Ride to Black Hills

[onebadhoof]

Leaving nourthern Wisconsin June 18th plan on taking Hwy. 212 across South Dakota. Just wondering about road condition or if Hwy.14 would be better,or another route.Any input would be very helpful. Thanks in advance.

[pmar6004]

Both Hwy 212 and 14 are pretty good highways and in good repair, however 14 is more scenic, IMHO.

Daydreamer

[onebadhoof]

thanks for the reply Day dreamer.

[Keystone]

14 from Rochester, MN to Mankato, MN is a heavy traffic road. Most of it is now 4 lane, but not all of it is. After Mankato it is a nice ride all the way across SD.

[DakotaTG]

One thing to remember when riding across South Dakota be it I-90, Hwy 14 or 212 is that the towns are few and far between once you get to the Missouri. Watch your fuel gauge and make sure to fill up once you start getting below a half tank. Also in this part of the country the small towns will not have premium gas and watch for the E10. Some of the stations will have E10, E30 and E85 and just plain regular.

Enjoy the ride. Our HOG group with 29 bikes signed up is leaving on Friday morning (June 15) for our "Needles Run". This is the sixth year we have done this. We ride down on Friday crossing the Missouri at Mobridge or sometimes going down to Pierre and crossing then westward to Sturgis first and then to Lead where we stay. Ride the Black Hills and where ever on Saturday and then back on Sunday.

2011 Merlot and Black TG, lift kit, deflectors, cat removed using SE header pipe, LED headlight and bling.

[onebadhoof]

I will be coming from Duluth/Superior so I'm going to be cutting across Hwy 23 in Minnesota and hooking up with Hwy 14 or 212. Haven't made up our minds yet, in any case hoping for good weather and lots of riding time. Thanks again.

[Ed Hobgood]

Going to the Rapid City area the last week of June and the 1st week of July. Sounds like some good information about the gas I use regular but the others in our group might not. Looking forward to riding the Black Hills and the area around Rapid City.

[msocko3]

One thing to remember when riding across South Dakota be it I-90, Hwy 14 or 212 is that the towns are few and far between once you get to the Missouri. Watch your fuel gauge and make sure to fill up once you start getting below a half tank. Also in this part of the country the small towns will not have premium gas and watch for the E10. Some of the stations will have E10, E30 and E85 and just plain regular.

Enjoy the ride. Our HOG group with 29 bikes signed up is leaving on Friday morning (June 15) for our "Needles Run". This is the sixth year we have done this. We ride down on Friday crossing the Missouri at Mobridge or sometimes going down to Pierre and crossing then westward to Sturgis first and then to Lead where we stay. Ride the Black Hills and where ever on Saturday and then back on Sunday.

2011 Merlot and Black TG, lift kit, deflectors, cat removed using SE header pipe, LED headlight and bling.

Great advice, a group of us learned that the hard way when we ended up running on fumes and sweating bullets our 1st time out there in 2008.

[1800 06 Champion Trike]

We've been out there many times and never ran low on gas.
We always use I-90.
You should get at least 150 miles on a tank and the towns or gas stops are less then that apart.
Gas up, potty break and a cold drink then back on the road.
Also watch the high winds!!

[msocko3]

Many years ago I found out that you couldn't make it on one tank of gas driving Hwy 34 from Ft Pierre to Sturgis in a gas slurping pickup fighting a strong headwind. Union Center now has a card reader at the station. Don't miss it. The station in Hayes is now closed and Howes' Corner is iffy.

A station with a card reader is what saved our bacon back in 08. Was bucking some pretty stiff head winds and running 80 - 85 mph, pretty much all of us were getting around 23 mpg which isn't much when you only have a 5 gallon tank. In 2010 & 11 we didn't have any problems because we learned our lesson in 08.