06 Far West Ride

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Leaving after work on 16 June and then returning home 7K miles later on 2 July concluded my ‘Far West’ vacation. The map attached to the blog is not precise, it give the general idea of my route. Below is a brief as it gets ride report…

I dubbed this trip Far West many months ago when I planned it, but it is not actually the farthest west trip I ended up making, from 8 -12 JUN 06 I rode from KC to CA and back, but this trip was in my GPS as FW (Far West) so it continued to be called that. The Far West trip included 11 states, 5 Canada Provinces/Territories (I don’t know which ones are which), 5 HOG rallies, ump-teen National Parks/Forests/Memorials/Monuments. It was a solo trip with ‘Effie’ my 2005 883 Low.

The first day was a short trip (320 miles) from KC to upper IA, the aim was the MN HOG rally in Rochester the next morning (SAT). Some rain, but not enough to get out the rain gear. You have to love IA, clean and fresh, with down home type of people. I would retire there if it wasn’t for the cold. Stayed at a Motel 8 where they helped move the public bench so ‘Effie’ could be under cover for the nights’ storms. This was the 1st of only 3 nights that I had reservations for. That days journey lead me to 3 ABC points, a U county: Union, a Z city: Zearing and one state point, Iowa. There was one more detour for an IBE point, Parkersburg IA (IBE #70 of 91). This was the end of a good day.

Up at sunrise the next day again using my new Quest 2 GPS, with the Quest in the saddlebag. I had traveled with the Garmin Quest for a year and after a learning curve found it was among the most valuable items to pack for any trip. It had spoiled me and I was addicted to using it. The only drawback to the Quest was the limited memory and I needed a laptop to download new map sets on most long trips. The Quest holds all the basic information for major highways and interstates, however you need to download maps or small tiles of information for smaller highways and streets off the major highways. The maps hold all the hotel, gas, food and services information that I frequently use. Garmin has divided the US and Canada in a few hundred tiles of information and you download the tiles that are along your planned route to get the information for that area. The tiles are different sizes depending on how much information is available for that area. For example the western half of KS is covered in 3 tiles, the more populated eastern half uses 9 tiles. The Quest did manage to hold all of the map sets needed for this trip but there were many trips that I had to leave areas uncovered by these maps in order to cover the whole trip. When I found out about the Quest 2, the improved version that had all the map sets built in with no need to download I was indeed excited. I had called Garmin (headquartered locally here in the KC area) had asked many questions about the Quest 2 comparing its operation to my Quest. My reluctance was the $500 price tag of the Quest 2, the previous year the Quest had run me around $300. Some expenses are just hard to justify. But after a couple weeks I decided I would get my moneys worth, especially since I had been approached by a friend that wanted to buy my Quest if I got the newer one. I had received the new Quest 2 a couple days before my departure on this trip, but other than downloading the routes and waypoints I had not had time to mess with the Quest 2. I had already downloaded all the information I needed into the Quest and had thrown it in the saddlebag as a back up if needed. So far I had found the Quest 2 was considerably slower in calculating new directions, as I had to pull over and wait for it to complete this task a couple times the first day. I had also found there was requested details lacking in its preloaded map set. This the second day of the trip I had turn the Q2 on and set it on the task of acquiring satellites and getting the directions for the preplanned route I had downloaded for todays route, then I went in to check out of the hotel. Check out was slow an the Q2 was complete in its task when I returned to the bike.

Off to MN we head. Rain pants are on as the weather forecast is not good. When passing Austin MN of course a stop at the SPAM Museum is a must. To my pleasant surprise low and behold it is the annual SPAM JAM, so the streets are closed off and the circus atmosphere is present even at 8AM. I paid a couple of girls that were guarding a salon parking lot to watch over the bike as I am in one of those barely legal parking spots that only small motorcycles can fit into. The high school girls had refused me a little part of parking spot in a distant corner of the lot that they were guarding, impressed with their dedication to duty I parked in this piece of a spot in front of them on the street and paid them $3 each so no one would back into it or mess with all my stuff that was tied down on the back. Satisfied that the bike is well cared for walk across the street to the SPAM museum. The JAM doesn’t start until 10AM, so I buy breakfast from the Rotary Club whose meals consists of scrambled eggs, pancakes and includes 2 fried Spam patties. SPAM when fried to a hard puck is pretty good. I ate breakfast by the entertainment tent while the Smother Brothers do their mic and equipment checks for the afternoon show. They were funny. The brothers good naturedly teased and bragged up the small army of volunteer cotton top SPAM ladies that had accumulated to watch them. The brothers sang several songs and talked to the small crowd. Anyone that has not been to the SPAM Museum should make it a trip, it’s a hoot, doesn’t matter if you like SPAM or not. I bought a hat as I had forgotten to pack one and a bag clip, which came in very handy several times later in the trip. The clip and hat are now a permanent part of my saddlebag equipment. My last trip to the museum I bought a SPAM shirt. It was black with gold text and graphics. The back had a picture of a hog on a motorcycle, the text was “Not all hogs make it to Sturgis… SPAM.” They didn’t have any cool hog shirts this year.

After the SPAM stop its off to Rochester MN home to this years MN state HOG rally. I need to get my ABC picture of me &Effie with the ABC banner that will be displayed there and I need to pick up my registration stuff. My trips are flexible as I could stay for awhile or travel on and save the time for something else that I find along my route. I didn’t stay long as it didn’t appeal to me, the speaker at the time was telling the crowd what to do when you get stopped by law enforcement and he was assuming you were going 100MPH with a saddlebag of pot. How to stop the search and ….. anyway total turn off, couldn’t wait to leave. Took a picture of a corn cob water tower that was in view from the back of the registration building the tower was just too cute for words.

I continue East to WI as I want to pick up some more IBE pts and ABC pts. Stops included Houston IA, Bangor, Baraboo & Fond Du Lac WI. Stopping in Tomahawk WI for the night around 600 miles for the day. For the last time I request lodging or gas information from my Quest 2 only to get responses that are over 100 miles away, this time I had requested lodging information while sitting in a Quality Inn parking lot. The Quest 2 and the Quest exchange locations for the remainder of the trip. This is my review of the Quest 2: “DON’T GET A QUEST 2, GET A QUEST WHILE YOU CAN”. The hotel I stayed at was a small independent “The Alamo” in downtown Tomahawk the owner had his soft tail parked outside the office. That night he had a campfire in the parking lot and had invited me to join his family around the fire. The fire helped a lot to take the chill out of my bones. That day I had ridden in some tough rain and was cold thru and thru. Very pleasant stop and I would recommend it to anyone who can get there before he closes. The hotel business isn’t the greatest I guess and he and his family is calling it quits. For the second night Effie is under a hard cover for the nights storms.

Next morning (SUN) is a later start as I wait out the rain that passes thru. By 9:30AM I am heading north, to MI state line, then back into MN and up to International Falls at the Canada line. The day included a stop at Northern Lights HD which is open on Sunday to get a T-shirt. Of course the day features more rain and cold. The ride around the side of Lake Superior was great. Up north WI is such a pretty state too. The smell of the trees was refreshing, I miss living in a small town. Plenty of Snowmobile Zing signs. Another independent hotel with Effie under cover for the 3rd night of rain/storms. Short day of around 360 miles, but I didn’t want to stay the night in Canada.

Next morning (MON) at 6AM I am at the border crossing and soon on The Kings Highway heading west (finally). I am amazed at how clean the environment is. The lakes and streams are the picture postcard blue. I called a friend to tell them about it. The roadside convenience was a pit toilet, but it was stocked with toilet paper and came in very handy. I noticed a lot of small stacks of rocks along the rock ledges that border most of the highway. I am thinking it is an Indian thing as I saw many of the same stacks on fence posts in SD. If anyone should know what the meaning is I would appreciate hearing about it. The days ride is across Ontario into Manitoba and then down into ND. The US customs guy is the friendliest customs guy I have ever dealt with and I travel internationally frequently. In no hurry to get to the cars behind me, he keeps asking about my vacation. Wanting to take one like this, he finally bids me ado and wishes me luck with the deer and elk. Stops at a couple Harley dealers, lots of pictures and around 600 miles finds me in Jamestown ND for the night. Effie again is under a hard cover for the nights rain.

Tuesday we take off in the rain headed south, heading to Sturgis, across the Indian Reservation, I am unsure of fuel supplies, so I have another gallon in my saddlebag. While at home I had figured from the GPS info worst luck I would need to go 210 miles along my chosen route before I knew there would be gas. FYI, I found gas was about every 40 miles easily, except on HWY 212 from Faith to Sturgis it is sparse probably 80 miles. I found the HD dealer in Sturgis does not have a service department as my rear brakes were acting a bit soft (new pads the week before) I was concerned they had not been reassembled correctly. BUT the dealer had a ton of T-Shirts waiting for the rest of you that are Sturgis bound. Lunch at Knuckles Saloon, then skipping the side trip to Rushmore I opt for a run to the next Dealer NW with a service department (Gillette WY), so I can get there before they close. The afternoon ride is without rain and uneventful. The dealer, looks at the brakes but doesn’t sit on the bike and test them. He thinks they look okay, I push the peddle and he looks and thinks they are okay, we look at one on the showroom floor, because he really doesn’t know about Sporty brakes, and he thinks they are okay. He offers to take it apart the next day if I want to stay over the night. I opt out and we head north. I had had trouble with the brakes on the run to CA after going over the mountains I had lost the rear brakes, they just didn’t work anymore. I managed without them, but coming down a mountain at night in the rain without rear brakes was scary. I did not want to do that again. But I also know a lost cause when I am in it. We continue on to Sheridan, which is the first night that I have trouble finding a motel. I am in the turn off area for Yellowstone, so lots of tourist flow through here. From here on I stop earlier in the evenings to look for a bed for the night. Finally tucked in at the Big Horn Motel Effie is again under a hard cover, but no rain tonight. I ship my first Federal Express package back to my work, using my companies Fed Ex account. I found I could usually beg a box from the hotel/motel, pack the box full, tape it up (I carried a roll of shipping tape with me), slap on a preprinted Fed Ex label I brought from work, then call 1-800-GO FEDEX to inform Fed Ex to come and pick it up at the hotel. My company sends me an email when the get the bill for the shipments I just pay them back. This made life so much easier. During this trip I shipped 4 packages home, 3 of them through Fed Ex by leaving them at the hotel lobbies.

Another 600 mile day has provided a long wanted trip to Sturgis, a hard to get Z (Ziebach) county for my ABCs (there are only 3 Z counties in the United States), a long stop at the Little Bighorn National Memorial and the best hot shower that side of the Mississippi. Life is grand. This was the first day of my trip that I was not rained on, but I traveled on wet roads most of the day.

Wednesday its off toward Canada again. Through MT, I am happy to see the pristine environment. The Missouri river was BLUE. I thought it only came in Brown and was clumpy. It was Crystal Blue and people were canoeing in it and fishing in it. I stopped and took a picture. People at work will not believe it. MT is truely ‘big sky country’. The blue in the sky goes to the ground. In KC the blue in the sky turns to blue gray then gray goes to the ground. I would move there in a heart beat if it wasn’t so frigging COLD! Lots of stops, pictures and 550 miles later I stay the night in Shelby MT. Another independent, the sidewalk was too tall to get Effie up there for the night, so she spends the first night under the stars, covered only by the rain cover. No rain overnight.

Sunrise Thursday finds me packing my gear back on Effie. With a chill in the air, I start the day in my 2 coats and rain jacket. I ride all day with the same gear on, adding the rain pants after I hit Canada. Seems to be monsoon season in Canada as I head through Alberta for the SAS border then Calgary. Medicine Lodge HD had the neatest shirts of any of the dealers I visited this year. They had one “The Great American Road Trip”…HD, but without the dealer logo, and then another “Solitary.. No Commitments” ..HD, that wasn’t available in my size. Their dealer logo was really neat also. The clerk was all excited about the Calgary Rally that their Hog group was soon going to head to. So I was off to the Calgary HOG Rally to pick up my packet and get my ABC pic. I had planned to stay the night in CAL and stick around the Rally for the day or so, but opted to ride on, so I rode on south to Fort MacLeod before stopping for the night. 550 miles for this days journey. FT M has the RCMP museum and school and the old Fort so for such a small town about 1/3 seemed to be hotels/motels. I found my usual little U shaped independent motel, however, Effie was under the stars again. The hotel was run by an elderly couple, she could barely move around as she used with a walker slowly. They were very pleasant people and he came quickly with a screwdriver as directed when I got locked inside the motel room. The dead bolt malfunctioned and after hollering out the window for about 20 minutes and pounding on the thick stucco walls I disturbed my ‘neighbor’ enough that he came out to see what the problem was. He summoned the owner with a screwdriver so I could disassemble the lock and exit the room.

I opted to leave Canada early as the 2 credit cards (debit card and master card) that I had been using to ‘pay at the pump’ and for other purchases were turned off after the first couple fill ups in Canada. I go through this every trip I take, as I HATE walking into a filling station to pay, I ALWAYS pay at the pump. So every 120-150 miles I have at least a gas charge, US Bank sees multiple charges for multiple days over large parts of the country and they turn the card off, until they get an ID check by a clerk or an ATM visit. They do this to me every trip I take. Well as soon as US Bank turned off my ATM Visa card, Chase stopped the interest free MC that I was using, so it was back to AMEX which has never screwed me up but isn’t as widely accepted as they like to think. Well in Canada, getting the cards back on isn’t an easy stop. The clerks looked at me like I was crazy when I explain that I know the card is rejected, it should just ask you for an ID check…… It doesn’t work like that in Canada. You have to call the card company, screw that I not sitting on the d**n phone all afternoon, I got places to see. Lesson learned is to make an ATM visit before going out of the country.

Friday morning I took off about 8:30AM. It was cold and Effie was cranky to get started. But we were soon off to the British Columbia border. Then south on CAN 6 through Waterton Park. This was beautiful country. I pulled over and turned the motor off when I found a trail drive was heading down the road at me. Wide eyed cows watched me suspiciously as they headed for the ditch trying to cut the widest path around me, I don’t think motorcycles were something these cows had seen much. After snapping a couple pics of the herd with its cowboys and exchanging pleasantries with the cowboys I proceeded on to the US border. I miss living in a small town.

I pop back into the US at that International Peace Park and Glacier National Park. Using my park pass again, as I enter Glacier NP I talk with the ranger/clerk and discover that the road is not open but will open today at 4PM (MT). It is only open a few months out of the year. Its 2PM (CT) no worries, off to Logan’s Pass visitors center. It’s supposed to be a 45 minute drive, but I take over an hour and half, in no hurry, snapping lots of pictures. I get to the pass and motorcycles start accumulating. The long wait at the top allows me to get some postcards and write them out. I have a long post card list when I travel. One Road King has a screw in his tire and I watch for the first time a plug getting set and the tire getting fixed. A Gold Wing rescued the HD (a fact he was glad to point out, but just once) as he had the plug kit and the built in air compressor in his saddlebag. I made a mental note to get a tire repair kit for my travels. When they opened the “Road to the Sun” for the year, it was 4:20PM and the lot was full of cars and about 25 motorcycles, 15-20 of them were Harleys. I had asked one of the cars if he would let all the motorcycles pull out in front of him and he gladly agreed. I was the 6th motorcycle to complete the journey from E to W in 2006. Wow. 2 months ago I had not heard of Glacier National Park, today I tell you to put it on your list of must see places. Glacier NP makes most of Colorado look like a cheap substitute and CO is gorgeous. BTW the Glacier is receding, but it has been receding since 1860.

Coming out of GNP I am into Kalispell MT pretty quick and a wrong turn puts me in front of a US Bank. Called for a visit to the ATM and a Military Surplus store that shared the parking lot (I needed a new stuff sack). Its evening and I decide to just stay here for the night and check out the dealer in the morning. I found another independent motel and stayed in a cabin with a full kitchen and 2 bedrooms for $40. 250 miles today, but lots of sightseeing and relaxing in Glacier was worth it. Effie is not undercover.

In the morning Effie let me know her displeasure at being out in the cold again and was extremely cranky about starting. To the point I thought I would need to push start her and was looking for a couple guys to help with that, when she finally started up. Cold but not that cold, it was evident that she is having battery/electrical issues. Saturday morning the dealer already has a long list of travelers ahead of me and now I will not be gotten to until afternoon. The MT HOG Rally starts this morning in Missoula and travels to this Kalispell dealership, so this dealership is already getting a load of HDs limping in for repairs. I opt to make the run to Missoula and take my chances there. HWY 93 is under construction and gravel is said to be a big part of it, so I am directed to take another just as scenic route using HWY 83. Gorgeous country. The Service dept. in Missoula had been called and was ready for me when I go there. Understanding I am on an ABC mission from hell, they are quick to get the bike in for service. I ate hot dogs and popcorn while I waited, getting the free meal. And checked in at the Rally registration to get my packet and puruse it.

While filling out the release, one of the staff members gave the most mixed up, wrong, misleading explanation of what the ABCs of Touring that I have ever heard. At the conclusion of her presentation I commented to her that she had never done the ABCs had she and she confessed that she hadn’t. I told her I knew that from her explanation of it. The service department determined that the HD part of the bike is all okay and its my accessories that are the problem. I have the GPS, satellite radio, MotoLights and heated hand grips, all them had been getting a work out the last few days. I am informed have a 30ma current draw and I should have a 3ma current draw when the bike is shut down. They had cleaned her really well but basically gave her back to me 2.5 hours later without any repair, not charging me anything. They found no issues with the rear brake and it had plenty of fluid too. I purchased a battery tender at the dealership and later that day a 40 ft extension cord at Walmart. Once running the bike would restart fine, it was just that initial start up in the morning that was giving me trouble. That would be easily enough solved with a charger. With no hotel rooms available in the city, I got my ABC MT rally picture and pulled out headed toward ID. The day concluded in Spokane WA, around 340 miles for the day. I stayed in a Days Inn and ran the extension cord out to the bike. I decided that I needed to pack another box for shipping, but to tired to mess with it. Today of all days had been a tiring day.

Sunday morning I was off bright and early, curling around WA and down into OR then back to ID. After freezing my butt in MT and CAN I am being baked alive. Record temps are set and although I planned to go to Ellensburg, I opt to cut that and Mattawa WA (these were both IBE cities) off the destination list and head on into Boise. I get to Boise locate the dealer where the ID State HOG rally is going to be centered out of. Across the street from the dealer is one of my preferred U shaped independent hotels. I make arrangements to stay there for 3 nights. It’s the pits, but its safe, cheap and convenient as all hell. Effie is again under cover and within 5 feet of me at night. I am really early for the ID Rally, the pre-rally party is on Monday night, but being lazy for 2 days is sounding really good. The day concludes with 450 miles more miles on the odometer.

Up early in the morning I head across the street to the dealer (High Desert HD) and their service department. 4th on the list they determine that the battery is bad, as they have a tester that you can plug the battery tender tail into. The battery is out of warranty (1 yr warranty, had the bike 18 months), but ‘wouldn’t be anyway because you are pulling too much from it’. How much I am pulling and what is too much are questions they can not answer, but they just know. And he doesn’t like my attitude. I work as an electrical engineer so you aren’t going to bluff this stuff by me. I agree to a new battery. I have given up on the brake issue and hadn’t mentioned it. The service tech comes riding the bike up from its test drive and first thing says…. “Your rear brake is messed up.” I replied “Thank you.” He offered to tear it down and check it, but assured me it would not be covered by warranty I opted to take it on home for the local shop to refix it. They should do it for free and I had waited 4 hours for a battery replacement. Going back to the motel, I took a nap. Ahhh the life of leisure. The pre-rally party was at the dealership and they had brought in a caterer that did not have a clue on how the feed 600 people. They had 3 people and were preparing the food on site. It was supposed to be a taco platter, but the rally party was spent standing in the sun for 1.5 hours for 3 uncooked cornmeal tortitas with taco stuff piled on top. The rally staff were great though. The staff was out talking to everyone and really set a tone at the rally. The pre-party was fun even though there were issues with the food.

A little about the ID rally. It was limited to 600 people. The registration started on 3JAN and it was first come first admitted. Deliberately held on a TUE/WED so people could attend rallies the weekend before and the National rally the weekend after it, getting 3 rallies in one week. 80% of the participants were from out of state. Quite a few were returning participants. I met a couple that night that really made the rally for me. The ID rally is the best kept secret in HOG. The 160 mile Lowman Loop they laid out for a ride on Tuesday was amazing, full of historical markers and beautiful scenery, 2 of my favorite things. The opening night banquet brought Dolly Pardon and Kenny Rogers impersonators to perform, they were both HOG members. She sang to all the tables and kissed all the bald guys on the head leaving a perfect lipstick mark. What a neat lady. She went on the ride Wednesday to Idaho Falls, as the Rally was a moving one. I don’t plan on doing the ABCs as much next year, but I will be back to the ID rally.

Two days later the closing banquet was a hoot as the performers were in no hurry to quit, they finally did the closing prizes and awards and let the 2 singers/comedians get back on stage. No one left before these guys did. The rally parting gifts were a deck of cards with the rally logo, shot glass with the logo etched on it and a small bottle of vodka. The theme was “The Outlaw Tour”.

In Idaho Falls I stayed in the 2nd hotel I had a reservation for. This was the first night I didn’t plug Effie into the charger at night. But at 6AM (CT) the next morning she started right up, ready for the days ride. Gotta love it. I dropped a box for FED-EX off at the lobby and away we went.

Although we had been warned not to try it, I headed through Yellowstone on the way to Billings. I was glad I did. Wow, once again. I had never been to Yellowstone, I entered the west gate and came out the northeast gate. While in I had a SUV herd 2 buffalo down the road right at me. Nowhere to go, I turned off the motor, flipped down the modular helmet chin piece, looked down and did not move. I could have put an arm up and touched both of these animals, but they passed me without incident. I flipped the helmet open and talked to the SUV driver. Older guy, white hair, he and his occupants thought it was funny, they were splitting a gut over it. It is good that there is not a right to carry law throughout the US. I did get one pic of the buffalo, before I realized what deep shit I was in and what the SUV was doing.

Heading out of the park on the way to Beartooth pass, there is construction on the road. This meant 6 miles of gravel lead by a pilot car. I was the first motorcycle in line and the flag lady said I had to keep up with the pilot car (20-25 MPH), she would release all the motorcycles first, but we had to keep up. Too many motorcycles were having a problem… so keep up. My previous bike was an enduro. I can get along on gravel, the sporty isn’t as easy as the enduro when traveling on gravel, but I am not scared of it. By the time we took off there were 20 or so motorcycles most are road kings or the like. The big boat anchor bikes. I am following the pilot car, it just keeps getting faster and I keep following it, maybe not in its tracks but I am right there. We are at times going 35MPH. The pilot car pulls up to a stop and just sits, so I turn around and all the boat anchors are way (WAYYYYY) back there. Where all these guys had all been snobby about the girl on the sporty, now we know what they are really made of. So lame they can’t even keep up. I live for moments like this. So I get off Effie, turn around, stretch a little and wait for them to catch up just to rub it in. J The pilot car driver is grinning ear to ear all the time I am off the bike. He waits for them to catch up and bunch back up. As soon as we hit pavement, the guy behind me about kills himself passing me, I guess his ego couldn’t take the bruise any longer. But Bear tooth was great! Wow. I could spend 2 weeks just revisiting the places in MT/WY that I saw this trip.

Into Billings for my last of the reserved rooms at the Best Western. Billings is the home of the US National HOG rally. The BW is the lap of luxury as it was a King size bed all nice and fluffy with pillows that were plump, instead of the pancake things I had seen too many nights. 320 miles or so and lots of pictures were achieved today. Ahhhh, dinner at Cracker Barrel, a favorite of mine. Let me die with their hash brown casserole on my breath. Clean, exhausted and stuffed, I go to bed at 7:30PM (CT).

After the electrical issues, I decided that the minimum I would ever travel with again is what I had now. The equipment mounted on the bike now are the satellite radio, GPS, Hornet deer horn, MotoLights and heated grips. I would not step backwards. So I decided to go to the demo rides at national. I tried three bikes and the only one that was a maybe was the Soft tail Deluxe. But it had issues that would cost me a mint to fix, I know because I had many of the same issues with the sporty, been there done that. I was not excited about any of the bikes I rode. None fit me well. The sporty had fit me well when I first sat on it, none of these did. I rode 3 bikes but sat on and tilted to feel the weight almost all of them. I am a very functional type person. What I have works, works well, is well maintained, but is functional, usually not real pretty. My opinion was confirmed ‘boat anchors’ that big of bike is not needed for touring, it might be a smoother ride, big deal, so is a Lincoln convertible. I was talking with the HD guy that was assigning the softtails out for rides about my electrical issues and he decided that I really needed to talk to the mechanic that travels with the demo fleet. He hooked us up and I spent a half hour discussing the Sportster electrical system and what it will do and what it won’t. FYI: 38 Amps is the magic number for the max it will pull, but you have to include highway miles for charging time in that. My attachments are just fine and he thought sure I was just the victim of a defective battery. If I have any more trouble have the voltage reg output checked. A month later when I check the service manual I found out 21 amps is the magic number, the mechanic I spoke with didn’t quote the sporty numbers.

Happy to get back to Effie we proceeded to the vendors area where I bought a wheel choke with free shipping and a rally discount. Tired of begging people to help with the tranny oil change, the bike will now stand up straight on its own. The post office was there with flat rate boxes and I loaded up one to ship home. This was my final package home.

We move down to the Rally area of the Rally and find a parking spot right in front. I go in and get my ABC pic. This is the 5th and final rally of the trip. Billings was very welcoming I thought and I would not hesitate to visit there again. This rally was so much better than last year. Lots of FREE & CLOSE parking.

About 2PM we head out of Billings on the way home. We stop in Gillette, WY for the night, thats only 300 miles for the day.

Thursday night I had decided to change the planned route home and detour to Crazy Horse and Rushmore that I had missed earlier in the trip. So Saturday morning we were off to Custer SD. Both memorials were awesome. If you go to Rushmore shoot for parking lot 6, it puts you right at the front entrance. Leaving there we stopped at chimney rock in NE, its on their state quarter. Ready to zoom home, but the wind noise generated when going above 65MPH interferes with listening to The Prairie Home Companion Saturday night so, we end up in plugging along as usual. 600 miles for the day finds us in North Platte NE for the night.

With 400 miles to go and a hot home cooked meal promised at my return, we left the hotel early and arrived in KC about 2:30PM. Steak and potatoes over the barby it was. I took over 500 pictures during the trip, gained 32 ABC pts, 18 IBE pts and I had a blast, met some awesome people and look forward to returning next year for another visit. I now am ready for my 2 week Far East trip I planned for first part of AUG.

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Photos

WI
What crystal blue water. The environment is so much cleaner when you head north.

WI Duck
Ducks sure come big in WI!

Canada
The lake was so pretty I had to pull over and enjoy it, grab a picture and call a friend to tell them how great it was there.

Sturgis, SD
A stop at the Harley dealer and then on to Knuckles Saloon for lunch.

Little Big Horn
The dead soldiers were originally buried where they died. The darker stone is Custers.

SD Stacked Rocks
I noticed stacked rocks on the road side in Canada, now I see the same in SD. So whats the deal?

Missouri River in MT
This isn't what it looks like when it gets to MO.

Canada Trail Drive
I pulled over and watched the cowboys move the cows through the area.

ID - Lowman Loop 2
My Dad is a Mason, so I was interested in finding this lodge hall.

Yellowstone
Here come the buffalo, the SUV behind them would bump either one if it stopped.

SD Buffalo Round Up
Custer SD had the painted buffalos located about town.

SD Crazy Horse
A nice place to stop. Looks like there is a lot more rock that needs to be removed.

NE Chimney Rock Trail Signs
Chimney Rock was a milestone in the trek to the west for many of the early settlers. Several trails passed through that area.