Pack your bags and off-load yer' stereotypes: The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally is a must-see-before-you-die event!
Day One:
The adventure begins in Motor City! My driving partner, Charmaine Masters, and I arrive in Detroit, Michigan, the home of Ford Motor Company, to pick up the 2008 Ford Harley-Davidson F-Series Super Duty and head westward to the famed Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, in the Black Hills of South Dakota. This rally has made a number of `Top Ten Things to See Before you Die' lists and we knew this truck would be the Holy Grail to motor in at Sturgis.
After a walk-around with color and trim designer Carrie Bommarito, who was on the team that worked the magic on this co-branded truck that mirrors the vintage copper trim colors, design lines and logos of the 105th Anniversary Harley-Davidson motorcycle, Ford truck communications spokesperson Wes Sherwood, pointed out all the latest bells and whistles of this 105th anniversary special-edition pickup. We are impressed with Ford's new backup camera with an image that projects in the Super Duty's rear view mirror; reverse sensing; and the innovative step-up tailgate assist---the SEMA-developed perfect trick for short sherpas, like ourselves. Loading our bags in the bed, with its collapsible bed-extender, we excitedly hit the road.
There's nothing like a big truck to feel like Moses parting the Red Sea as we navigate the thick waters of highway traffic, we note, as we cruise Highway 94 west that cuts a swath through Michigan's farm country, and throttle toward the shores of Lake Michigan. Plus, this serialized F-350 Lariat Crew Cab 4 x 4 is motivated by a 6.4-liter V8 Power Stroke turbo diesel, which we gratefully acknowledge will lengthen the time and distance between fuel stops. It's so quiet on the run, and is truly missing the diesel gurgle at idle, that we have to make sure at our first fuel stop that we fill it correctly-with low sulfur diesel, per Ford's recommendation.
The Ford folks had told us that more women are buying trucks than ever (as well as motorcycles, say Harley-Davidson spokes-folks) and we soon see why. Our luxury-lined quiet cabin has four leather captains chairs, ample room to stow our maps and gear, a huge center console to tuck away our road-food treats, more cupholders than we can fill with liquids, navigation that directs us with voice command to points of interest (lodging and fuel!), Am/FM/Sirius satellite radio with a CD player and iPod hookup, plus powerful air-conditioning that flows from large, maneuverable vents to remediate the 90-degree summer temperatures. We notice a few bikers also headed west and we imagine that they, too, are bound for Sturgis.
We skim the southerly point of the Great Lake shared by Michigan and Illinois and round the corner to Chicago heading due north to our first night's stop, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, home of Harley-Davidson. The orange orb of a setting sun leaves us with a sky inked charcoal, as we clock some 380 miles and check into a hotel along the lake's shore. We suffer our first complaint with our motoring-home-away-from-home, as it instantly becomes a gargantuan (Super Duty!) height and width in parking garages, like the mail-order sea creatures that swell to sizes unimagined, when soaked in water overnight. Denied access to the rooftop parking, the only legal parking within a mile square of the hotel, we get special permission from the City of Milwaukee to park in a loading zone. Frustrating as this is at midnight, we are impressed with the City of Milwaukee's system that allows callers to seek and be granted permission to park 'illegally'!