High Country HOG Chapter - 3rd ANAL pool tournament

High Country HOG

Ladies of Harley Officer
2000-2002

My first big trip on my bike

By Donna Tucker

Jan, 2002

1992 I had just bought my Springer, it had several hundred miles on it. My brother, hubby & I started out on the best vacation I had ever had. We started out from Michigan, the weather was great, we decided to pass Chicago so we went north to Ludington. We hopped on the ferry over to Manitowoc, Wisconsin. Spent our first night in Granton visiting family, we left very early the next morning heading west. We were heading towards Sturgis.

We had never seen so many bikes before on the road and all going the same direction. Every time we stopped at a gas station or restaurant it was full of friendly bikers. It was wonderful!! This was our first time to Sturgis and we had no idea what we were getting into. We spent our first night in Rapid City, South Dakota. The parking lots everywhere were full of beautiful bikes. We were amazed.

The next day we packed up and headed towards Sturgis, it was Tom & my first time to Sturgis, my brother had been there before. First thing he took us straight down Main Street. It was awesome!! I had no idea that there was a place like that. We stayed at the best campground in Sturgis, Glencoe. We met some "ol friends there, and made new ones. We have been back there six times now & always stay at the same place, and meet the same friends every year, and make a few new friends too, it’s funny the bond bikers make in the week of Sturgis, some are lifetime friendships from all over the world. We have made friends from Denmark & Germany. And they go back every few years to Sturgis. We have friends all over the U.S.

We spent several days in Sturgis, enjoyed the sights & all the great junk food. Then we were on the road again, heading west. We went to Devil’s Tower & west some more. We were in the Buckhorn Mountains I was the last one in our little pack. All of a sudden my bike lost power and came to a stop. I looked up and saw my hubby & brother fade off into the sunset. They never realized I wasn’t behind them. Finally they came back for me, we had to push my bike almost a mile to a gas station. We called Beartooth HD in Billings, Montana it was the nearest Harley dealer. It was a Friday evening; they said bring it in, so we called a tow truck. It was the longest 141 miles of the trip, I had to ride in the truck with a very unhappy ‘ol man. Anyway by the time we got to Beartooth HD they were closed, so we chained my bike to a gas meter and went to the nearest motel. The next morning we went to the dealer my back wheel had frozen up so they put my bike on a dolly and wheeled it in the shop. With it being Sturgis week they were very busy but they put my bike on top priority because it was still under warranty. My counter sprocket had fallen off inside my transmission and messed up a few gears. Beartooth worked on my bike all day & part of the evening I got my bike back that night. If you ever break down in Montana go to Beartooth, they are a bunch of great guys!!

We were back on the road early the next morning. After Billings we went through Red Lodge, Montana, that was a beautiful place.

Yellowstone was breath taking, it was my first time and of course it looked better on a Harley!! We saw so many wild animals and took a lot of pictures. Once by ‘Ol Faithful we were in a traffic jam, there were several bikes that collected together. A big buffalo noticed a very bright yellow Sportster, he darted our way, and the lady on the Sportster started her bike and took off through the parked cars. The buffalo turned around and went back to finish his lunch. We even saw a few moose while we were in Yellowstone. This was one of the best vacations I have ever had. Our trip home was a good one, no problems. In two weeks we did 4,000 miles and didn’t hit rain once.

And that’s why we are in Colorado now. The hubby loved the mountains so much we went back to Michigan and sold everything, and went west again. It has been nine years now and we are still riding in the mountains.

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