Thursday, July 24, 2008
Harleys in the Black Hills
There’s nothing like a ride on Harley Davidson to raise one’s spirits. We arrived in Gordon Nebraska on Wednesday 16 July after a few days off in Colorado only to find that the wheat there was at least a few days off being ripe. On the Thursday Greg told to get lost until Sunday. First stop for me and a couple of the other guys was Rapid City Harley Davidson.
Rapid City is the centre of the Black Hills region of South Dakota, about three hours North of where we were camped in Gordon Nebraska. The region is most famous for the four president faces carved into Mount Rushmore, Deadwood (the Wild West town of HBO fame), and the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally during which 800,000 people (mainly Harley bikers) descend on the small town of Sturgis for two weeks in August.
Lobbing into the sales showroom, I was an unashamed wanna-be. I bought two T-shirts and a cap. This said, I wasn’t as bad as Lars, who went and bought himself a pair of arseless leather chaps.
I like motorbikes, but I’m not actually a huge Harley fan – they’re a bike for my parents’ generation – however there’s something magical about riding one in the Heartland and, when we ventured out the following day on our ponies, it truly was a privilege.
The weather was perfect and the scenery was inspiring. Each corner brought something new: a different type of forest, a grassy valley, a tepee, fast flowing rapids, a dam, a heard of buffalo, cliff faces, it had the lot. We clocked about 500kms over the 24hr rental.
The bike I sold before I left home was a 250cc Yamaha Virago. The bike I rented was a 1250cc Harley Davidson Night Rod. It’s a cruiser/road-bike hybrid. The main pegs are set behind your hips like a sports bike but there’s a set of pegs up front that you can put the feet up on when cruising on the open road.
The bike was QUICK. To give an idea of the power, my old 250 would hit 5th gear at about 60kph, on the 1250, I was reaching the 120kph speed limit on the interstate shifting from 3rd to 4th. Admittedly, I was a little inexperienced for the bike, but you’ve got to learn somehow and what better place than in the land of opportunity!
By far the best $200 I’ve spent during the trip to date; a stand-alone highlight.
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2 comments:
HI James, Very impressive!!! How on earth did you video whilst riding ? How did you capture those up close shots ? I am so blown away by your blogging skills...absolutely fascinating to read . Thanks for the entertainment.....keep it coming !
love
Virginia
That video is great thanks for sharing, I have no idea how you recorded while riding but it was awesome. I am so excited that Sturgis is almost here, it sounds like an awesome event. I love custom bikes and art so I think it’s a great idea to combine them, and it’s great that you are unveiling it at this year’s Sturgis. I just started working with progressive motorcycle insurance since I started I have been finding out so much about motorcycles and the culture. It’s so awesome. Since finding out more about the whole “Motorcycle Culture” I have heard nothing but how amazing Sturgis is and I can’t wait to check it out. We’ll be at Thunder Road at Sturgis giving away a FREE Exclusive Sucker Punch Sallys custom-designed T-shirt.
All you have to do is visit http://motorcycle.progressive.com/, go to where it says Events and Rallies and print out the coupon. Present that coupon at our booth at Thunder Road and get your free exclusively designed Sucker Punch Sallys T-shirt, only given away at Sturgis. We’ll also have some other free fun stuff you got to check out, you’ll see once you get there. Oh, and while you’re there you can also enter to win a custom Suck Punch Sally’s bike. It’s an old school beauty.
Come on over to the progressive booth, we would love to say hello!
Hope I didn’t over step my bounds by posting on your blog, and if you have any questions or want more info please feel free to shoot me an e-mail!
Hope to see you there. Ride Safe.
Gia Anderson
Brand Ambassador
Gia.progressive@gmail.com
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