bj66

Had a good time tonight. Wish we would've met sooner, got kind of late. Puc has evidence of the meeting. He will be posting some when he has a chance I'm guessing.....

I saw one on a Road Glide at Sturgis last year in the campground. Talked to owner for a bit. He offers to let me sit on his bike and check it out. I politely declined the sitting on his bike. The bike is his, he don't need me on it.....Some day I will have one. I liked it alot

Unless something drastic comes up, I'm heading out tomorrow morning. See ya there!

Silent.....

Disaster

OIt's just more visible in the motorcycle industry, because Harley dominates the market. Let's talk pickup trucks, Ford/Chevy/Dodge. Just as many guys who are overboard in their brand choice. Only difference is The big 3 have to fight harder for market share. Boats, around here if its not a LUND or Warrior walleye boat, its inferior. It's not a "Harley" thing. It's a "Guy" thing. Guys brag about their toys, and some guys love to brag to the point of being blindly obnoxious. Better yet, lets talk NFL football, everyone knows someone that utters the phrase "We're gonna win it all this year!" And the team wins 3 games. One of my best friends is a Vikings fan and I hear it every year. My reply is how many stadiums is it gonna take for them to win a Superbowl? My guess is 4.... I walked into a HD dealership in 2010, was just looking. Salesman came over to Road Glide I was looking at, asked what I rode. Told him RSTD, his reply was "well at least it's 2 wheels". He didn't mean it to be bad, but the tone in his voice was talking down at me. I let it rip on him and chewed his ---. I walked out and bought my 2011 at different dealer. Love my Road Glide, not because its a HD, but because its a RG. But some people just can't help themselves. By the way I don't get into the Ford/Chevy debate either, I run a Dodge....☺ I'll end this ramble on this note. If you think HD people are bad, be a farmer and listen to guys talk about John Deere! I think HD learned from JD. Those guys are insanely loyal. It costs even more to run green paint. I have neighbors where every piece of equipment Is JD right down to the weed eaters. Unbelievable that they are so inflexible that one other brand of equipment won't do the job. Oops.....picture me trying to steer this thread back to the topic at hand!

Puc, I think one of the main reasons they do it, is that they noticed several people coming in and using the showers etc. that don't stay there. Iron Horse has to haul all their water into the campsite. That in itself is a full time job. It comes from city of Sturgis and I'm sure owner pays for water. So it is a way to keep people honest. You get your money back when you leave. After awhile when you use the honor system and get taken advantage of, you go to plan B. The owner is a good guy and he's fair, I trust my farm crops to him. He is my agronomist. Some people wreck it for the others I guess.

There is an aftermarket item called Bagger Bolts being sold. Several guys purchase them because the twist style lock pins can eventually loosen and fall out. Not something entirely new, I've heard of these replacements for years. I kind of applaud them for admitting they have a problem, and if it was me, rather than replacing them with factory, I'd replace them with the bagger bolts. When you talk about saddlebags, that's the only real problem I had with my RSTD. Opened the lid and I saw hardware laying in bottom of bag. Bike was almost new because I never had any stuff in bag yet. I still had bag lid in my hand and didn't let it flop open. Good thing because the hardware that was laying in bottom held the fabric strap to the lid. If I would've let go of the lid, I'm guessing I would've had some scratched paint from the lid slamming into the side of the bag....at least the bag wouldn't have fallen all the way off.

My buddy with the class A started out with a side load 5th wheel in the rear. He traded it after one year. Single door means narrow ramp. Plus steep angle makes terrible combo. He almost tipped off the side bottoming bike out. After that 3 of us helped him. He would get front wheel inside trailer, then we would lift the door to lessen angle. Same thing coming out, just reverse the process. I wouldn't wish a side load on my worst enemy. With a rear load, doors are wider, you can always get a foot down facing center of trailer if you have to. Floors in the back few feet are usually angled to help keep you from bottoming the bike out. And you park bike over the tandem axles. Other than that one side load, I've never been around them, and I won't ever buy one.

Nice setup ya got there!

How many are coming in each group? It would be nice to give them a heads up at the Blue Line. Not expecting them to reserve us a spot or anything. Just don't want them to run out of pie . I always stop there for lunch on way out so I will give them a heads up. I leave about 6:30 a.m. and it works good. Usually at campground and set up by 2 in afternoon. If anybody wants to stop by the iron horse campground, I probly could find you something to drink. Not much of a drinker, but I'm sure I'd have a Mikes Hard Lemonade in cooler. If you stop to visit, at the gate they will require you to leave 20 bucks or something like that. When you leave they will give it back. Keeps people from staying over for free.

I just was skimming through the thread, and it looks as though there should be about 10 or 12 of us counting the 5 that are in Phoneman group. I think one of my buddies is coming over from Spearfish on his wing also. Typical farmer, wears his pliers on his belt holster wherever he goes.......going to be quite the group!!!!

I'm starting to get anxious! If things work out I may head out next Wednesday. I go through Newell on the way so I may have to have some blueberry pie on the way out. If I stop, I'll warn them that several of us will be stopping by on the 3rd for more pie!

Guy at Sturgis that pulls at night uses a Ford F-150. It has tow package etc., but he added better tires. He doesn't push it when pulling and travels at night. He says he doesn't need the 3/4 ton the way he is set up. Obviously land is pretty flat here on the plains, so he gets away with it.

Another thing for people to consider, as im sure more than you are watching this topic with interest. One of my best friends bought a huge 5th wheel triple axle toy hauler and kept it for about 3 years. Pulled it with a 3/4 ton Chevy duramax. Trailer was pretty much too big for truck. After about 3 years of that 42 footer which cost a boatload of cash, he decided to go different route. He shopped around and found a really nice, class A motorhome. He got rid of the huge 5th wheel and the 3/4 ton diesel. By the time he got rid of both of them it didn't cost him any more to go this route. Engine package in it allows him to tow enclosed trailer, matter of fact he bought a jeep for cheap out at Sturgis a year ago, and stuffed it in car trailer he was towing. I tried following him home and couldnt keep up through the rolling hills. When we put gas on, he made as good or better mileage than I did with my enclosed. As a bonus he gets to camp with his young grandkids......He will never go away from this set up. I bet he bought that thing for 45000 to 50000 which is a lot of cash, but if you have to switch pickups to pull a trailer and go new or next to new, give the class A motorhomes a look. There are lots of them that have a widow trying to sell them because they lost their spouse and they no longer can head south for winter. Biggest problem I see with class A motorhomes is where do you store them.

I have a 26 foot toyhauler bumper hitch with swaybar set up. Pulls great, left some change on the counter and pulled it home from Sturgis (5 1/2 hours) not one coin was on the floor. I pull it with a 3/4 ton Dodge with the hemi engine. I make about 8 to 9 mpg, trailer is flat front and heavy. It is an enclosed car trailer style with no slides. Sleeps 2 comfortably and if you leave bikes out overnight you can add 2 cots in back. Now here is what I would like.... 28 foot fifth wheel camper, with a smaller enclosed aluminum trailer for bike. I am not quite 50 years old which means I have kids around home and could use it camping. Hard to use hauler in that capacity. Slides are a must. Beware of ramp height on 5th wheel toy haulers. Some are steep enough where you bottom bike out before you get in. I've seen 2 bikes tip because they catch going into trailer......bad deal. To get proper height on 5th wheels they can ride higher in air. Lasty, if you are towing with 1/2 ton truck either bumper or 5th wheel, change your tires. Light truck tires don't have strong enough sidewalls. That is where the sway comes into play. Get 10 ply sidewall tires like you have on 3/4 tons and larger pickups, it will help tremendously. I camp beside a guy at Sturgis pulling a 28 foot 5th wheel with a alumalite enclosed trailer. Heavy duty tires and he travels at night when its cooler. He gets along great. Just remembered he runs sway bar kit on his enclosed to help too.

Midnight.....

I think it's about 650 miles one way........nice little drive to race dirt track!

Quick question to you northerners. I live in South Dakota and we have a sanctioned dirt car racing series called wissota (covers basically the Dakotas, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Montana, Wyoming, and some Canadian drivers).There was a guy by the name of Joel Cryderman who used to come down here and race more than once a year. When the big money races were here, so was he. Have any of you heard of him? He was a beast! Not sure if he is still racing, but I'm guessing he was still doing it 5 years ago. Sorry for the hijack, not very often you have Thunder Bay on a topic. I'm gonna have to look up and see how far it is from Thunder Bay to Aberdeen SD.

"Red Wigglers, the Cadillac of worms"------WKRP in Cincinnati. As soon as I saw this I started humming that jingle. Could'nt help myself.

Respect

I want one of those homemade "Bread" makers that makes those green slips of paper that comes in 20,50, and 100 dollar increments. AND it all is legal....... Actually just started experimenting with homemade pizzas this week. Used store bought crust for simplicity. I can tell it won't be long before I start doing homemade crusts. Now if my daughter would just like all the extra toppings! But seeing this thread reminds me that we have a bread maker. Maybe the wife will give it a whirl again if we are ever home long enough to use it. Usually it's a wintertime thing. Recipie looks good!

Buddy has a set of Metz's on his wing. Loves them. He was running E3's. He had 2 of his fronts on the .wing start cupping on him. He is done with the E3's. I remember him saying how much he liked the rear tire too. Dunno how much longer he will keep this bike, he usually trades every 4 years or so. Not sure how many miles he has on the Metz's either. I did hear him say he should make it through the Sturgis week. He usually gets about 1500 miles or so over that week. Not too bad considering he lives in SD. So I would say he's had the Metz on long enough to make a good decision on them. No cupping on his Metz front, looks pretty good

Welcome from the grand state of South Dakota! Things are gonna get lively here in a few weeks. I'm gonna have to practice up on my motorcycle wave as there will be a few more than normal bikes riding our roads!

He rides it a little, but not near enough. It sits in heated garage, next to my HD, and my other sons V-Star. I go and start them periodically throughout the winter. I dont put battery tenders on them either. It's just sad that the bike sits there. Somebody should be enjoying it. I even said to him one day, "you know, those V-Rods don't bring that much money!"........ But older boy still has his first nickle. Not sure if he doesn't like riding as much, or would rather just save his money! I think he likes mine because the money was right.