When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
I'll be riding out again for the 18th straight year from Eastern Iowa.....day ride out is the best part of the trip.....I ride alone, stay in a cabin alone....best week of the year!!
Enjoy the riding while you'r out there....can't be beat. Spearfish Canyon, Needlse, Nemo are good places to start to name a few....you'll find no shortage.
Ride if you can and want to! I enjoy riding. I went last year 1 week after the rally. I stayed in Deadwood a couple days. I only rode during the day when traveling. I went as far as Bear tooth pass in MT. & rode around Yellowstone and Grand Tetons, fabulous views. Down to Jackson, then down to 80 and then back home. I visited many of the sights, Rushmore, Badlands, Devils tower, Needles Hwy, Beartooth pass Chief Joseph hwy, custer state park, and a few others. I missed Crazy horse, but awesome trip. I rode solo, and stayed in hotels. 800 miles was the most I traveled in one day. I got lucky with mostly great weather. 9 day total.
Riding is the only way for me, but you have to be honest with yourself, and do it however you want to (ride, trailer, ???), there's no shame in doing life your way. I'm not old, only 53, am I old?
Take two cameras for the wife to grab shots while on the road in and around the Blackhills. Make to ride 16A out of Custer back into Keystone. Just so many excellent rides in the hills. word of advice, if you start going up an incline downshift and don't try to power out of it. I had a BIL almost go off the road with my sister on his back, would not have been pretty.
fullautomike, that sounds like a great trip. I thought I was going solo (I am riding solo) because the old lady said she didn't think she could ride that far on her own bike.And she was having flashbacks of our last trip to the Smokey mountains, 2up the last 200 miles coming home after a 2100 mile week on a stock street glide passenger seat. lol but she talked her friend into driving. anyway 53 ain't old,at 58 I just started feeling it a little this year,so now is the time. thanks to everyone for the words of encouragement and advice...ride safe
Be prepared for the hot winds going across SD on I90. You'll stay cooler if you wear a mesh jacket or white long sleeve shirt. Soak down your shirt under the mesh jacket & you'll feel much cooler while rolling. Hot & muggy when you stop but that's only short times & you'll be happier when motoring. Harley sold evaporative vests years back. If you can score one or a similar vest do it. Mine gets used every time I make that ride.
This year is only my 3rd time not going since 1994. Previous 4 years I spent mid-May to mid-September just south of Rapid City. When I was younger, Iron Mountain Road was my favorite road to ride.
17 MILES
314 CURVES
14 SWITCHBACKS
3 PIGTAILS
3 TUNNELS
4 PRESIDENTS
2 SPLITS
Custer State Park on the South end & Mount Rushmore on the other end (US16A). Plan to dedicate a day to Custer State Park. The Visitor Center is highly recommended. It has an IMAX theater with a film of the park, narrated by Kevin Costner. The aerial views are spectacular & provide a perspective you don't get from the bike. It's air conditioned & can provide info on where the buffalo can be seen at the time you're there.
My favorite route of recent years is Rapid City to Sturgis via Nemo Road to Vanocker Canyon Road, then on to Deadwood via Boulder Canyon, on to Central City, Lead, Cheyenne Crossing, north into Spearfish Canyon to Spearfish with a late lunch at Sanfords in Deadwood. Then run I90 east back to the Ranch. Wife & I rode Vanocker Canyon when it was a narrow gravel road with nothing but logging truck traffic. Much nicer now with good pavement, lots of curves & some fairly steep uphill/downhill grades. If you're up for a bit of hiking, stop at Latchstring in Savoy & take the footpath down to see Spearfish Falls.
PM me if you want some additional insights & tips for your 1st time.
I'll be riding out again for the 18th straight year from Eastern Iowa.....day ride out is the best part of the trip.....I ride alone, stay in a cabin alone....best week of the year!!
Enjoy the riding while you'r out there....can't be beat. Spearfish Canyon, Needlse, Nemo are good places to start to name a few....you'll find no shortage.
My only advice is allow enough time to enjoy the trip out. While you are there, dont try to do and see everything. All youll do is wear yourself out and as a result, have a long miserable ride back home.
I have ridden from Mpls to Sturgis more times than I can count. You will have the time of your life. Plan for hot days, cold days and wet days. You will run into all of them.
7 Surprising Harley-Davidson Products that Are Not Motorcycles
Slideshow: The bar-and-shield logo shows up on far more than motorcycles, some of the company's most unexpected products have nothing to do with riding.
Slideshow: From the troubled AMF years to modern misfires, these bikes earned reputations for reliability issues, questionable engineering, or disappointing performance.
Crazy Bunderbike Build Looks Amazing, But Is It Impossible to Ride?
Slideshow: The Swiss custom shop has taken a Harley Softail and stretched it into something so long and low that it looks closer to a rolling sculpture than a conventional motorcycle.
Engraved Rebellion: Inside Bundnerbike's Glam Rock II
Slideshow: A standard cruiser becomes an intricate metal canvas in the hands of a Swiss custom house known for pushing Harley-Davidson platforms far beyond their factory brief.
Slideshow: Harley-Davidson's challenges aren't abstract; they show up in dropping shipments, shrinking dealer traffic, and strategic decisions that aren't yet translating into growth.
