Cooter does a road trip

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Cooter

Cooter

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Dec 1, 2012
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Crawling up your skirt
{ring, ring}

Hey Buddy! Long time...

"Hey Coot, I'll be in Sturgis during the rally with my RV, and I'm towing 2 Buells. Wanna go?.... Hello?... Hello?"

Hold on a minute, I'm booking my flight for tomorrow.

So just like that, I'm standing outside the tiny airport in Pierre, SD. "Pear" in local-ese, NOT "PEE-air" (the French don't count for much up here I guess) I'm holding my saddlebags, wearing my helmet, getting strange looks from the kid in the smoking section, waiting for an RV to swoop me up. I had no idea of the breakdowns, EPIC scenery, encounters with locals, wildlife, cops, family, old friends, and even new friends that I would see in the next 5 states, 2 countries, and about 3400 miles. All in three weeks.

Personally I'm not much for crowds, or festivals, or the drunken public. "But it's STUUUURGIS maaaannn". Ya I know. As a bike guy, you just have too. As rumor has it, there was 400,000 people there this year. I have no idea if thats even close to true but I'd agree with it. With the current population at just over 800,000 in the entire state of South Dakota you still have to see it to believe.
IMG_1084 by Cooter!, on Flickr

Not just Main St, but EVERY side street, parking lot, grocery store, park, hotel, campground, lawn....

Deadwood:
IMG_1064 by Cooter!, on Flickr

Seriously.
IMG_1063 by Cooter!, on Flickr
 
I'd been through the Black Hills before in an RV and what sucks in an RV is perfect for a bike. To say I was excited about riding around there does not even cover it.
My buddy brought a cool XB Café project bike, and his Yellow '99 Cyclone M-2 that he had bought in Rapid City just before the rally in 2000. My steed for the Black Hills would be the Café than switch over to the M-2 when we got to the RV destination of Spokane and started doing some serious distance on the bikes.

IMG_1053 by Cooter!, on Flickr

The M-2 has a 1250 kit, big carb, D&D exhaust thats loud as Hell, and a 6-speed (thankfully!). He had just completed an XB suspension, brakes, and wheel conversion on it so why not run it at full speed in the middle of nowhere! I didn't know that much about tubers before, but let me be a spoiler and say :love_heart:

They got a bit of attention from the packed campground, but Harley guys are funny. They'll look! as long as you aren't watching them It's hilarious. Post up a little ways away and watch as every one that passes checks them out. Get near the Buells and its right back to apathetic guy on a black Bagger. I did have one guy come right up:

"Hey nice Buells! My kid has one with an electrical problem the dealer can't fix, what do you think it is?"

Exactly like that, zero info:mad-new:. Doesn't even know me.:sorrow: Of course I was able to diagnose the problem instantly.
"Well... electrical issues on Buell's are always caused by electrons, always. Make sure the electrons are getting where they need to go".

He says "Ok, cool! thanks, I'll tell the dealer."

I can't wait for that:angel:

Out first dirt road happened quite unexpectedly, the first day, within 5 miles of camp :upset: It happened again, the next day, very far from camp.
Gotta keep 'em clean for the honeys:

IMG_1058 by Cooter!, on Flickr
 
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Ok so Sturgis. There is this:

IMG_1072 by Cooter!, on Flickr

This:
IMG_1074 by Cooter!, on Flickr

This:
IMG_1076 by Cooter!, on Flickr

Of course this!
IMG_1148 by Cooter!, on Flickr

and This:
IMG_1079 by Cooter!, on Flickr

Now that that's all settled, lets go ride!

There are however, impatient locals to deal with. Here's a good story:
We are riding into Deadwood, blazing 5 over the 35mph speed limit, when Mr. Skinny Impatient ********* in a beat up Jeep Cherokee just has to get into town right NOW. Did I mention there's 400,000 people there for the rally? Did you know theres 100 stop signs and lights in Deadwood?Nothing is happening quickly. Sit back, chill out and go with the flow. Do NOT tailgate the crap out of a motorcycle, you aren't going anywhere anyway.

I made room in the lane next to me so he could get the extra 5 feet closer to town:upset: and the guy lets me know he appreciates me getting out of his way by showing me I'm number 1, disparaging my mothers body parts, and now he's tailgating my buddy. At the first stop sign (of 100) my friend lets him know how he feels about getting tailgated by a truck. Mr. Skinny Impatient ********* now thinks its a good idea to open his door an threaten(!?) a 6' 240lb man wearing full armored leather:eagerness:

In one swift single motion, my friend has his bike off, kickstand down, and is now standing 3" from the guys face. I can't even find the little tab on my stand that fast! But it's gets worse when Mr. Skinny Impatient ********* now has the time to fish out a Walmart croquet mallet.... yes, a croquet mallet, a balsa wood skinny thing that you could never, ever, effectively swing inside of a Jeep Cherokee... I give up on the kick stand and burst into laughter, My buddy reacts instantly by saying "Give me that!" yanks it out of his hand and tosses it up on the bank. There is a round of applause and laughter from every biker there.
My Skinny Impatient Douchbag looks around, and is now Mr. Terrified. He shuts his door and "speeds" off.

Oh, were not done yet:) He still has to go through town, so we get to pull up next to him. at 15mph, for the next 99 stop signs.
It's difficult to wipe tears of laughter inside a full face helmet:)
 
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Picking the curvy road blindly on the map has it's advantages.
And surprises:
IMG_1098 by Cooter!, on Flickr

We got to a town. Is it a "town" with a population of 8? Anyway, we stopped to check the map and sweetheart "Dolores" was so excited she got a hitch in her knee rushing across the road to meet us. "Oh, no" she says "the only paved road is right back the way you came", "but get about 20-25 miles up and hit the highway over if you want". No thanks Dolores, we'll hit the fire road 30 miles to the next 'town'. But she has no idea if the town has gas, or even if it's still there. "Oh MY!, I haven't been there in 20 years!" she says.

Them are cows and theres a deer thing way in the back. Nature n' stuff:
IMG_1096 by Cooter!, on Flickr

With the bikes off, the quietness actually felt heavy.
IMG_1091 by Cooter!, on Flickr
 
Since I missed it last time I was there, we made our way to Crazy Horse.

He is not pee-ing:
IMG_1107 by Cooter!, on Flickr

Go get a pen. Yes you. Yes now. Write down "Custer Natl Park". Now go there. On a bike.
IMG_1113 by Cooter!, on Flickr
IMG_1116 by Cooter!, on Flickr
IMG_1118 by Cooter!, on Flickr

They said we'd see wildlife but other than a MASSIVE very scary Bison in the road, I didn't see anything. Dumb animals should be easier to find.
IMG_1129 by Cooter!, on Flickr
 
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Wake up, make a Latte (shut up haters), and sit down in the sun to plan the days ride. Does it get better?

Nope:
IMG_1133 by Cooter!, on Flickr

The café started sputtering a little in Deadwood (insert impending doom music) so we took a little break at the Indian restoration shop.
IMG_1137 by Cooter!, on Flickr
The counter lady, (SUPER sweet like everyone else there) was local and regaled stories of rallies past, while we milled around the very respectable place.

Once we realized the café wasn't going to fix itself sitting on the curb, we headed back to camp. JUST missing one Hell of a rainstorm!
Diagnose? or just yank it apart and poke stuff...
IMG_1141 by Cooter!, on Flickr
 
He got to see Ozzy play, we both got free tickets to Vince Neil (worth every penny), missed Jackyl (Lumberjack baby!) and missed his favorite band Alter Bridge. so much to do there! But time to go.

With "The Rally" in the rearview of the RV we need a new destination on the way to Spokane. My buddy makes a call. He went to school with a girl. Ya we all did, I know. But this girl married Miles Kennedy. He currently sings in Alter Bridge. They are playing that night in Three Forks Montana, JUST perfectly the right distance between Spokane and Sturgis!

It's called Rockin' the Rivers. "The largest festival in the Pacific Northwest" How about yes??
IMG_1152 by Cooter!, on Flickr
IMG_1154 by Cooter!, on Flickr
I'll edit in some drone footage later, holy JEEZ!! what a party!!
IMG_1165 by Cooter!, on Flickr

As the nice lady is putting on our VIP bracelets, she mentions they include free beer. Free Beer. She just said, "Free." "Beer.". I might have replied I love you, but things got dizzy fast.
Once the Angels stopped singing, We get led to our VIP camp spot, a personal shuttle ride to the VIP area, and ya know? They had free beer there!

Alter Bridge is pretty good on the radio, but I can tell you the ROCK the crap out of a stage! As if it couldn't get better I find out a small band that I really like is playing on the other stage next. "We're BOBAFLEX and don't you forget it M@ther F@@kers!"

FF to 2am, ears ringing, neck sore, and starving. The fried noodle lunch truck looks legit, and IS!! Apparently the lead guitar of Bobaflex agrees. He turns out to be quite the foodie at home and a really nice dude.

Theres hazy memories (Mammories?) of nip slips, endless beers, and drunken acoustic karaoke on the shuttle ride back to the RV, but if you weren't there I'm denying everything!
 
Ahh a morning stroll with a Mocha. How come people complain about camping?
IMG_1166 by Cooter!, on Flickr

And off to Spokane:
IMG_1169 by Cooter!, on Flickr

He grew up there and knows the good routes. Lets DO this!
Squeeeeeeze!:
IMG_1179 by Cooter!, on Flickr


If you have ever put a regular phillips screwdriver on float bowl screws, I'm very sorry but we cannot be friends:
IMG_1172 by Cooter!, on Flickr
 
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took the kids and the camper to the black hills in June. Went during Sturgis (with my old sporty) when I was 17. No matter when u go it's a must see area! Looks like you got a good look cooter!
My son admiring the presidents and daughter doing her best crazy horse..
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Cooter , Looks like you had a Great time!!! Thanks for Sharing !!!!!!!!!!!!! We want more !!!!!!
 
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Ok, Kiddies. Sit right here next to the fire, grab a S'more and let ol' uncle Coot continue his story:)

Since my buddy grew up around Spokane, I'm expecting some pretty epic riding and he does not disappoint!

First some maintenance though. The M-2 has a little fuel drip from the float bowl, so a quick call to the local V-twin store and I get a really comprehensive re-build kit, but only want to swap out the needle and seat. (No Impending Doom music, it worked perfectly). But thats all fine only if you can get the bowl off:mad-new:
{Rant on}
Japanese carburetors have never had phillips screws in them. Never. Yes, I'm aware they look just like phillips screws, but I assure you they are NOT. They are JIS screws. That stands for Japanese Industrial Standard. Go buy some now. I'll wait. Really.
Here's a link:
https://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&k...targid=kwd-23296544228&ref=pd_sl_6whqb0gor1_e
Every real mechanic just sighed a bit of relief, thank you:)
{Rant off}

Not quite ready to go though. The Café front wheel bearings are a little loud and thats saying something over the exhaust! He just had both wheels on both bikes powder coated and replaced the bearings on both bikes about 1000 miles ago? Oh well, we got the tools, and the knowledge, and the parts! Win! (Now you can insert impending Doom music:()

After a really late start (becomes a habit on this trip), we go North out of town on 20, along Lake Pend Oreille (Pond-o-RAAAAAYYYY:)) towards Nelson B.C.. Man what FUN! Well maintained roads, breathtaking views and knee dragging sweepers on a 4 lane without another vehicle to be seen! About 50 miles from the border theres a sign that says the border crossing we want is closed due to the massive fires they're having up there. What they don't have at that sign is cell service. Nada. Remember when you could find a paper map? Me either:( Whatever, ride North and hope for detour signs. We found a route through the Wildlife refuge and up next to the Columbia river. The long way to be sure, but so perfect to get some quality miles down. Theres a noise on the Café and it's the Voltage Regulator that has broken off the temporary mount we made oh so long ago... The electrical tape we use to secure it would make MacGuyver proud. Onward! We get to the first gas stop and the very nice neck and face tattooed lady (also a theme during this trip:upset:) lets me have some zip ties from her personal stash. I can't tell you how happy I am that they are bright Neon and it's gonna kill him to be seen like that:grumpy: It's so bad that even with failing light, he stops at a Walmart to get black ones...

Lame gas up shot at Whittys (snicker): Hey! I'm too busy riding, man!
IMG_1184 by Cooter!, on Flickr

The land of Canadian Bacon!
They spelled Canadia wrong, idiots!
IMG_1191 by Cooter!, on Flickr

Since we left so late it was getting dark by the time we hit Nelson and had dinner in this cool old hotel that J. Fred Hume started in the early 1900's!:
IMG_1196 by Cooter!, on Flickr

and hit the only bar left open, where we doubled the occupancy just by walking in, and apparently it's ok to hula hoop to the awful 2-piece band?: Canucks...
IMG_1197 by Cooter!, on Flickr
 
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Trees man. Whoa...
They must import a ton of these things! There's so many!
IMG_1190 by Cooter!, on Flickr

Theres a room available at a sensible Chalet, so after all the hula hooping madness, it's g'nite and farther North in the morning.
IMG_1199 by Cooter!, on Flickr

We go up 3A. That's a good Canadian joke BTW:

"What road is this?"

3A

"Three?"

3A

"So Three then, thanks! have a nice day Eh!"

I choose this route 3A (snicker) because Ferry!
IMG_1208 by Cooter!, on Flickr
It goes across Kootenay Bay, it's beautiful, and it's even free! We slurp our waffle cone ice creams and enjoy the bay...

They got hippies up there too:
IMG_1203 by Cooter!, on Flickr

And 3A follows the HUGE Kootenay Lake back south to the border:
IMG_1213 by Cooter!, on Flickr

I couldn't stand the itching in my helmet anymore so I shaved off my face hair right here with a pathetic electric razor. A single AA battery against a months worth of face hair equals a painful process:(
IMG_1219 by Cooter!, on Flickr

YES, they did let me back in Suckers!:
IMG_1223 by Cooter!, on Flickr
 
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Our goal is Kalispell, Montana, so that we are striking distance the next day to the Going-to-the-Sun road in Glacier Nat'l Park. I NEED to do this road! I had been up here in 2010 in my RV and had bypassed it on purpose so that I would have something to come back too. But I almost didn't make it this time, again...

We drop back into 'Murica (where we know how to post realistic speed limits), cut the top corner of Idaho, and into Montana. Theres nothing up there but unspoiled beauty. Nothing but quiet places to camp, no cell service, and the eternal threat of death by deer. Topping off the tanks, I grab a look at the map before theres no more service for good and plot our path towards Kalispell. There is some confusion with Wild Turkeys (the animal not the drink, I swear!) and he ends up leading. Cool! He has downloaded the off-line Google map, So I know he's found a better way and it's getting dark. Again. (cue that Doom Music please)

He shoots past the turn off, just past those wild turkeys, and I happily follow Mr. Off-line Map Guy for 30 miles before I start to worry. I KNOW we are going north, and I KNOW Kalispell is south east of us. Haven't seen a human for 90 miles. I give him the universal shrug of WTH? and he pulls over immediately. Not good.

A short, loud, discussion generally focusing on the impossibility of someone (him) to follow someone else (me) from the FRONT very effectively means that we are very close to our maximum range, no signal, no people, and I small raw gas. The Café doesn't leak. Yay! Unless it's running. And thats when it pisses raw gas on a hot engine. We know theres nothing behind us, and the tiny dot of a city 25 miles up isn't very hopeful either.

He had noticed a sign for a campground about 8 miles back, and quick maths tell me I better be a lucky boy. I'm counting on someone being there. I'm counting on them having some gas, I'm counting on it being in a can, and I'm counting on the generosity of the world I live in to provide these things to me. For him. Oh, and If all that happens? I'm going to coast into that little dot on the map way past maximum range and hope it's got a station there.

Doug. Doug is my hero. He is the generous human that had a 2 gallon gas can full of premium fuel, happily sipping a bloody Mary in the evening after fishing with his family and dog in the most beautiful secluded camp spot I think I've ever seen. No I'm not telling you:angel: All he asks is for his can back. He can't help fast enough and won't even take money from me. Faith in humanity restored!

IMG_1226 by Cooter!, on Flickr

I get back to the Café and dump in the can. It's not enough to share so onward he goes. We slip some cash in the top so Doug will find it and I double back to return it.

Amiright!?!
IMG_1228 by Cooter!, on Flickr

'Dot town' did not have gas. But the next town did and being next to the highway, we just burned down to Kalispell in the dark. Still pissing gas. Was burned down a bad metaphor? Well, we made it:)
IMG_1229 by Cooter!, on Flickr

BUGS! Ain't just a Bunny.
IMG_1230 by Cooter!, on Flickr
 
Have I mentioned I broke a traveling by motorcycle rule? The plan was to get up early ride during the day then get to my destination every night well before dark.

The rule is: Leave your tinted shield at HOME, and wear sunglasses when you need them. I don't have a cool-guy one with the shade built in, and I'm not due for new helmets until next year, so I agonized over the shield or not ( I hate wearing glasses in my helmet). I made the wrong choice. I did get clear shades just in case, but quickly found out that makes you a giant funnel for giant flying bugs for hundreds of miles. C'est la vie. At least half of my 3400-ish miles was in the dark. Waiting for Bambi to jump out and kill me.

Tired, and we're meeting up with his friends in Missoula the next night, who are going to a Slayer concert:cool:.
So I get to sleep in just long enough for him to break an injector:
IMG_1231 by Cooter!, on Flickr

In Kalispell:upset:
But we can get one!:up: Tomorrow :down: and the hotel is totally booked :down: Every hotel is totally booked :down: It takes until 2pm for him to give up.

What to do?? I'm so close to Glacier I can smell it, but it's 90 miles through it (and probably 25mph), 90 miles back to Kalispell, THEN 130 miles to Missoula, where he'll meet me with the bike in a rental truck. and it's already 2pm.

Gear up and go you sissy!! Ok Devil on my shoulder, you win this round.
IMG_1237 by Cooter!, on Flickr

Worth it. I am SO getting into the tree importing business! These guys must buy a TON!
IMG_1238 by Cooter!, on Flickr


Every corner is breathtaking:
IMG_1243 by Cooter!, on Flickr


Getting higher!
IMG_1244 by Cooter!, on Flickr
IMG_1248 by Cooter!, on Flickr
 

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