Tour of The Black Hills

[spyderbirds]

Finally got everything ready for our first overnight trip and headed out Friday 7-1-11 at 6AM from Wichita KS for a tour of the Black Hills of SD.
Planned itinerary:
7-1 as afar as possibly toward Chadron, NE at least North Platte, NE
7-2 on through The Badlands and see Wall Drug enroute to Deadwood KOA
7-3 Mount Rushmore and Crazy horse and many of the roads around Black Hills
7-4 Depart Deadwood KOA and visit Devils Point in Wyoming then toward home
7-5 On home to Wichita, KS


7-1 We had hopes of beating the heat by leaving early but our first stop in Salina, KS the temp was already approaching 90.
Before we made west across Kansas and crossed into Nebraska the temp was pushing 100.

The heat was oppresive to us but the RT :spyder: handled it well. Halfway north through western Nebraska we caught a break and cloud cover and cooler temps allowed us to make it all the way to our goal of Chadron NE 620 miles on our first day.

7-2 Sat AM we headed out for the Badlands after a couple of road constuction detours and about an added 100 miles we made it through the Badlands and stopped to see the sights of Wall Drug in Wall SD.
We had to wait along the I90 and watch the radar till we found an opening through the severe thunderstorms to Deadwood KOA. got in late but had just enoguh time to get the tent set up and changed to swim suits and hit the Hot tub, this old body needed it after two days and nearly 900 miles.

7-3 Sunday included some fun rides around some of the black hills twisties as well as visits to Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse.

7-4 Monday we broke camp and headed toward Devils Point via the Spearfish Canyon Road, if you ever go there this is a must do ride. The scenery is awsome and one of the best twisties in the area. (wished we had done it the day before without the trailer in tow!) On to Devils Point in Wyoming.
From Sundance Wyoming the heat was again our foe southward to near Lusk when we ran into more severe weather. The rest of the day was following and darting between storn cells till we finally stopped in Big Springs, NE.

7-5 Got a late start as I set the alarm on phone to get an early start but forgot my phone updates itself to time zones so was an hour later when we arouse. (Mountain time) The path along I80 across Nebraska and then south into Kansas was again a hot one. Temps as high as 104 when we dared to look at the weatherbug. We opted to stop at Wilson Lake late in the afternoon for a swim to cool off. If your ever passing through Kansas on I70 Wilson is just a short 8 miles north of the interstate and is by far the clearest water in Kansas due to the mostly sandstone lake floor (we are famous here for the mud holes we call lakes). After the cool water recharged us we hit the road for the last 125 miles of our journey.

Some observations:
2057 miles in 5 days, total of 3743 miles now without a single code (knock on wood)
Mileage with trailer in tow all but Sunday varied wildly depending on gas or ethanol, in Kansas and Nebraska it is nearly impossible to get anything without the 10% ethanol. had one fillup in NE that was bad gas only got 23.1 MPG but in SD where real gas was widely available nearly ever fill yeilded 30+ MPG and a high tank of 36.04 with the trailer.
I tryed the Startron Fuel additive in some fills and although it was hard to quantify since it was not the same station tank to tank I feel it is probably about a 3 MPG improvement over not treating our ethanol :cus: gas.

One final observation the ambient temperature is consistently 6 degrees above the real thing on the Bluebird and I notice that when the temp rose above 95 (real temp) our gas mileage suffered regardless of real gas or ethanol blend. Has anyone else noticed this? Or is this just the heat effecting my brain:wrong:
Today we gave the Bluebird a well earned bath then did the Jumper change to get the cargo door open function working and checked to verify the AAPTS is installed correctly along with the foam shield.

Should I request the dealer get me a new AAPTS? I read in the shop manual that if it is off by more than 3 degrees it should be replaced.
I wonder if this is having an impact on hot weather fuel mileage??? Anyone had this and seen an improvement with an accurate AAPTS???

The wife is resizing a bunch of pics to put in an album on here will post when they are uploaded.

 

[Tonga]

Your trip sounds great! We have been there years ago on our GoldWing and we towed a trailer as well. To old for that now. I need a bed for my back, ha ha. My wife refuses to camp as well. How did your RT do on oil, did you check it everyday or every other day? I did a gentle breakin like my GS but my RT does use some oil, more then my GS did.

 

[NancysToy]

Congratulations on an ambitious trip. That's a lot of mileage for five straight days.

An AAPTS that reads high, in general, will lean the fuel mixture slightly. That will not reduce mileage unless you pass the threshhold where the engine begins to "try too hard". I have experienced this, but it is accompanied by other symptoms, incuding obviously poor engine performance, knocking under load, and erratic cruise control performance. I doubt that changing your AAPTS will affect your mileage. Remember that the AAPTS lies in an area of trapped heat, and it responds very slowly. They all read high in normal operation. They would have to be located directly in the windstream, and be programmed differently, to read more accurately. The shop manual tests are done with the body off, under shop conditions. I suspect if your AAPTS was tested as prescribed, it would be within tolerances.

 

[ARtraveler]

Thank you so much for posting about your trip. The Black Hills used to be a yearly trip for me--did it twice on my Yamaha Venture when I lived back in Minnesota.

It was great reading about some of my favorite places again.

 

[murphybrown]

Thanks

Enjoyed reading of your journey...put it in my "Just do IT" travel folder..again thanks for sharing.

 

[spyderbirds]

Your trip sounds great! We have been there years ago on our GoldWing and we towed a trailer as well. To old for that now. I need a bed for my back, ha ha. My wife refuses to camp as well. How did your RT do on oil, did you check it everyday or every other day? I did a gentle breakin like my GS but my RT does use some oil, more then my GS did.

I check oil every other day and it used just a tad but not enough to be concerned or to add, no where near the add mark.

 

[spyderbirds]

Congratulations on an ambitious trip. That's a lot of mileage for five straight days.

An AAPTS that reads high, in general, will lean the fuel mixture slightly. That will not reduce mileage unless you pass the threshhold where the engine begins to "try too hard". I have experienced this, but it is accompanied by other symptoms, incuding obviously poor engine performance, knocking under load, and erratic cruise control performance. I doubt that changing your AAPTS will affect your mileage. Remember that the AAPTS lies in an area of trapped heat, and it responds very slowly. They all read high in normal operation. They would have to be located directly in the windstream, and be programmed differently, to read more accurately. The shop manual tests are done with the body off, under shop conditions. I suspect if your AAPTS was tested as prescribed, it would be within tolerances.

Scotty, The trip was a lot of fun but couldnt have kept that pace up for many more days without a break!
I was aware of the location of the AAPTS and did have the covers off and the test thermometer was located right next to the spyder AAPTS unit with the covers off, and the bike temp was constant in the garage. Used two different themometers and the spyder read 5-6 degrees higher than both of them at all times.

 

[LennyO]

Nice trip!
BTW, what is AAPTS....???
I gather some temp. sensor ??? pps:

 

[YPILOT]

:congrats:to you both. That was a lot of ryding in 5 days and with temps like that I know it was difficult to endure. Looks like you had a great time. I've never been to that part of the country but it is beautiful. What would be the ideal time of year for a trek through the Black Hills?

 

[NancysToy]

Scotty, The trip was a lot of fun but couldnt have kept that pace up for many more days without a break!
I was aware of the location of the AAPTS and did have the covers off and the test thermometer was located right next to the spyder AAPTS unit with the covers off, and the bike temp was constant in the garage. Used two different themometers and the spyder read 5-6 degrees higher than both of them at all times.

I thought you meant while (or after) riding. Under those circumstances your AAPTS may need to be replaced. Your technician will test per the Shop Manual, and decide from there. Be sure to emphasize any performance issues you are having as a result...poor performance, knocking, etc.

 

[spyderbirds]

Nice trip!
BTW, what is AAPTS....???
I gather some temp. sensor ??? pps:

LennyO, the AAPTS is ambient air pressure and temperature sensor.
It supplies the reading for ambient temperature on the main display screen as well as info on temp and pressure to the computers for fuel mixture etc.

 

[spyderbirds]

:congrats:to you both. That was a lot of ryding in 5 days and with temps like that I know it was difficult to endure. Looks like you had a great time. I've never been to that part of the country but it is beautiful. What would be the ideal time of year for a trek through the Black Hills?

YPILOT,
Personally i think anytime spring summer or fall will work. While we were there the overnight temps fell into the 50's and typical highs are low eighties in summer. This year they have had a LOT of rain in the area and everything was green and very scenic.

 

[LennyO]

I thought you meant while (or after) riding. Under those circumstances your AAPTS may need to be replaced. Your technician will test per the Shop Manual, and decide from there. Be sure to emphasize any performance issues you are having as a result...poor performance, knocking, etc.

LennyO, the AAPTS is ambient air pressure and temperature sensor.
It supplies the reading for ambient temperature on the main display screen as well as info on temp and pressure to the computers for fuel mixture etc.

Thanks for the education! :clap:

 

[spyderbirds]

Pics

We now have some pictures re-sized and posted! I put them in order when I loaded them on here, but when I went and looked at the album they were all mixed up. :yikes: (Is there a way to organize them on here?) Check out our album!

 

[spyderbirds]

Something is missing!

Something is missing! :gaah: We have been home now going on day 4. Something is missing....I think it is because we haven't been out on our Bluebird! I miss it!!! nojoke LOL! We were on it for 5 days in a row for hours a day and now these past 3 days....no ride! It's time to ride! Let's go!!! hyea: :thumbup: By the way, this was written by Vicky, the wife! LOL It's time to go again my dear :firstplace: hubby!!!!

 

[dancogan]

Sounds like a great trip! We're headed home from Nebraska now, and I know what you mean about the heat. We try to leave shortly after sunrise each day, but by 10 or 10:30 the heat is getting to us as it climbs towards the 90's.

Anyway, congrats on getting in those miles and surviving the heat. :clap: