Since I couldn't make it out there this year, I have to live vicariously through those of you who did.

I haven't seen much chatter, pics or videos yet. I'm sure it was a lot of the same ol' same ol' but still like to hear about it and reminisce.

How was the new Full Throttle? Prolly not much to rave about being the 1st year of the re-build.

Anyway, share your memories!

 

We had a great time! It was windy as heck the whole time, but the weather is always hit or miss.

The new FTS sucks even more than the old one did. The took the Broken Spoke's old property and messed it up.

I never show pictures of any women at rallies anymore, because of the guy's (that clearly have super model wives) complain about the quality of the women posted. LOL!

 

We went the week before and it was fairly quiet till Thursday and it started to pickup. Hung around for the weekend then headed to Yellowstone for the next week.
Drove past the new FTS it didn't warrant a stop but wished I could of stayed in town to see Nugent. Went to Black Hills Harley Saturday and it was packed.
Weather was very good. We missed almost all the storms.
We had a great time as well.

 

This was my first year and it turns out it was a good year to go. The numbers were down and I never had a problem finding a parking spot or getting through town. I went solo from Maryland, camped at Glencoe and had a great time. Met lots of nice people throughout the area. Already thinking about next year!!

 

My 11th year, went out late, weather was crappy and it was clearly not a popular riding destination

My last year for a while. Tired of overpriced under delivered things. Such is life

 

I rode out from wa State packin my wife. we hit Wallace Id, Red Lodge Mt, and rode the Bear Tooth, Chief Joseph and into Cody. Did the Cody Museums and rode through the Big Horn. Spent three nights in Hill city, visited Sturgis, Rode with the Buffalo in Custer and did a bunch of ridin in the black Hills.

All the usual suspects were there, but no crowds, no lines and a Thunder and lightning show each afternoon.

We did little over 3200 miles, never hit rain or wind on the road. dodged all the deer,Bears and cagers. Had a Blast, damn we love road trips, Sturgis is just a rest stop.

 

We were there the week before also.

We go mostly to "ride" the Black Hills, see a few sites and visit a few vendors.
Pretty much all of the vendors are all set up the week before.

The week before was a great week for riding though.
Riding from Spearfish to the Badlands Thursday morning was very windy though.
Had a brief shower Wednesday between Hill City and Deadwood, but only last about 2 miles.

It does make you a little sad though, as you are heading home back across South Dakota and so many are going the other way (toward Sturgis).

Will very likely do it again next year.

 

I plan on riding out next year for the first time. My wife is riding with me and does not want to camp. Is there anywhere in the area I should start looking at for rooms, or maybe where I should stay away from?

 

It was great. Was there Friday to the next Saturday; stayed in Spearfish as usual, year 14 for me running... Rained every single day in the afternoon, got caught once real heavy but skirted the rest of em... Made it to Badlands this time. For some reason I never have before . 8/10 would ride that again but I'll leave way earlier next time. Was kind of hot.. My rear caliper came clean OFF the mount (no idea how.. Bolts were just gone..) at the last curve near the exit to Rushmore, so we rode it back to Rapid City with just front brakes and they fixed it with in the hour. Very thankful it wasn't worse, as I had a passenger (my girl) While unfortunate, it happened in the best way it could; popped right off, sheared my balancing weights off and took some metal off the rim, but didn't jam me up, and we were riding uphill slow in light traffic and I was able to pull out immediately and safely stop. Whew!! All in all a good week. My group seemed to draw the short straw for bike trouble this year, but we were overdue after many flawless years. We had the primary retaining nut (250 ft lbs?!?! Woah) on a Victory strip (I had to tow that one, but Victory in Arizona overnighted the part to our camp and it was there the next morning by 10 am..wow, that's service! PS... Victory in Rapid City are a-holes) we also had clutch issues on a chopper, (quick re-adjustment on an open primary) a shifter came loose on an old Electra glide, (fixed on roadside) my caliper woes,(BHHD took care of it quick!) and finally, a dead battery on a newer Dyna..(charged and jump started it; in town it load tested ok; this older gentleman is a drinker, and rode it just to the bathroom and back for 3 days, the dork) We were well prepared though, I always take too much stuff just for these issues; had a spare trailer when needed and all the tools were packed on the bikes. A great time in town and surrounding areas, Devils tower, needles, etc. the week wore me plumb OUT, and I now need a vacation from my vacation... Wished you could have made it up, traffic was much more reasonable this year without the lure of the 75th hanging over the rally... Bad for the vendors, but great for us!! Oh and SDSP are dicks, they pulled my buddy over 4 times for his vertical license plate on his chopper. Utterly ridiculous. It's his 4th year up on that same bike and never had that issue before.. Just dumb.

 

Figure it out and make arrangements, NOW, literally ASAP, and be prepared to pay pretty high rates. My KOA in Spearfish just built 3 new cabins, fully furnished. 2 queen bedrooms, full kitchen, baths, etc. They're awful nice but would be several, 4-5 hundred a night, yikes ; but I'd highly recommend a stay in Spearfish, I've been there 14 years; it's a close 10 miles from the major action, with quick access to all major rides, and quiet when you want to get away and relax.

If you did call the KOA, tell them Buck from 28 sent you.