Date: Friday, September 7, 2018
Location: Sheridan, WY
Departure Time: 10:00 am
Starting Mileage: 27,816
There wasn’t anything Super about this 8. What posed as orange juice was a watery rancid fluid. The “coffee” wasn’t much better. The raisin bran and yogurt were ok.
Here’s what I saw loading the bike.
The day was another beauty, except warmer than yesterday.
We got back onto RT 90 E and blasted east two exits. No sooner did we get on RT 14 E than we had to stop for cattle being herded along the road. The change in terrain was dramatic. In contrast to yesterdays’ sidewinder like roads and significant elevation changes, the land was relatively flat providing long straights with sweeping turns. The majority of the time 5th gear was fine as I jetted Bubba along at an indicated 80 mph on the straightaways.
The 109 mile trip to Gillette was done in two hours flat.
While the roads were relatively straight, they we also relatively bumpy. Not harsh bumps, just dips and rises. This kept the rig in constant motion, like a ship on the sea. It was all hands on deck, actually bars. Use of the throttle lock was minimal as constant throttle input and a good grip was required.
The last three days there’s been some wind, thankfully it’s been mild.
While in Gillette, an opportunity to purchase high end gear lube and engine oil was taken advantage of. Yes Don, following your advice.
Exiting Gillette, RT 51 E was taken. Pine trees began to appear. They increased in number the farther east we travelled. The turn towards Devil’s Tower was taken.
Reserve had to be turned on as we got closer. While ascending a small rise Lee asked that we turn into the outlook. As she said that the bike ran out of gas. False neutral, key off, coast in.
There was shade behind the sign so we got out our leftovers from Bubba’s BBQ, sat down in the grass and ate lunch.
A rest stop was made just down the road in Devil’s Tower. As I rounded the rear of the bike to help Lee adjust her coat my left knee grazed the left turn signal. The lenses fell to the pavement in pieces. Opening the sidecar trunk I retrieved the handyman’s secret weapon and tore off a piece. A dual sport pilot approached. “What year’s the Guzzi?” “72”. “92?” “No, 72.” “Hey can you tear this in half?” “In strips?”, “Yes, thanks.” I held the pieces of lens in place while he wrapped the tape around the lens and turn signal. Back in business.
Beyond Devil’s Tower we took RT 24 E. The surface quality of this road was much better allowing for less demanding progress.
A sign appeared, 7 miles to border.
We were now in South Dakota! The road became RT 34 E. It carried us into Sturgis.
Disappointingly, Sturgis was a typical tourist trap holding no attraction. I bought a tee shirt and we headed to RT 90 E.
RT 90 is a slab, but it was a means to an end. As we exited town smoke could be seen in the distance. I assumed a forest fire. As we got closer I could see that it was coming from a cluster of houses, not good.
NOT A GOOD DAY FOR SOMEONE
We arrived in Wall at 6:30 pm, what a concept!
For the last several days I’ve heard an intermittent metallic noise coming from the front of the engine, but kept forgetting to check it. Tonight, with the bike running I got down and checked. The generator was moving fore and aft, the pulley hitting the belt cover. A broken generator bracket, a common occurrence with these bikes. The list of things to do at Mark’s keeps growing!
The Super 8 is clean and modern. We walked a few blocks and had a nice relaxing dinner.
It’s 10:30, time to sleep.
Ending Mileage: 28,216
Adventures With Bubba 