By Steve Swanson

It was 10:38 a.m. on Aug. 31, 2017, when we finally mounted our bike to leave for an 11-day, first-ever motorcycle vacation. We already were two hours and 38 minutes later than planned.

I had built in a one-hour cushion, knowing the slow traveling habits of my pillion pal, Patty Mathis. So, 9 a.m. would still have been acceptable. However, I had no additional reserve planned for our head-strong terrier-mix, Mia, who figured that the motorcycle on the driveway meant we were leaving her for good. And Mia didn’t want any of that.

Sweating profusely in our gear, we finally snagged her with a treat and got her back into the house, another hour deeper into our ride time. Then, of course, we had to drop by mom’s house for our “last goodbyes,” should we somehow get lost forever in the Montana hinterlands.

To add a little more color to this story, I realized early on that we could not make this trip on my trusty 2006 BMW K1200R, if for no other reason than I couldn’t get both Patty and her luggage on the same motorcycle.

It just so happened that a friend of mine had an ’03 Harley Davidson Electra Glide Ultra Classic he was interested in selling. After a generous offer and some signed paperwork, we had ourselves the proper steed for the journey.

Mind you, I’m not so trusting of a new-to-me 14-year-old motorcycle with 55,000 miles on the clock, as I am of my own 11-year-old bike. So, I did the smart thing and took the Harley to a local dealership for a 5,000-mile tweak and new rubber.

Future problems eliminated—or so I thought.

My game plan for this journey had been formulating in my mind for months, and I had routed and rerouted us more ways than you could possibly imagine.

We were to visit my older brother David and his family some 1,200 miles to the northwest in Livingston, Mont. The fundamental route was to take us from Kansas City, up and into South Dakota to tour the Badlands, see Mount Rushmore and ride the Black Hills. Then on to Montana to follow the Beartooth Highway, spend four or five days with family and return south through Yellowstone and the Grand Teton National Parks. We also visit Jackson Hole, Wyo., before a return across Kansas.

As the adage says, though, “If you want to see God laugh, make a plan.”

Our destination for Day 1 was Yankton, S.D. It was a last-minute diversion from Sioux Falls, S.D., primarily to have breakfast with a friend the next morning and, secondly, to avoid the I-90 super-slab as we headed to our Friday evening stop near Mount Rushmore. We rode almost exclusively along I-29 from Kansas City before turning west on State Hwy. 50 to Yankton.

All went well that first day, save for leaving the bike’s screw-in gas cap on top of the pump in Rock Port, Mo. After a quick detour to Rooster’s Harley Davidson in Sioux City, Iowa, for a new gas cap and an excellent pizza at Buffalo Alice’s, we headed to Yankton for the night, completely oblivious to the fact that the electronic system shutdown we experienced half-way up a busy hill on our way to Rooster’s—which I thought may have been due to not having a gas cap in place—was just one of the issues that would plague us for a good part of the trip.

Wardrobe Malfunction

Friday morning, Day 2, found us again on our way west, heading out of Yankton on State Hwy. 50. We connected with State Hwy. 46 to U.S. Hwy. 18 in Pickstown, S.D., then crossed the Fort Randall Dam and, eventually, connected to U.S. Hwy. 44 near Winner, S.D. — which carried us all the way to the Badlands.

Due to the 34 separate forest fires then burning in Montana, many of our scenic views along the way were tainted with smoke and haze. Nonetheless, the dramatic starkness of the Badlands was not lost on us as we cruised along State Hwy. 240 from Interior, S.D., to Wall, S.D.

Friday night was spent at a fantastic hotel in Keystone, S.D., called the Powder House Lodge, a quaint mixture of hotel and cabins with an exceptional restaurant overlooking U.S. Hwy. 16A just minutes away from the most awe-inspiring of our national treasures, Mount Rushmore.

This same night would also prove to be the last night free from anxiety, as the well-used Harley started showing its age and gave us fits almost from the start of Day 3.

The electrical system shut down twice while I was trying to navigate the parking structure at Rushmore, and a high-revving idle made it virtually impossible to cruise the downtowns of Deadwood and Lead.

Yet, once up to highway speed out of Lead, we enjoyed without incident the beautiful weather touring along the fabulous Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway, U.S. Hwy. 14A, all the way to Spearfish.

After a long, desolate ride from Belle Fourche, S.D., just north of Spearfish, to Billings, Mont., along U.S. Hwy. 212, we limped into the south side of town late Saturday evening, with our engine dying at the gas pump 8 miles from our hotel.

Once the bike was topped-off and restarted, we sped along I-90 to our destination for the day, the C’Mon Inn near downtown Billings. Again, the Harley stalled, and we coasted into the hotel parking lot.

Our initial weary thought Saturday night was to leave the bike at the Billings, Mont., dealership, Beartooth Harley Davidson.

However, my consummately positive riding partner, Patty, convinced me that we should make a run Sunday morning straight to Yellowstone Harley Davidson in Belgrade, Mont., just 40 minutes from my brother’s home in Livingston.

Either way, this meant that we would miss the breathtaking views of Beartooth by motorcycle.

The morning of Day 4 quickly became noon, and we anxiously set off on our wounded cycle to cover the final 148 miles in, amazingly, just over two hours at just under 80 mph, once again stalling out as we turned the final corner to coast in under Yellowstone Harley Davidson’s event tent at 2:15 p.m.

We Arrived!

God had to be watching over us, as all the trials and tribulations with our transportation eventually did bring us to our final destination, Deep Creek Guest Cabin, at the back of my brother’s Livingston, Mont., property on time and in one piece (well, six pieces if you include Patty and our luggage).

While waiting out the Labor Day holiday and the dealership’s inspection and final repair of our Harley, we enjoyed a fantastic four-plus days of fun and relaxation with family.

Between a Day 5 backyard barbecue and a Day 7 sailing trip on Canyon Ferry Lake near Helena, Mont., we sandwiched in a car trip over the Beartooth Highway.

Day 8 was spent simply kicking around Livingston, visiting my brother’s art studio and shopping.

It also brought the return of our bike from Yellowstone Harley Davidson, after an all-too-easy credit card charge of $536 to replace a broken throttle body. No explanation as to how such a break could occur. But, nonetheless, our erratic fueling problem was solved.

Unfortunately, the mechanics also were unable to explain why the electrical system would arbitrarily shut down. So, we were left with a bit of anxiety heading into our return trip home.

Friday, Day 9, was departure day and one day behind schedule, which required us to reroute via I-90 through Wyoming and, again, through South Dakota, Iowa and northwest Missouri.

It was also the day for the return of our electrical difficulties, shutting down our bike both while slowly cruising through Sheridan, Wyo., and at speed on the interstate several times just before we reached our destination for the day, Rapid City, S.D.

That night, in our luxuriously appointed Econo Lodge room, I finally did a little Google research on the issue at hand and found the most likely culprit to be the main 50-amp circuit breaker.

Overloaded by weight, mountains, auxiliary lighting and the constant use of cruise control, the bike was simply over-taxed and blowing the breaker. Fortunately, this breaker resets automatically, which allowed us to get back up and running each time within minutes.

Once I had a handle on the issue, I simply shut off our cruise control for the rest of the trip, eliminating the immediate problem. Further research and some time spent “chasing ghosts” behind the fairing, though, were certainly in order to eliminate the problem completely.

After a few shopping stops along the way on Day 10—most notably at Wall Drug—and some heavy rain between Sioux Falls, S.D., and our Saturday night destination, Sioux City, Iowa, we made it home to Kansas City on Sept. 10 — Day 11 — as planned and without any more drama.

Will this be the beginning of a lifetime of motorcycle touring for Patty and me? Or the end of the road for our two-up travel? Only time will tell.

I can say with certainty, though, this 2,558 mile round trip was more memorable than expected and brought the two of us much closer together thanks to our time in the saddle.

Steve Swanson is an AMA member from Independence, Mo.