My Black Hills adventure! (Long, lots of pics, some graphic)

This past weekend ended up being a long awaited 4 day weekend for myself. For those who don't know I'm active duty Air Force stationed in Minot, ND. The AF likes to tack on an extra day to long weekends occasionally, and this was one of those weekends. One of the guys I work and hang out with rides a GSXR 750, and we've gone riding a few times around town. Minot is essentially nothing but straight roads connecting to more straight roads. It sucks. (Side note: I bought the bike because I know I'm leaving this place in October for greener (well, sandier) pastures)

Anyways, we decided we wanted to go ride the Black Hills and see Mt. Rushmore. And so we did. We left Thursday evening, drove through the night, arrived in Hill City, SD at about 5:30am, got a room and went to sleep. Got up at about 11am, ate something, gassed the bikes and took off riding.

Friday was pretty crummy weather. We pretty much chased sunshine all afternoon. We did manage to get to Rushmore before the crap rolled in on us.









From there we went exploring some more. As it turns out, my favorite roads were 16A and 87/89. They're both pretty tight and technical which suits me and the WR-X nicely.





SOOOO many turns. I've never been to The Dragon, but I would venture a guess that these are right up there as far as twisty roads go! This is a small sample. I couldn't bring myself to stop for pictures for most of it.









This one is from near the top of the mountain that 16A climbs. Nice views up there too.





We pressed on after getting our shots, but the weather was closing fast. It began to rain, and at one point it got so bad we had to take refuge under a bridge with another rider.



When it finally eased up we continued on. From that point until we got back to the hotel we were at least damp constantly. We basicly looked at the sky, and then the map, and chose the road that went away from the clouds. This only works for so long before you have to go back from where you came. Oh well.

More random pics from day 1 (Friday):







Friday night we found the best looking bar in town (Hill City) and made it our watering hole.



We got friendly with the bartender there, who rides an SV650, and he offered to show us some roads in the morning. Great! He took us down a couple great roads. One crossed RR tracks 13 times, but between each crossing were lots of fun turns. We rode through Deadwood, Lead, Spearfish, Sturgis, and Rapid City.

They don't call it Deadwood for no reason...





Random shots from Saturday:





Saturday riding ended with a quick ride back into town in the pouring rain, but we made it to our hotel just in time to avoid the hail.

Sunday morning we were up bright and early. The weather was perfect. Not a cloud in the sky. We got out ahead of most of the traffic, blasted up to Spearfish, and nailed Spearfish Canyon. That road is fun. Lots of sweepers where you can get leaned over and hang out there for a 'lil while. We got breakfast after that, and decided we'd cruise out to Devil's Tower in Wyoming.







That loop was brutal for me. I stayed in a full tuck 95% of the time because it was pretty much all highway riding. When we finally stopped for gas I almost fell over. My inner thigh muscles had cramped all to hell. From Devil's Tower we ended up riding back through Deadwood and Sturgis, which is the starting point for Vanocker Canyon Road. We had ridden it Saturday headed northbound (which was sick), but we took it southbound this day (for the record northbound was more fun; downhill mostly versus uphill going south). Eventually we made it back to Rt 16 heading south out of Rapid City.

On Saturday I had noticed some of the medians are paved. I hadn't messed with them since we were with the bartender then.

Now let me explain. About every 30 yards or so theres these stormdrains built into the median. They're angled the opposite direction of the hill to capture the water. Well the downside of these drains are ramp-like; nice and smooth and decent for getting a little wheelie or air time.

Just below the car in this picture you can see what I'm talking about:



Sunday, while cruising south on the highway 16, at about 60mph, I got bored, and being the mild hooligan that I am I began hopping these drains. What fun it was! Got a small shake in the bars once or twice, but thought nothing of it.

Well... I jumped one too many drains...

When I came down off the last one the bars went into an instant tank slapper. I remember thinking to myself "Oh shit..." From that point to sitting up on the paved median I don't remember what happened. Judging by my buddy who was riding alongside (in the normal lanes), and the gear I was wearing I went over the bars, brought my hands up to my chest, palms in, and face-planted the pavement. My chest hurts where my arms would have been, and the armor on the back of my gloves is worn, BUT I didn't break my wrists, which is great.
I obviously tumbled for a ways, and thats where I took all the damage. Knees, tops of wrists (joint between gloves and jacket; forgot my full gauntlet gloves at home DAMNIT), and helmet, boots, jacket, etc.

Gear pics, followed by gore pics. You were warned.

Denim doesn't cut it folks...












Thank you steel-toes!



Wounds:





So there I am on the pavement, apparently knocked out, when I come to. My buddy has already stopped and ran over to me, as did a Harley rider and his wife that were behind us. I hopped right up thinking, "Sweet! I'm fine!". Well I quickly realized I wasn't 100%. Vision was at 40% at best. It was pretty dark considering how sunny it was. I thought better of it and promptly sat back down. Before I knew it there was a fire/emt guy there who asked me the basic questions. I responded fine, and aside from the scrapes I was almost fine. He sat me in his suv for a few, took my pulse, and waited for the police to arrive.
For the sake of keeping this story (slightly) shorter, I ended up with a $120 careless driving ticket (I got off easy I think).
The bike was actually rideable, so once the cop left (I'd guess about 40 mins after arriving) my buddy and I rode back to the hotel.

After getting a shower I got to cleaning the wounds real good. The hotel owner was an older single lady who was beyond kind. I started getting light headed while fixing the knees so I laid down on the floor. She took over from there and before I knew it I was all bandaged up and had pain killers waiting for me on the kitchen table. I had to stay up late Sunday night for fear of a concussion. Monday morning the owner lady had made me a med kit of supplies for another dressing, more pain meds, and muffins and cinnamon rolls. She is the best, and I will be sending her a thank you card.

We hit the rode a short time later, and 7 hours later I was back in Minot, bruised and battered. It's my own fault... Live and learn, right?

Steering stabilizer. Yep, that's what I learned.

I bet by now you're wondering how the bike fared. This is a bike forum afterall. You be the judge.





Half chopper style!



Hey! That's bending the wong way!







Axle had some pavement buildup, but I think it'll be just fine.



And on an unrelated note, my 47t Kush sprocket arrived today!




Well that's my story and those are my pictures. This has taken a solid two hours to put together, and I'm hungry so I'll submit and go make some dinner while hobbling around like an old man.

Damn dude....from awesome to ouch.

Sorry about your situation man.

Lots to repair and heal.

Sorry to see you got hurt.
Heal-up, get the bike repaired, and ride again with your newly-found experience.

I found out yeeeeeeeeeears ago that blue jeans are every-day clothes, not riding gear. :)

motokid wrote:

Damn dude....from awesome to ouch.

Sorry about your situation man.

Lots to repair and heal.

No worries. I'll heal. I'm looking forward to fixing up the bike and getting some new riding gear!

YZEtc wrote:

I found out yeeeeeeeeeears ago that blue jeans are every-day clothes, not riding gear. :)

Yep, I just learned that the hard way. I learned it for my buddy too, who now swears he's getting some real riding pants.

Great pics, looks like it was a fun and fine ride except for the little pavement slide. Could have been a LOT worse, at least you walked away relatively unharmed. And it was still probably worth all the great riding, at least for one trip.

Except for the bars and pegs, the bike looks great. Battle damage adds character!

Oh man...seeing that road rash brought back memories... I'm glad you're still with us; that could have ended up a shitload worse!

Hope you and your bike make a full recovery

Recovery is going sloooowww... I've been rinsing the wounds with hydrogen peroxide every day and bandaging them up with antibiotic ointment between airing out breaks. It's still very painful. Crippling is more like it. I hobble around like a 90 year old man. Getting in and out of my trucks sucks. The only upside is I have a desk job, and once I'm behind it I'm able to stay put. As long as I don't have to move I'm fine. It's that whole walking thing that gets the pain nerves firing.

OMG that looks baaaaaaaad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hope you make a full recovery & so does your WR
One thing I MUST add:
Jeans: this confirms my fears about not wearing any protective gear when riding. I have a pair of Draggin jeans with kevlar & knee armour. These are the MINIMUM I believe one should ride in. For regular commuting, I use Cordura textile trousers with armour in knees & hips. ALWAYS wear a jacket with shoulder, elbow & back armour + gloves with knuckle protection. Likewise, I have a pair of Streetfighter boots: very similar to army boots in that they protect the ankles/shins. You were lucky man not to have needed plastic surgery
I rode to work the other day when it was hot, with just lightweight cotton work trousers - much weaker even than denim. After seeing your pictures, I will NEVER ride again without protection!!!

mash100 wrote:

These are the MINIMUM I believe one should ride in. For regular commuting, I use Cordura textile trousers with armour in knees & hips. ALWAYS wear a jacket with shoulder, elbow & back armour + gloves with knuckle protection. Likewise, I have a pair of Streetfighter boots: very similar to army boots in that they protect the ankles/shins. You were lucky man not to have needed plastic surgery
I rode to work the other day when it was hot, with just lightweight cotton work trousers - much weaker even than denim. After seeing your pictures, I will NEVER ride again without protection!!!

Keep in mind a few things here.

While not to add insult to injury, pbnut was pretty much doing quite a few things "wrong" which highly increased the risk factor of his riding.

If you're going to ride an area not designed to be ridden in, and then use that area to jump things and/or "practice" wheelies, all the while traveling at a fairly elevated speed then YES - gear yourself up to the maximum level possible.

One could easily say his get-off was operator error and not just a random accident that should make us all run out and buy $1000 in protective gear for every time we throw a leg over the seat.


When I ride with little more protection than a helmet and gloves I tend to have a different "attitude" with the situations I put myself in than when I ride with full leathers and all.

Some accidents are unavoidable, while others ...........

Hey motokid: agree with much of what you say, but you can pick up decent armoured kit for WAY less than a grand. My point is that I'm too old to contemplate being skinned, even in a minor 'off' at 10mph, & it only takes an extra 3 minutes to change out of your regular jeans & put on some protection......

mash100 wrote:

Hey motokid: agree with much of what you say, but you can pick up decent armoured kit for WAY less than a grand. My point is that I'm too old to contemplate being skinned, even in a minor 'off' at 10mph, & it only takes an extra 3 minutes to change out of your regular jeans & put on some protection......

In some cases, right over top in 10 seconds. Although closer to a grand, I'll likely get another
roadcrafter (last one was nearly worn out when a crash finished it):

http://www.aerostich.com/roadcrafter-one-piece-suit.html

And for those who live in hot climates, there are similar (with excellent crash protection) over-clothes
one piece suits that are fully vented. They best of those is quite expensive though (friend's is $1,200,
but I forget the make.)

I've had 2 street crashes, in the 40-50 mph range. I had full gear both times (helmet in first crash had
roadrash on 3 sides including front), and no roadrash. There were other injuries, which were painful
enough without adding roadrash too.

Thanks for the excellent road trip report pbnut, and the same for the crash.
Heal well!

motokid wrote:

Keep in mind a few things here.

While not to add insult to injury, pbnut was pretty much doing quite a few things "wrong" which highly increased the risk factor of his riding.

If you're going to ride an area not designed to be ridden in, and then use that area to jump things and/or "practice" wheelies, all the while traveling at a fairly elevated speed then YES - gear yourself up to the maximum level possible.

One could easily say his get-off was operator error and not just a random accident that should make us all run out and buy $1000 in protective gear for every time we throw a leg over the seat.


When I ride with little more protection than a helmet and gloves I tend to have a different "attitude" with the situations I put myself in than when I ride with full leathers and all.

Some accidents are unavoidable, while others ...........

No offense taken motokid. I won't pretent to be a victim here. I know damn well it was my own fault, and I've got nobody to blame but myself.

As for the gear point; I wore all the gear I had. As it turns out this wasn't enough to walk away unscathed. I still think I fared pretty well though. In the future I'll be getting some additional gear to protect from the waist down.

There's something to be said for ATGATT (all the gear, all the time). You might be out riding about with less gear, and be concious of that, and keep yourself in check because of that, but you're not on the roadways alone. There's inattentive cagers regardless of what you wear.
I'm not trying to call anyone out. I'm just trying to make a point.

[quote="pbnut"]

motokid wrote:

Keep in mind a few things here.

While not to add insult to injury, pbnut was pretty much doing quite a few things "wrong" which highly increased the risk factor of his riding. . .

One could easily say his get-off was operator error and not just a random accident that should make us all run out and buy $1000 in protective gear for every time we throw a leg over the seat.


When I ride with little more protection than a helmet and gloves I tend to have a different "attitude" with the situations I put myself in than when I ride with full leathers and all.

Some accidents are unavoidable, while others ...........

-----------------------

. . .
As for the gear point; I wore all the gear I had. As it turns out this wasn't enough to walk away unscathed. I still think I fared pretty well though. In the future I'll be getting some additional gear to protect from the waist down.

There's something to be said for ATGATT (all the gear, all the time). You might be out riding about with less gear, and be concious of that, and keep yourself in check because of that, but you're not on the roadways alone. There's inattentive cagers regardless of what you wear. . .

When the weather is warm-to-hot, it's hard to force yourself to take the time and accept the immediate discomfort of gearing up. The majority of injury-causing crashes are still within a few miles of home and below 35mph, so imagining that you can reliably know when you need gear before a ride is a delusion. The first death I ever saw, 30-some years ago, was a kid riding a 100cc (or something equally small) bike in a 3,000 person town on his way to a Dairy Queen. Two blocks from home, he slammed into a car at no more than 10mph (and probably more like 5mph) rolled over the roof of the car and cracked his head open on the curb. Dead before the ambulance arrived. Even a bicycle helmet might have saved him.

Damn... Glad to hear you're ok. Definitely could have been a little smarter with the situation you put yourself in. But I'm glad that nothing worse happened.

As for the "gearing up" topic above, it might not be the smartest thing to do, but I agree w/ motokid. I don't always throw every piece of gear on I have before jumping on my bike. I go off of distance, where I'll be riding (via freeway, twisties, and city roads) and traffic conditions. When I run to the store for something I don't mind going in a pair of shorts and t-shirt or shorts and jacket. But going to work on the freeway (25 miles one way) Full gear no doubt! But I don't fool around when I'm not padded up. There's a time and a place for everything.

Sometimes it's unavoidable though.

I am in no way advocating this:


While at the same time having to dress like this:



every time I want to go for a ride would take the fun out of motorcycling.

There's a balance for everything. riding a motorcycle is risky and potentially deadly every time you leave your driveway.

We all know that.

May you all be safe and happy in your riding whatever you decide to wear.

caseyc wrote:

When I run to the store for something I don't mind going in a pair of shorts and t-shirt or shorts and jacket. But going to work on the freeway (25 miles one way) Full gear no doubt! But I don't fool around when I'm not padded up. There's a time and a place for everything.

Sometimes it's unavoidable though.

even blue jeans have got to be better than shorts
Sorry dude, but there is ABSOLUTELY NO WAY I would get within a foot of ANY bike dressed like that!!! I just hope you either have the 'luck of the Irish' or that there is a God up there looking over you, & don't come off, even stood still at the lights......

Meh....I've run quick errands in shorts, sleeveless t-shirt, sneakers, and a helmet before.

Makes me feel kinda naughty when I do it...

i feel really really weird when i ride with out gear, its like raw doggin a hooker, it kinnda feels good but all im thinking in the back of my head is "oh fuck"

spacecadet wrote:

its like raw doggin a hooker, it kinnda feels good but all im thinking in the back of my head is "oh fuck"

Aj aj aj aj But your most importan part( Head) seems to be healthy

By the way ! nice coulor on your bike.

Raw doggin a hooker.........

It sounds like a great adventure! Thankfuly you only got small wounds that will heel and the crash makes the story more exciting!!!

First... who the hell told you to put hydrogen peroxide on the road rash? Fire them immediately. It is a marvellous oxidizer, and those bubbles you see is the peroxide eating (i.e. killing) your cells. All of them, not just the dead ones. Which keeps the wound open longer as it inhibits healing. We used to use the full strength stuff at the pulp mill to clean elk and bighorn sheep skulls of any tissue residue prior to taking them to the taxidermist for mounting. Leave it in too long and the skull wouldn't be there anymore either...

Let it scab over so your skin (your body's largest organ, by the way) can do it's thing. A little polysporin, but clean clothes next to skin every day is the way to go. A light gauze dressing over if contact with clothes irritates the injury; no stick Telfa type.

As to clothing... welcome to the been there/done that crowd. Now you know better, and at a cheap price.

I do, very rarely, occasionally ride in jeans. Usually for a short trip to a store a few miles away. I'm probably safer than I am normally, because I'm so conscious I'm a candidate for road rash that I ride like there's a box of loose blasting caps in my back pockets.

In my opinion, the trick to making protective gear easy is to pick gear with built in armour that is comfortable just about in any reasonable riding conditions and goes on and off in a hurry. I can be in my Fieldsheer Mercury riding pants in about one minute - step into them with boots on, do the zippers down to the ankles, done. And my Tourmaster Transitions jacket is warm and waterproof down to freezing, and yet has so many vent zippers that when you open them up you are essentially enclosed in a puffed up bubble of flow through ventilation. Comfortable armoured gear like that greatly reduces the temptation to not gear up when going "just for a short ride".

It is also a fact that built in armour as not as good as next-to-skin armour. How much less, I don't know. But the stuff built into clothing can be pretty good on it's own - the worst thing to check for before buying is armour that is not kept where it should be in a crash either through good design or additional snaps, straps and buckles. I have surface-tested my gear a few times, and the armour didn't shift when I went down, so it does work.

The ideal way to go is to have a good set of throw-on riding gear, and a set of "we're serious today" clothing and body armour for days dedicated to riding.

But jeans... help plastic surgeons fill in the empty spots in their schedules.

HOLY CRAP ! ! !1!


Man, that is scary stuff!!! I'm glad it wasn't worse, that's all I can say.

That's exactly what scares me about this bike. The fact that it can wobble with really no resistance and who is to say which way it goes, either straightens out, or into a full tank slapper. I'm thinking steering damper too!


Thanks for taking the time to post all the great pics! I'm saving those helmet pics just for whenever the debate comes up where someone doesn't see the need to wear one. Your face would have been a mess without it!

Take care!!!

Now where was this older single lady that served cinnamon rolls and pain meds ?

Was she wearing a dress that looked like it hadn't been worn in awhile ? I think I'll stop there just to spend the night.

Oh ! ...and * squirt squirt ! on the road pictures ! !