Back to Rapid City for Maintenance and Some Camping

July 22. 2023

The owners manual for the FJR indicates that there should be a valve adjustment/check at 26,000 miles.  As I have reached that milestone, in less than two years, I mulled over the options.  On some of the forums, other owners indicated that they checked at 26K and all were still in spec.  Others said they ignored it until nearly 100K and only a slight adjustment was needed. So, what to do?  I looked into the job and it was not something I was willing to tackle so the options were to simply ignore the recommendation or to take in for a check.  I decided to take it in but where?  The local dealer had a poor reputation but the ownership has changed hands and I know nothing about them now.  If I take it someplace else the obvious place would be to where I bought in Rapid City, SD.  I’ve thought this over quite a bit.

In the end, I decided to make it a two-fer and take it to Rapid City and do a couple days of camping in the Black Hills.  I checked our schedules and the only thing coming up is a dental appointment for my wife on July 19th, early in the morning.  I called Black Hills Power Sports and told them what I wanted and the next opening they had was on July 20th.  That’s perfect.  I can ride it over on the 19th and my wife will drive the Suburban with our camping gear and the dog.  I got on recreation.gov and booked two night camping at the south campground at Sheridan Lake.

On the day before our departure I did the packing, putting everything we’d need in the Suburban and the only thing I’d have on the bike would be my tank bag for my phone, wallet, water bottle, and charger.  I’d hit the stores a few days earlier and picked up a couple backpacker meals and a new 7-gallon water jug to replace the 3 gallon one that was not exactly water tight.

We headed out about 9:30 Wednesday morning, riding the slab to the Big Horn Battlefield where we got on Hwy 212 that would take us to Belle Fourche.  The Suburban led the way and I just relaxed and followed.  The weather was nice with no wind and medium temperatures.  In Broadus we stopped at the park next to the Powder River country courthouse and I made us lunch, peanut butter and jelly on a nice dark bread that I’d made the day before.  Bart the Dog got his lunch too and short walk.

In Belle Fourche we stopped for a gas and potty break.  It was starting to get warm so keeping moving was better than standing in the sun.  The map tool I was using informed me that the best route, due to congestion, was to head south on Hwy 85 to Spearfish and then take I-90 to Rapid City.  We did and that ride was no big deal.  When we got to Spearfish I rook the lead and we rode through 10 miles of road construction with the freeway down to one lane in each direction.  

We eventually got to the Yamaha dealer where I talked to the service writer and told them I wanted the valve check, a throttle body synch, and change the plugs.  No problem.  I set the navigation app for our campground and we headed out.  The lake in near Mount Rushmore, more or less, and we got there in 30-40 minutes.  We checked in, paid the extra 4 bucks for the dog, and easily found campsite which was a very short walk from the lake.  When I looked at sites online, I selected this one because it had such a big, level grassy area.

We got the site set up and Bart got to check out the lake.  His favorite active is to fetch out of water so this place suits him fine.  I got dinner started.  We wound down the day and all got in the tent for a night’s sleep.

The next morning we got water boiling for tea, coffee, and oatmeal.  Bart was ready for some action.

Today is a non-motorcycle day so instead of riding it’s about hiking.  We are a mile from the Flume Trail trailhead and decided to walk to it and then do the A Loop which it about 4-1/2 miles.  The trail follows the route of a 17-mile long flume that brought water to the gold mines that are now under the lake.  The trail is great and at one point goes through an old tunnel.

The trail on the south side of the loop, the one that follows the flume routes, eventually drops down to Spring Creek and another trailhead.  This one has a parking lot and there were a few vehicles there.  The trail now loops back the way we came but follows the creek instead of being higher on the hills.

The stream crossings, and there are a few, are a bridge made of boards bolted together, just wide enough to cross. Bart the Dog did them fine but he also just jumped in the stream and crossed.

Another crossing.

Bart wanted to chase Bambi but he was told not to.

The total hike was just under 7 miles and took us about 3-1/2 hours.  It felt really good and Bart still had the energy to do some more retrieving in the lake.

We had no cell service so decided to drive towards Rapid City and see if the bike was ready.  When service was available I had a message that the bike was ready to go. We headed for the dealership, stopping for a few groceries along the way.

The service guy said things went well and that the valves didn’t need adjusting so that saved me some money.  I paid and went out to the Suburban and got my gear on and we headed out.  As soon as I pulled on to Elgin Street I noticed that my shift indicator was blank.  I shifted to Neutral and it showed as did gears 2,3, and 4.  5th was blank but 6th was OK?  What the heck?  I did a u-turn and headed back.  They were surprised to see me and equally surprised that it had this problem as they hadn’t been near the transmission.  They said the mechanic was on a big project and I said that I could leave it and pick it up tomorrow, so away we went back to the campground.

We had a good dinner, played with the dog and decided he was pretty tired and since he’d gotten himself in the truck that he could just spend the night there.

We rose early Friday morning, about 5am, which is normal for us.  We had hot tea and coffee and I got a campfire going.  Bart got to head to the lake again while I got out my sketchbook.

Next I took down the tent and got stuff packed up.  I figured that they should have the bike done by 10am and wanted to head back for cell coverage.  Sure enough, while driving my phone dinged that I had a voicemail.  Just as I saw a place to pull over, the phone rang and it was the service guy.  He’d left a message at 6pm the night before but he knew I didn’t have service but wanted me to know they’d found the problem, fixed it, and the bike was ready to go.  I told him I was on my way.

It turns out that when they put my crash bars back on the bike a cable got pinched and that was the problem.  I thanked them, got my keys, geared up and we headed back to Billings.

The navigation app told me that due to road conditions we’d be going back to Belle Fourche via I-90 and Hwy 84.  OK, a different route is fine.  Along the way we had to stop for construction a couple of times.

Gas stop in Bell Fourche.

In Belle Fourche we stopped for lunch at the geographical center of the nation.

The rest of the ride, Hwy 212 back to Hardin, was a grind as was the last part into Billings on I-90.  It was hot, about 95 degrees and it was just a matter of getting it done.

We arrive home safely and I think my trip odometer told me I’d ridden 670 miles.  Even with the heat, the overall adventure was great and I look forward to returning to that area to ride some of the roads.