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Running to the Hills…

Running to the Hills…

It all started when Roadside made his way from Florida to Iowa. In an attempt to show my brother Roadside the best Iowa culinary hospitality available, I recruited my father Gary. On the menu, “ thick Iowa porkchops, sweet corn and twice baked potatoes. The idea of this great spread of food couldn’t get Roadside here quick enough. Sad part is, his motorbike had different plans. It was giving him fits most of the way here.

Roadside managed to limp his way close enough, so that our brother Paul from BKC in St. Louis, could meet him in the truck and get him into the shop for the night. Finally, on the road that Friday, Roadside limped his way up to Iowa, greeted only by the largest spread of home cooked food, great hugs and smiles. I assured Roadside, that once we got to Sioux Falls, SD, we would have Dan take a look at his bike. At this point, the bike had us completely baffled.

The next morning, we’re all packed and ready to go. Cloudy skies, cool temps and my Dad running us radar from his house. Trying to route us away from wet weather, my Dad suggested we run I-35 North to Minnesota and across to South Dakota. Never riding in Minnesota before, Roadside jumped on this opportunity. Unfortunately, what the radar wasn’t telling us, was just how big the storm cell was. It literally spread across I-80 West and I-35 North. We were doomed to get wet, regardless. But hey, a day on your bike, in the rain, is better than a day at the office, right ?

After getting soaked North of Mason City, and waiting out the storm inside a car wash (no the car wash wasn’t operating), we hit the road, headed for clear skies and warm sun. We hit Albert Lea, Minnesota, headed West on I-90, and that’s exactly what we got. Clear skies and warm sun. By the time we hit Sioux Falls, we had completely been run through the wash, rinse and dry cycles. Needless to say, Sioux Falls greeted us with open arms and let me tell you, Roadside and I love her open arms. The best part was, Roadsides bike ran hard, without skipping a beat. Hmmmmm !!!

We took some time to look over Roadside’s bike, once in SFSD. Dan’s thoughts were vapor locking, but we couldn’t pinpoint it. We had also, at this point, replaced the coil, the ignition, fuel lines and anything else we could think of. So, we parked the bikes for the night and we headed out to indulged in Sioux Falls as we ritualistically do on a Saturday night, pre Sturgis.

The next morning came, and as usual, we are trying to round up the bodies, and figure out where the hell everyone is and more importantly, what the hell happened the night before. At this point we had picked up several more bodies for the trip across South Dakota. Paul and Big Will took off ahead of us, which left Roadside, Wes, Wade, Casey and I. Chad, Sara and Curt would follow in the BMW. As luck would have it Roadside’s bike would put us t the test this day, as we crossed South Dakota and got beat down by it’s heat. At one point, we even stopped and completely removed Roadside’s tank and replaced all fuel lines, right alongside I-90. Very exciting to say the least. Thinking we had this bike whipped, we slammed it back together and headed out. Again, we were mistaken. So, we managed to keep a full tank in it and get it into Sturgis, to begin the greatest motorbike event in the world.

Now, fast forward to the next Saturday. But before you ask me what the hell happened in Sturgis, rest assured, I or someone else will probably write about that too. At this point, everyone had pretty much split their own way. A few people were left behind, but we all had our own deadlines at this point. Roadside, Brad and I headed for Sioux Falls. Our plan was to keep on trucking, as long as Roadside’s bike was being nice to us. Well, that apparently was to much to ask. Once again, we fought that bike all the way back across South Dakota. At this point, everything but the gas tank had been replaced. Roadside and I decided to let Sioux Falls care for us one more evening, and yes, it’s always worth it. The next morning, Roadside and I headed for Iowa and it was just outside of Sioux City, that I noticed a light bulb come on over Roadside’s head. We pulled over, routed the fuel line the stock route, through the eyelet behind the coil and over the intake manifold, rather than down between the cylinders. We’ve got nothing to lose at this point.

We jumped back on the interstate, and let me tell you, that bike never skipped a beat all the way to Florida. Roadside and I laughed all the way to my place in Southeast Iowa over that deal. But hey, what a great trip, and what great memories were made. Believe me, there’s a lot more filler to this week in Sturgis, but that is on it’s way. Stay tuned for more.

FTW…

Darren

roadtripsturgis

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