May 15th, 2023 – Keystone, South Dakota to Keystone, South Dakota: ~150 miles
Feature image: I get a little air with the Tuareg 660.
Did you miss Day 3? I kill a BMW and we start getting our photos/videos.
This is what I was really looking forward to – filming some off-road exploits! I was excited to see that the weather was finally drying up, but our guide Bill noted that today was the first day that trails in the Black Hills open so we were running the risk that we’d get to certain gates before the rangers had a chance to open them up themselves. We got a few miles into the first trail and…Bill was right.
Bill took a few minutes with the map to find us an alternate route. Here you can also see the Kawasaki Mule that the camera crew was utilizing.
We got to a shot location and a bunny hung out with us while we were setting up. He ended up sitting there for at least 10 minutes, either out of fear or interest. Maybe he just really likes ADV bikes?
We went through this location several times for photos and video of the bikes individually and as a group. Here’s one of the group shots that Evans got – it ended up being the lead image for the story.
Photo by Evans Brasfield for Motorcycle.com
While waiting for other riders to get their photos taken, I got a chance to check out Bill’s steed in more detail. It’s a Husqvarna 701 Enduro with a few choice farkles and plenty of small luggage options. It’s a great choice for the terrain out here, which would make sense considering he’s the local expert! Consider that it’s:
– light: ~340 pounds wet weight, which is almost 30 pounds lighter than the KTM 390 we were riding)
– powerful: 74 hp, just six shy of the parallel twin in the Tuareg)
– suitably equipped: slipper clutch, quickshifter, traction control, etc.
For the kind of riding we were doing – lots of double track with pavement connections – it was quite appealing. And it definitely was more fun off-road than the bikes we were riding! With that said, it looks like Bill is selling his Husky and moving on to the new GasGas equivalent so I look forward to seeing how he outfits that one.
I briefly mentioned this in an earlier post, but Bill is one of the people who puts on the Dakota 600. It’s a five day adventure in the Black Hills and surrounding area which includes some of the roads we did, but the trails are more challenging and generally designed for dirt bikes/smaller enduros vs what we were riding for this story. There are plenty of “big bike” friendly routes and options, though.
If you’re in the area (and even if you’re not), you should check it out! Entry is limited to just 50 riders a year.
I sure hope I’m exploring the outdoors on dual-sports when I’m Bill’s age!
This as a summer home with a DesertX to putt around on would make for a fabulous pairing.
Chris got strapped into a Kawasaki Mule UTV to do some tracking video shots, and at one point I hopped in the back to check out Evans being filmed on the Ducati. There’s a lot of behind-the-scenes work that goes on to get these images and videos for the professional publications.
In addition to the main story about traveling in South Dakota, Motorcycle.com did featurettes for the 5 things you should know about each of the bikes. You can see me in the thumbnail for the Aprilia video below, which Evans shot while working out of the UTV. There’s also a few video passes from the same segment in this as well:
In addition to the fun (to me) photos while riding, you’ve also got to get wides and close-ups of the bikes while stationary. We all took a bit of a lunch/snack break while Evans got some beauty shots of the bikes – he joked that he was “outstanding in his field“.
The result of Evans’ work:
Photo by Evans Brasfield for Motorcycle.com
While Evans was shooting I went over to move the bike around for him and generally help out to try and make things more efficient. At one point I noticed this sign on the field. Good thing we weren’t prospecting…or we were?
This vista proved to be a good spot for us to get some drone shots, by the time we were done the mud pit had become a little gnarly to go through.
Mile after mile, I’ve been stunned by the views out here in South Dakota. There’s a surprising variety of scenery in the Black Hills, and the colors of the bikes help them pop.
You’ll have to look closely to spot the 390 here, but again – the scenery is incredible.
Though things had thankfully dried up so we got to enjoy ample sunlight, the rains from earlier in the week meant there were plenty of opportunities for water crossings. Selfishly, this was my favorite photo from the trip as both wheels are off the ground and there’s a good splash going on. It almost looks like I know what I’m doing! Would I normally do a water crossing like this? No. But all bets are off when there’s a camera pointed at you. Motorcycle.com ended up using it as the lead image for their “5 Things You Need To Know” story about the Tuareg as well.
Photo by Evans Brasfield for Motorcycle.com
I have to admit, I was inspired to go through the water crossing aggressively after watching Ryan do it himself on the DesertX. I was slightly amused by Ryan making Chris recoil in horror to protect his video camera.
Ryan was the fastest off-road rider out of the quartet, and I kept trying to follow him to learn his lines and pick up some tips. At one point the video guys strapped a 360 degree camera to the frame of the DesertX and I rode alongside Ryan to film us going through some puddles/jumps together. Unfortunately, the battery died before the best-looking portions of trail, but there was still a little bit that they ended up using, like the few second clip below. Even though there isn’t much footage, riding side by side with Ryan while getting air was one of my favorite parts of the entire trip.
The end of the day was mostly spent getting a last set of beauty shots (photo and video) of the bikes individually and as a group. Chris gets his steadicam up to get video passes going sideways across the bikes:
I know I’m being repetitive, but it’s absolutely gorgeous out here. We were near (but not exactly at) Bear Mountain, and according to our guide if you ride up to the fire tower then you’re at the highest spot you can ride a motorbike between the Rockies and the Alps.
I got a laugh out of the the person in the Tramway Adventures logo, so Ryan did his best impression.
The group reconvened for dinner, this time at the Gaslight Dining Saloon. They were famous for a dish called chislic, which is a South Dakota tradition. It’s basically just skewered meat cubes (The Gaslight cooks then and then fries them), and it’s typically offered with dipping sauces like ranch. I forgot to get a photo, sorry.
Considering the name of this website, I felt like I had to get a photo of this A1 sauce label.
With dinner taken care of, we bid adieu to the Gaslight and made our way back to the hotel to rest up before another day of filming.
Tomorrow’s our last full day in South Dakota, so we’ve got to make sure we can capture the necessary remaining footage for the story before having to return the Mule and load up the bikes for their journey back to Los Angeles!