I love the sound of the wind rushing through the trees, but have never been woken by it, until now. Today was supposed to be the hottest day of the week, reaching 100 degrees. Our plans were to drop off Bill’s bike at Dakota V-Twin for front and rear tires, and rear brakes, then visit the Badlands and see what’s new in the town of Scenic, since it had been purchased.
Perkins is our daily stop for breakfast (none in Michigan) and has become near and dear to our hearts as it reminds us of being in Spearfish each year. I was so happy to see they offer wi-fi, as my T-Mobile coverage does not exist here, though they claim it does.. grrr.. We shared a laugh over the password, pancake1. All we could think of was Air Force One.
We dropped the bike off and headed for Sturgis to kill some time, as the bike was to be ready in 3 hours, tops. Our first stop was the Sturgis Swap Meet to nose around for parts, and I had to grab this photo, some of you have seen it from my Facebook page. I was laughing so hard I could barely hold my camera steady.
Next was the Full Throttle, where we needed to pick up shirts (shrits) for Bill’s mom and stepdad. We browsed their store, which was all that was open at this time, and got a few photos. To my surprise, Emmett made an appearance! He walked through the bar and into the front parking area, very patiently posing for pictures and allowing guests to pet him. For those of you not familiar with the Full Throttle reality show, Emmett is a donkey.
We walked around a bit longer, then headed back west on 90 to bike up Bill’s bike. The girl at the counter said, “Nick wants to talk to you”.. which is never a good sign. After what seemed like a waiting room eternity, Nick emerged from the garage and explained that the caliper bolts had seized and needed to be drilled out. The bad news? No bolts in stock. He called Black Hills Harley Davidson, no dice. Sundance, Wyoming, same. The closest dealer with them was Deluxe Harley Davidson in Gillette,WY, 90 miles further west. We could go get them, or wait for their next delivery. Road trip!
Bill got his part..
And I scored a copy of Thunder Roads Colorado! This is turning into a scavenger hunt. Wanting to get back asap, we hopped I-90 and stopped just a few miles later for gas, as MORE very dark clouds formed.. The cashier noticed my Thunder Roads Michigan shirt and asked where we were from. She was from Mt. Morris, and I responded that that was near the snowmobile swap meet we go to every year in New Lothrop. She smiled and corrected me: “New LOWthrop”.. Oops.
As wicked as the skies appeared, the rain stayed to our south and we made it back to the shop. Once again, Dakota V-Twin did a great job, staying until the bike was done, and we were happy. This turned out to be an all day affair, but we didn’t mind. Quite frankly this was the best Tuesday afternoon we’d had in years.
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