Hit the road under cloudy skies with the threat of rain. Put on the rainsuits just in case, which pretty much insured it wouldn’t rain. We got barely a drizzle. Stopped at Wise Guys Bar & Grill in Princeton, Ill. for lunch. They have really good food and very large portions. The bad part of travelling by bike is you can’t take your leftovers! After lunch the sun was breaking through and the rainsuits got packed up. Had beatiful puffy cumulus clouds and blue skies the rest of the day. Even with sunblock we are red & have raccoon eyes! Rolled along around 80 mph much of the afternoon, still got 35 mpg or better! My motorcycle state count is now up to 18. I think I’ll drift over the line into Nebraska tomorrow just to pick up an extra state!

We hit the road about 6:00 tonight, a little later than hoped for, but not bad. Stopped for a quick bite at a Toxic Smell near Jackson, then right back on the road. Hit a light drizzle west of Kzoo, nothing too heavy. Finally decided to pull off for the night at Michigan City, Ind. Not the best choice, hard to find a room and top dollar at that. Note to self: Avoid vacation towns near the lake when travelling in the summer! Filled up once, 165 miles and 4 gallons; not too shabby. Traffic was light and the winds were in our favor. A nice evening’s ride!

Finally! It’s time for another road trip. Sharon and I are heading out to South Dakota to check out the scene at Sturgis just prior to bike week. Since this is our first time out there, we chose the week prior so it wouldn’t be as crowded and we can get around easier and scope things out. Then we’ll have a good idea where we want to spend our time when we come out next year during the official bike week.
The bike has undergone a couple changes from last year…..put in gear drives for the cams, S & S .510 cams, directlink fuel mapping system, new airbox, all done by EB Cycle in Monroe. Have more HP and love the performance! Turns out the oil pressure problem last year was debris from the cam chain tensioners disintegrating and clogging up lines. We were lucky we didn’t break down from it. Also have new artwork on the fairing, pics to follow next post.
We only have nine days, so once again will be on the freeway insstead of secondaries. Maybe someday we’ll have time to do it slow and easy. Oh well…..
See you soon!