Get your Rally shopping done early...

I'll show a photo of Joan's tie-dye Rally shirt later.

Joan has been interested in another motorcycle or scooter, something with a bit more power.  I think the way to go is the "60% Rule"... also to be explained later.

She kinda narrowed it down to a Yamaha Xmax or a BMW C400x, both scooters.  I have "test sat" the Xmax... it was not a comfortable fit for me.  We drove around a few days ago, hitting up some motorcycle shops; mostly to find a new helmet for me, but we also looked to see if there were any interesting scooters.  Nope.  We let our friend Pat from Sturgis Motorsports know what we are interested in - they are a dealer for both Yamaha and BMW.  He told us that Yamaha would be doing demo rides out of their location, and BMW would be offering them at the Buffalo Chip.  He said he'd see if he could find out what bikes they'd be bringing.

Yesterday, we got a call from Pat: he has a demo BMW C400x in their shop (it needs a new latch for one of the storage compartments, and the BMW demo folks left that with them - realistically, I don't think there will be a lot of scooter demo interest at the Sturgis Rally).  If we want, we can come up and check it out, and not have to go to the Buffalo Chip and deal with the crowds.  We're in!  Yamaha did not bring any scooters in their demo fleet.

So, we left the motorhome bright and early this morning, heading to Sturgis.  Early enough that we got there before the dealership opened.  I took a moment to look at the Yamaha fleet that was getting set up...

Pat came out a few minutes before they opened and said he'd bring the BMW around for us to check out...

Joan geared up and took it for a test ride.  I visited with Pat while she was gone, longer than I expected.  When she got back, she had a big smile on her face and said, "This thing is great - you have to try it!"

I geared up and headed out.  It is a strong-pulling scoot and feels solid, like you'd expect from BMW.  Excellent braking (ABS and traction control), nice acceleration; it feels more like a sport bike version of a scooter.  I flicked it around a bit and ran up to speed on the Interstate - this is a fun bike!  It has the most comfortable seat I've ever sat on on a bike this size.

When I brought it back, Pat asked, "One or two?"  He knew Joan was already sold... I think I'll be keeping my Vespa for a while, but we'll see how things go.  Joan picked out a color and the options she wants and Pat put in the order... we should see it in a couple weeks.  They are taking the PCX in trade - I am happy I won't have to deal with trying to sell it.

Now, about that "60% Rule"... my Vespa has about 60% more horsepower than Joan's PCX.  This BMW has about 60% more horsepower than my Vespa.  It's a good thing we won't be racing, because all I would see is tail-lights.  ;-)  I have made it a point to not leave Joan in the dust for the last year; hopefully she will do the same for me.

She is excited and I am happy for her.  We have both truly enjoyed the Honda PCXes, but it is time for something a bit bigger and more horsepower.  The next scooter chapter.  :-)  In case you have an inquiring mind: she picked blue... I told her it matches her eyes.

Today is the first official day of the Rally.  We were surprised by how light the traffic was on our way to Sturgis.  Heading back around 10:30, it was still light...

Not a lot of motorcycles in the photo above.

Back home, we took Rufus out for some leash time, then decided to get some scooting time in...

We stopped in Keystone for lunch...

This is evidence that the Rally is in full swing.  We considered getting a table outside, but the roar was loud; we opted for an inside table at the restaurant.

We talked about riding the highway past Mt Rushmore or south towards Custer State Park, but the sky was looking pretty gray that direction; we opted for some twisties going north for the way back home...

Rufus was ready for more leash time when we got back...

Looks like the clouds followed us north...

The weather with those clouds passed south of us.  We changed clothes and settled in on the patio for a while.

Joan's tie-dye Rally shirt; she likes the sugar skull.  The pink will look good against her new blue and black scoot.

There were a couple empty RV sites around us - those filled up this afternoon.  It is time.

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An update:  When we were ready to leave Keystone, our initial plan was to head south, maybe ride through Custer State Park.  We changed our minds when we saw that ugly sky to the south.  When we got home, we could hear the rumble of thunder, but no bad weather materialized here at Hart Ranch.  The three of us had a pleasant time out on the patio.

When we came inside around 7:30 this evening, we were shocked to see that there is flooding in the town of Custer and parts of Custer State Park.  They are evacuating parts of Custer and Custer County's Emergency Manager made an announcement: "Do NOT come to town - the city is shut down due to fast rising waters."

The area received 5 to 7 inches of rain in a short time, causing French Creek (in Custer State Park) to overflow its banks and cause heavy runoff into Stockade Lake, which is causing the flooding in Custer.  Even though the thunderstorms have ended, the water is continuing to rise, and flood warnings are extended through Saturday.  Water rescue teams from Rapid City and Pennington County have been requested.

The entire Black Hills area is almost 10" above their normal precip year to date.  As we have been riding around, we have noticed that creeks and stock ponds are full.  The weather folks on TV are saying how they have never seen this much thunderstorm activity, going on all summer so far.