MC Raven Trip Report 9

MC Raven Trip Report 9

Still no mileage numbers - should be repaired on Friday.

In the Black Hills – back (still) in the rain!

My last report was posted from a motel room in Thedford Nebraska. That was two nights in a row that I’d stayed in motels. The rain and cold weather made camping too much to bear. I would check into the motel then spend the next 2-hours lying under the blanket shivering. As I left Thedford, the day started out cold but dry. So, I continued heading towards my goal of Carhenge in Alliance, NE. Here’s a bunch of pictures of me and Raven the Wonder Cycle at Carhenge. If we ever make it to the real Stonehenge in England we can compare that with this (or this with that if you wish). As you can see from the pictures, the clouds started stacking up again while I was there so, I didn’t spend as much time exploring the place as it deserves.

Carhenge is supposed to be an exact replica of Stonehenge; just made with classic cars rather than giant blocks of stone. I was impressed and am looking forward to finding other henges around the world too.

I ran north from Carhenge towards South Dakota and the Badlands. The previous night I’d seen on the Weather Channel that the Badlands should be rain free – just the place for me! They were rain free, just windy as heck. This part of SD could install a windmill generator every square mile and power the entire nation! Here’s some pics of the Badlands:

Extra points if you can name the movie this is from, complete the line, who said it in the movie and who the saying is attributed to. Ready? Go! (Answers in my next post.)

 Badlands Sunset

I had breakfast Saturday morning at the Badlands Lodge. When I asked the waitress if she’d heard anything about the weather, she mentioned that there was a possibility of snow! Though I’d paid for 4-nights and only stayed for two, I decided to leave before I got snowed in.

By the time I arrived in the Black Hills the clouds had closed in again: couldn’t see Crazy Horse or Mt Rushmore. I did get to explore some and experience some great riding - The Needles Highway: narrow, winding, great scenery – just the way I like ‘em! Even narrow 1-lane tunnels to pass through (2 of them). There’s a reason they hold the Sturgis Rally here in the Black Hills: Great riding! Here’s a pic:

I spent Saturday night in the Horse Thief Lake National Forest Campground. A beautiful, well cared for campground in a terrific setting. My only problem is that – THE RAIN’S BACK AGAIN! The little stream beside my campsite was just about to overflow straight into my tent. I’d had enough. Though I’d paid for two nights and only stayed one, I packed up everything and headed down the mountain to the town of Keystone where I tried to check into the Travelodge. They turned me away. Seems they were afraid that they’d have to evacuate the hotel due to rising water in the river. So, I headed up the hill a couple of blocks to the Super 8 and checked in there. It ended up costing waaay more than I wanted to pay but; dry is worth it! Right now, my room is covered wall to wall with drying camping equipment and clothing. The tent is even in the bathtub.

 A Nebraska Rest Area - They even have WiFi!

MC Raven Trip Report 8

Trip Report 8

Wrap-up of the past 5-days.

I left my mom’s house Thursday around lunch time and headed to the SLAP (Squeal Like A Pig) Rally held here in Arkansas off Highway 23. I arrived around 4 pm. By 5 pm the rain and thunderstorms had come back. It rained all Thursday, most of Friday and Saturday morning. The other participants started arriving on Friday afternoon and more came in on Saturday. All total, only about a third of those registered actually made it – the weather kept them home.

When I arrived, the access road was a mixture of rocky and deep muddy. By Friday it was mostly muddy. By Saturday afternoon, when I took these pictures, it had dried out a little to the rocky/mud bog you see. I have a theory: The road’s a test. If you can get to the campsites through that mud/rocks, you deserve to be there with the other dual sport riders. I made it but, just barely.

That’s the bad. Here’s the good. This area of Arkansas is motorcycle heaven! Highway 23 (known locally as the Pig Trail) is a wonderful blend of winding mountainous stretches with the roadway following a river through a tunnel of overhanging trees. Then, you climb up 1000ft to the top of the mountain and find yourself in amongst morning fog and little farms with animals grazing then, dive back to the next valley to start the ride all over. Great! The dirt riding rally-ers told me the dirt roads/trails were even better.

The thunderstorms came back early Sunday morning as I was packing up to leave. I was sooooo ready to get to somewhere without rain and thunder! So, I headed down to I-40 and headed west towards Oklahoma. Just after I crossed into OK, the newest electronic gremlin attacked. My fuel gauge dropped out of action. Normally, when I have just under 1 gallon of fuel left, the dash shows a yellow triangle and starts flashing a little gas pump. Also, along the bottom of the screen numbers appear telling you how many miles you have left at this speed before you run out. This usually happens when I’m about 50-miles from empty. This time the switchover occurred at 186 miles to go. Then 140 miles to go… within about 4 miles I went to 0 miles to go even though I’d filled up the day before just as I finished my ride.

My first stop was at a McD’s to check the internet and see if others had had this happen to them. Sure enough, this is a common problem with BMW’s of mine’s vintage. Unfortunately, when this happens, the button that shows the odometers/trip logs gets locked out and you can’t see how many miles since your last fill up. (We all reset one of the trip logs to zero each time we fill up: mostly so it’s easier to calculate mpg.) Luckily for me, my 10-year old gps has a trip log function and I can keep track of when it’s time to get more fuel using that. That’s why there’s no daily/total mileage figures at the top of the page.

While I was in OK I talked to Jeremey and Kandi and they told me that BMW America had sent a Recall/Repair letter for my bike. I called the BMW dealer/repair shop in the Black Hills of South Dakota where I expect to be by the end of the month. They scheduled me for the recall repair as well as fixing the fuel gauge problem at the same time. (Apparently there’s a strip of some kind that goes inside the gas tank and senses the fuel level. That needs to be replaced.) While I’m there, I’ll explain the other electronic gremlins I’ve been experiencing.

I talked with J&K on Sunday. Now it’s Tuesday evening and I’ve ridden in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and am halfway through Nebraska. I’m trying to run away from the rain. Up until today, I’d managed to do that too! Yesterday was the first time I’d awakened to dry tent and sleeping bag since I arrived in Minnesota. Alas, even though it’s not raining right this minute, it has gotten colder. The temps went from upper 70’ low 80’s to upper 30’s! Isn’t this supposed to be the place where it’s hot and sultry? Isn’t this the place where all the women wear those little t-shirts and the sweat runs down between their bosoms? I spent way too much time thinking about that sweat. (Now, I just started thinking about it again!) I decided that today would be a great day to declare a motel day. I’m inside, warm and DRY! And, I've managed to avoid all those tornadoes rampaging across Oklahoma and Texas!

Here’s some pics from MC Raven’s Southern Adventure:

Motorcycle Heaven

More MC Heaven

Carlos from Bolivia

Rally riders

Byrds Adventure access road

Helping a turtle cross the road (I’m sure that as soon as I put him down and rode away, he spun around and sprinted right back across the road.) Saw turtles like this one every few miles in south Kansas.

Roadside Art

A water tower This Big! (Florence Kansas)

.

My old sleeping bag on the left and my new bag on the right. New bag is down filled, weighs much less, takes up much less room and, is rated to the same temperature as the old bag. Pricy but worth it!

I made it to the Good Life!