hawkiii
07-06-2010, 07:36 PM
Well, here I go again. We saw some spectacular sites on our trip. I'm guessing we would have missed many of these sites if it weren't for the Spyder and the Chicago event. Before we got our Spyder there was no reason for us to take a drive to Chicago. Now, with all the friends we have made through the Spyder it just seems natural to show up at the events. The only reason we missed the first one was because we ordered her April 2, 2008 and she didn't she didn't come home til Octomber 13, 2008.
Anyhow... because of this event we saw Mount Rushmore.
http://i308.photobucket.com/albums/kk355/tp1495hawk/Chicago%20Owners%20Event%202010/DSC07564.jpg?t=1278461022
We tried to make it through Custer State Park but they were working on the road. The last time we sat in line in 100 degree heat at a State Park the Spyder went into Limp Mode. So did I for that matter, it was 114 at Giant Sequoia National Park on the way home from Hollywood last year...
So we turned around after about 5 minutes and went back over Iron Mountain Road again. Ran into a group of Buffalo on the side of the road.
http://i308.photobucket.com/albums/kk355/tp1495hawk/Chicago%20Owners%20Event%202010/DSC07691.jpg?t=1278460838
And you know that happens all the time at home. :D
We made it over to the Crazy Horse Monument. I was very impressed.
http://i308.photobucket.com/albums/kk355/tp1495hawk/Chicago%20Owners%20Event%202010/DSC07713.jpg?t=1278461304
Now do you guys remember that Ethan guy they stick in their gas back there? I talked about him earlier talking about the exhaust system oopsie we had. Well, he came to visit us that morning at our morning gas stop on our way out to do all this cool stuff. The reason we couldn't sit in the heat and wait for road work was good ole Ethan had made his way to our spark plugs and we were running real rough. So the Spyder got us through all the cool stuff we did that day but she was not well.
We had planned to run to Sturgis to check it out but decided it would be wise to see if we could find a dealer to have the Spyder looked at. We were also getting a case of miss-the-grandbabies syndrome so we needed to get the Spyder running well again. Our motel had internet service so I logged into SpyderLovers and found the dealer in Rapid City, SD. I talked to their Service guy, Travis. He couldn't get us in that evening but if we were there at 9:00am when they opened he would have somebody look at it.
Rice Honda of Rapid City, it just didn't sound comforting. Nothing against Honda or anybody else, just my perception. This guy walks up like it's the first Spyder he has seen. Now I'm REAL confident, let me look at it for a minute the guy says. Oh geez, this ain't gonna be pretty. Well, turns out he is their Spyder guy and according to a seasoned biker that I talked with, he is their everything guy. This biker told me if Al is working on it it will be good when he is done. Well, he changed out the plugs and asked me to ride down the street and see if it seemed ok. We were back in business. After he got it back together he asked if I had signed the work order, yea I told him, ok have a good trip then and waved us off.
We had trouble twice on the road and never got charged a cent to get back on the road. :clap: Thanks for listening, we had a great trip, we can't wait for next year. I'll give you guys a break and shut up now. :thumbup:
Anyhow... because of this event we saw Mount Rushmore.
http://i308.photobucket.com/albums/kk355/tp1495hawk/Chicago%20Owners%20Event%202010/DSC07564.jpg?t=1278461022
We tried to make it through Custer State Park but they were working on the road. The last time we sat in line in 100 degree heat at a State Park the Spyder went into Limp Mode. So did I for that matter, it was 114 at Giant Sequoia National Park on the way home from Hollywood last year...
So we turned around after about 5 minutes and went back over Iron Mountain Road again. Ran into a group of Buffalo on the side of the road.
http://i308.photobucket.com/albums/kk355/tp1495hawk/Chicago%20Owners%20Event%202010/DSC07691.jpg?t=1278460838
And you know that happens all the time at home. :D
We made it over to the Crazy Horse Monument. I was very impressed.
http://i308.photobucket.com/albums/kk355/tp1495hawk/Chicago%20Owners%20Event%202010/DSC07713.jpg?t=1278461304
Now do you guys remember that Ethan guy they stick in their gas back there? I talked about him earlier talking about the exhaust system oopsie we had. Well, he came to visit us that morning at our morning gas stop on our way out to do all this cool stuff. The reason we couldn't sit in the heat and wait for road work was good ole Ethan had made his way to our spark plugs and we were running real rough. So the Spyder got us through all the cool stuff we did that day but she was not well.
We had planned to run to Sturgis to check it out but decided it would be wise to see if we could find a dealer to have the Spyder looked at. We were also getting a case of miss-the-grandbabies syndrome so we needed to get the Spyder running well again. Our motel had internet service so I logged into SpyderLovers and found the dealer in Rapid City, SD. I talked to their Service guy, Travis. He couldn't get us in that evening but if we were there at 9:00am when they opened he would have somebody look at it.
Rice Honda of Rapid City, it just didn't sound comforting. Nothing against Honda or anybody else, just my perception. This guy walks up like it's the first Spyder he has seen. Now I'm REAL confident, let me look at it for a minute the guy says. Oh geez, this ain't gonna be pretty. Well, turns out he is their Spyder guy and according to a seasoned biker that I talked with, he is their everything guy. This biker told me if Al is working on it it will be good when he is done. Well, he changed out the plugs and asked me to ride down the street and see if it seemed ok. We were back in business. After he got it back together he asked if I had signed the work order, yea I told him, ok have a good trip then and waved us off.
We had trouble twice on the road and never got charged a cent to get back on the road. :clap: Thanks for listening, we had a great trip, we can't wait for next year. I'll give you guys a break and shut up now. :thumbup: