Before I get ahead of myself, here's our itinerary:
7.29
Reno, Nevada
7.30
Elko, Nevada
7.31
Rock Springs, Wyoming
8.1
Lusk, Wyoming
8.2
Rapid City / Sturgis, South Dakota
8.5
Hardin, Montana
8.6
Cody, Wyoming
8.7
Jackson, Wyoming
8.8
Elko, Nevada
8.9
Brentwood, CA
Here's some background info on the folks I'll be riding with. Nothing elaborate, but it'll help to put some flesh on the bones, as it were.
Like I mentioned last time, Vince is my best friend in the universe and longtime riding buddy. "Longtime," as in almost 30 years longtime! A retired deputy sheriff, Vince has way too much time for his motorcycles. He's an all-around "bike guy" with time and miles on everything from hardcore sportbikes to MX machines—with a few dual-sports in between. His stable currently includes a 2006 Harley Ultra Classic, a 1990 Harley FXRS Lowrider, and a 2005 CRF250X. The veteran of the group, Vince is joining me for his third trek to Sturgis.
Then there's Paul, a.k.a. Spawn of Vince, who goes by "JP." A Street Bike Freaks (SBF) member, Paul is 24 years old and has been riding sportbikes for about six years. I have no idea what "JP" stands for. Anyway, he makes his living at Dow Chemical. This is his first trip to Sturgis, so he'll be riding Pop's 1990 FXRS. (No wheelies, son!)
Nate is a longtime family friend of both Paul and the whole crew. He's a 28-year-old pile driver, meaning he's one of the guys building the new Bay Bridge in San Francisco. Nate will be sporting a 2007 Harley Road Glide. Like Paul, this is Nate's first time to Sturgis; however, this is not his first long ride.
Bringing up the pack is Mark, Vince's brother-in-law and close buddy. He's another Sturgis veteran. In fact, he did his first trip in 1997 on a 1981 FXR Shovelhead—how's that for street cred?! Since then, Mark has done numerous runs and is one of the high-mileage guys of the group. He'll be showing off something a bit newer and more comfortable: a 2007 Electra Glide.
Hank and his crew
(HD, Vince, Nate, Paul aka "JP", and Mark)
Day One and still fresh!
Well, that's about it. We'll put some faces to the names soon.
Well, sort of. There's no avoiding it, tomorrow's the day and I haven't packed a thing. Not that I haven't thought about it, I even purchased a T-Bag (Tahoe model) to augment what seemed to be the ever-shrinking capacity of the stock saddlebags. I even found four bungee cords in the bottom of the toolbox (cut fingers and smashed cornea's aside, the bungee is one of the handiest devices known to man), but I had yet to actually determine what exactly was going to make the grade. Time to get with the program...
Essentials: tools (just the basics, and with my mechanical skills I hope to God we never have to break them out!), rain gear, chaps, disc lock and a bike cover. Cool. That takes care of the left saddle bag. Why the left you may well ask? Well grasshopper, as most touring folks know, that's the "low bag" and as such it's just a little less accessible, so better to put stuff in there that you probably won't have to get to very often. Wise - very wise.
The right side is pretty much taken up with "devices"; laptop (sure hope that new Dell likes spending the next ten days in an oven-hot paint-shaker...it's under warrantee, right?), digital camera crap, assorted chargers and that's pretty much all I can shoehorn in. The good news is that the bags are lockable, so my scrambled computer will at least be somewhat secure from sticky fingers.
That leaves the T-Bag to handle, oh, everything else. Clothes; extra pair of Icon riding pants, board shorts for the pool, enough underwear for the whole trip, ain't doin' laundry, but only enough t-shirts to get me to Sturgis (long-sleeved for the desert, sleeveless for Main Street...gotta stay in character!), Motoboss Tactician leather vest (yeah, I know it looks like an LAPD SWAT vest, but I dig it - fits great, doesn't flop around, and folds up small), couple of hats, detail kit for spiffing up, pain killers, extra glasses, fingerless gloves, sunscreen (see sleeveless t-shirts), a few do-rags, watch cap and tire gauge.
Other than that we've got the boots on my feet (black harness, the way God intended), a very well used Icon Strongarm jacket, gloves (wit da fingers), and a full-face Mainframe helmet with Chatterbox (more on that later). Whew. I'm packed, and no broken zips or hinges - yes! I'm really surprised how much crap the T-Bag contains, good choice, mounts up pretty easily too.
Check the oil, tires...again. Oh, put on the damn windscreen. Ordinarily I don't ride with it on - screws up the classic lines of the Road King, and I hate the way it tugs at the bars - but I've been doing this long enough to know that a trip of this length without one would be a grind. T-Bag on the rack, easy enough.
Looks like we're ready to roll. Now, if I can only find that extra set of keys!
