went with wanted to go home early. Although the second trip was on adventure bikes and the only reason we went home early was because the other rider busted the oil drain plug off of the bottom of his bike on a rock. After the third one I started to think that it was me so I figured that I would just go it alone from then on. Then this past year I started to talk to my cousins father in law, Jim at a family gathering and we seemed to have the same feelings when it came to riding so we decided to do a trip out west. Now I have planned trips before and it always sounds great until the time comes to go, then everyone has an excuse and they will pull the plug. Not this time, Jim was as excited about going as I was. We decided to go out west to see Glacier National Park, Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Chief Joseph Highway and Beartooth Pass. We had 17 days to complete before we had to get back to work so on September 6 at 0630 our adventure began.

Here is Jim on his 2009 Ultra


And this is me, Mike on my 2004 Road King Classic

Jim lives abut 30 miles from me so we decided to meet in Galena Il. to start our trip. I started taking these extended motorcycle trips when my daughter was 6 and she had this little penguin that made her feel safe since she was little. So she gave me her penguin,waddles, to keep me safe while I was away and he hasn't missed a trip yet.


The thing that stinks about living in the Chicago area is that you have to travel a long ways to get into any scenic riding so the first day this is what we saw

Riding through Iowa on Rt 20


We finally made it to O'Neill Ne. at about 6:00pm and checked in to our least expensive motel of the trip. Note the extra chair against the door lock!!

It even came with its own fly swatter!! But really not a bad place

The one thing that we would try to do for the trip was to find a motel near a bar/restaurant so that we could walk back to the motel after dinner/drinks. Jim's idea and it was a good one!!
Day one stats:
Home -O'Neill Ne.
582 miles

 

Day 2
Today we were finally going to get into some scenery. Our plan was to go throughout the Badlands and stop in Deadwood.
On our way out we talked to some locals and they told us to go to Valentine Ne. and then take Rt. 83 north into the indian reservation and head west on 44 into the Badlands.


Somewhere in Nebraska

Getting into South Dakota

Riding through the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation
The one thing that I noticed about the houses on the Reservation was that they all seemed to come with big parking lots in the front yards with a lot of cars in them.
I came up with the theory that the people that live there must just buy the same model car and when it breaks down they use pieces off another one in their front yard. I didn't get any pictures of some of the bigger yards though.


After a morning of riding we finally made it into the Badlands Park




and since it was getting warmer Jim decided to dress down for the ride through the park




After the Badlands we decided to check out Sturgis and the Full Throttle Saloon

.

Nicest *** I had seen in days!!! Jim too




As a Firefighter I had to take this shot, wonder if they have any job openings?



Where's Angie?

The place is not as big as it looks on TV but still pretty cool looking.

 

After that we made our way to Deadwood Which is a very cool town and called it a day. We couldn't get a hotel Downtown because Don Williams (country music star) was having a concert that night so we had to go out of town a little ways to the Best Western. However, sticking to our no riding after getting our room plan Deadwood has a Trolley that goes into town every 20 minutes from our motel. Perfect, so we went into town had dinner and a few frosty beverages.


We went to Saloon no. 10 where Wild Bill was shot. We met up with a local and she told us that this is not the original site of Saloon No. 10. It seems that the town has burned to the ground a number of times since then and no one is sure where it was exactly.



Day 2 stats

Day 3 next

 

Nice ride report and pics, we plan on riding a few of the these areas this summer. Looking forward to that and the rest of your trip.

 

Nice work Mike! I think you do just fine with the words btw.

I can relate to riding quite a ways before things get interesting. It's fun to see familiar sights through another persons lens. And I like that Garmin. A carry over from the Adventure rides is my guess. I have one as well.

Keep it coming.

 

Hey I like the FTS pics.

A bit different from the last time I was there...




There were a few more bikes parked out by that sign. lol.

 

Pretty good writing for a hose dragger , Looking forward to the rest of your journey

 

I wish I knew how to reply showing your quotes.
Thanks for your responses.

Nevada72, I have been following your RR's for a while now. I always look forward to them. Your right about the adventure ride's. I've got a KLR 650 now for sale so that I can by Jim's Ultra.

Zeus33: I hope to get out there this year with a full parking lot!

Ultra Rider 07: You're going to love it, absolutely magnificent country

Haywired: lol p.s. thanks for your service

 

Yellowstone/Beartooth/Grand Tetons/Glacier it doesn't get any better than that. Awesome two wheelin. Plan to spend lots of trips thru this area in the next few years.
Great pics Hoser54

 

I gave ridden Glacier three times. Did you get any pics from Road To The Sun?

Glacier is one of the very best!