Needles Highway: South Dakota Motorcycle Ride
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- Опубліковано 15 бер 2018
- Ride with us on South Dakota's famous Needles Highway. 14 miles of twisted pavement through some of the most incredible scenery the Black Hills has to offer.
Featuring Sean Ashby's songs "Leone Western" and "Highway 1"
If you enjoy my videos and want to help me out with the time and expense that I take to create them please visit my page at Buy Me A Coffee and consider making a small donation. Thanks so much, Robert.
www.buymeacoffee.com/lgEFpyZjs
What kind of go pro do you use
Thank you, I was a little girl that my family went to see the four faces and we had to go thru the needle. Back then it was congested. By going on your motorcycle ad I am watching on youtube, put a full screen on, it was being back there again. I was planning on going, but I am afraid of heights. Watching this made it worthwhile, now I do not have to go.
Beautiful videos, Mr Robert. Question: how many cups of coffee need I donate to use a minute or two of one of your videos in a fam member's 65th birthday tribute montage, of course giving you credit? Thanks.
You do not need to donate anything, you just needed to ask, thank you for doing so.
Yes please do give me credit, I appreciate that. Also could you let me know from which video when you use it.
And wish them a happy birthday from me as well!
…just got back from 3 days in the BLACK HILLS on a 1500 Vulcan Nomad…
Needles Hiway was the highlight (for me).
What a drive! Thank you for sharing!!
God is good.
Yes, God is good! and he gave us such a diverse world to explore. I think I would have to pick the Needles Hwy as my favorite as well, it is a great ride full of twists and turns but the unique "Needles" make it one of a kind.
Thanks for watching, and taking the time to leave a comment!
We have a beautiful country and this was exceptional!
It is such a beautiful country! The Needles is a very unique part of that beautiful country. Have you experienced it in person?
Thanks so much Doris for watching, and taking the time to leave a comment.
Loved this ride! Thank you
Glad you enjoyed it! It is an incredible landscape to ride through.
Thanks for watching, and leaving a comment!
Thank you for sharing definetly on my bucket list
The Black Hills offer some great rides, and the Needles is by far the most amazing landscape of those rides.
Thanks for watching my vids, I hope they help you with the bucket list, and thanks for taking the time to comment.
I had no idea South Dakota was so beautiful.
South Dakota really is a beautiful state with a lot of beautiful scenery and attractions to enjoy! But don't take my word for it, go and discover it yourself, if you are able.
Thanks for watching and leaving a comment.
It’s fantastic to find a UA-cam video channel of a ‘Liner rider! I ride an ‘06 Stratoliner. Great bikes! Really enjoyed the video. Good stuff.
Hello Rufus! UA-cam, or in the real world, 'Liners are few and far between. Mine is a '07 Roadliner with Corbin bags, trunk and batwing. As you know HD's are dime a dozen out there (no offence to HD's, I wouldn't say no to riding one) but pull into a stop with a bunch of curious tourists and they all walk right past the HD's to ask "what is that and would you mind if we had our picture taken with it?" I have a lot of ride vids out with the 'Liner, currently my new releases are of rides in the Canadian Rockies, I hope you find a few more to enjoy!
So what color is your 'Liner? and where are you located?
By the way, when you obtain UA-cam stardom remember me, I was your very first subscriber!
Cherry Creek, wow close, Kamloops in Abberdeen here. Heading that wa next June. Grand Canyon, Zion, Bryce, Monument Vally then heading to Custer, 1 night there , then crazy horse, needles, 16 a, Keystone or a night then Deadwood/Sturgis for a couple days, Devils Tower, Beartooth Pass, Hiway to the sun then home. Can't wait. Anyway enjoyed your video , maybe our paths will cross one day, ride safe.
Sounds like an awesome trip, I do hope it is an early spring as some of those high elevation locations might be a bit iffy in June. Bryce, Beartooth, GTTS, are really high and maty have snow or even be closed yet.
I have a lot of vids of some of the areas you are going, check them out.
@@RobertMerz Thanks, yes I've seen a couple, hoping snow isn't a factor but we'll see.
Hello Robert, what a great video! I am from the Netherlands and spend a great time in the Black Hills 4 years ago. We rented two Indian motorcycles and did the Needles highway. Watching your video brings back wonderfull memories about this beautyfull place. Greetings from Holland, lars
Thank you very much Lars. I am really happy to hear that you are enjoying my videos, and I really appreciate your taking the time to leave a comment!
Hey thanks for the ride! The Black Hills is my favourite place to ride. The roads inside the park are all fantastic. The coolest thing I saw on the Needles Hwy was at the Needles Eye. I got to watch the driver of a tour bus inch his way through. Wow!!!
And Hey thanks for watching, and taking the time to leave some great comments! The Black Hills are great and as long as you can visit them a few weeks after, or I suspect before, the Sturgis Rally, they really are not that busy.
It doesn't get much better than this. Another awesome video.
What an amazing array of rock formations there are in that area, I could spend a lot of time walking around in that area just marveling over those rocks! Thanks for sharing!👍
It truly is an amazing area. To be able to ride so close you can touch the formations is also amazing. There is quite a number of hiking and walking trails in the area to facilitate having a closer look as well.
As always, glad that you dropped by for the ride, and to let me know that you enjoyed it.
Thank you for the amazing ride! I feel safe you are a good driver! lol!
You are very welcome!
Thank you for coming along for the ride, and for taking the time to comment after!
Another great video, thanks for sharing. It brings back nice souvenirs!
You are welcome Marc, thanks for watching.
Pretty nice through there, haven't done Needles highway. Kinda have now..lol
It is a really nice area, with lots of scenery to enjoy on a bike or in a car!
I really love your videos. Whether it's with music or no music it makes me feel like I'm riding my bike through the twisties very relaxing great scenery
Thank you very much Steve. It is nice to hear from you again. I hope you have got some great riding in as well as watching my vids in the past year.
It is always rewarding to me when I hear about someone enjoying my work, keep the comments coming!
Had recently been thinking, "wonder when the next Robert Merz video will be coming out? It has been awhile." Then this gem was announced by YT. This is really great. It has been over 20 years since I was there. Thanks for capturing the grandeur of the Needles Highway, Robert. Look forward to your next video.
Thanks for the great comment, and continuing to watch. It sounds like you have missed a few though as I kicked off this season's batch of videos on January 12 with a short vid ride from Red Lodge to Belfry Montana. With this Needles Highway video that makes 10 this year so far. I do hope you get a chance to catch up, there are some good ones in there!
If you go to my channel you can find them easily enough, here is the link:ua-cam.com/users/tbwcontinueumivideos?
I have quite a few more videos queued for Friday morning releases for the next few months as well. Not sure when that works for you, I am guessing Saturday morning?
Good to hear from you again, and as always, Enjoy the ride!
I just rode Needles agian today 08/07/2019. even with rain and about 6,000 other bikes it is still one of my top 10 Rides.
Needles is an absolutely incredible landscape, and a great ride. For pure enjoyment of the scenery and to just let the road take you it is so nice being on it alone, but to see it with 6,000 other bikes is an incredible sight as well and an attraction all it's own.
WOW!!!Great Video! Awesome riding and scenery!! It's now on my BUCKET LIST!!!!
It is pretty awesome scenery, worthy of anyone's bucket list.
Rode this whole area during the rally in 2011, loved it in spite of the rain we got on the day we did this road. Just incredibly beautiful territory. Would love to do it again but maybe after the rally so not so crowded.
I definitely recommend riding anywhere in this area but a few weeks after the rally when you can nearly have the roads to yourself.
Another great video, Robert. Thanks for sharing.
Hey thanks for watching, and taking the time to leave a comment. Stay tuned, if all goes well, and God willing, I have a new lineup of ride videos coming out shortly!
Awesome ride!! Can't wait to do it again!!
Needles and Iron Mountain are definitely must rides when anyone visits the Black Hills.
Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment.
Beautiful ride & good looking scooter...
Thank you
Almost 9,000 subscribers are missing you here!
If your ride Counter Clockwise you get to see Mt. Rushmore through 2 of the 3 tunnels as you exit.
Excellent videos!...thank you for everything you do!
Would you mind telling us about your motorcycle shown in 8:05? ...What a masterwork of art!!
Well thank you very much for that, it is always nice to hear!
The bike is a 2007 Roadliner, and yes, we too think it is a pretty cool piece of art. The Roadliner, and the Stratoliner, which is the dressed version of the same bike, are made by Yamaha under the Star logo. They feature a 1900 (113 cu in) pushrod V-twin, very retro on the outside with a few modern advancements on the inside. The rest of of the bike follows suit mechanically, in appearance it is fairly old school, but it is full of modern touches, giving it top notch handling for a big V-Twin. It also is very big, both in appearance, and physically, being approx 6 inches longer then most of the other cruisers out there, especially noticeable when we are riding 2 up when you see how much room is present between rider and passenger.
The styling is very Art Deco / Streamline Moderne throughout, giving it a look that definitely stands out from the rest. The Roadliner, as I mentioned, is a bare bike. We added Corbin batwing, bags, and trunk. Corbin did an awesome job of designing pieces that complimented the styling of the original bike, they use superior materials, and they had the largest storage capacities. We changed the pipes to Cobra X-Tra Longs and then I cut them down to suit. The seat was changed from the factory seat to an Ultimate Seat, which has much nicer styling and of course, is very comfortable.
We do feature pics of the bike in many of our vids, and also have lots of pics of it on our Facebook page facebook.com/dryrockstudios Check them out, it does photograph well!
Great video Robert, Buffalo or an awesome animals. How about doing a walk around of your bike it sounds great but never really seen that much of it. Have a blessed weekend Robert.
Thanks David.
I have been asked for a walk around before, maybe, I will put it on the list!
The Roadliners and Stratoliners with the parallel chrome "speed stripes" are straight out of the streamline school of design from the early 20th century. I think they are among the most beautiful bikes ever made.
I agree Dave, the design of the 'liners is very beautiful, and very reminiscent of Streamline Moderne, a later version of Art Deco.
Great content!
Thank you, I am glad you enjoyed it. I hope you find more of my videos as enjoyable!
Hey Robert I’m new to your channel I found you while doing research for my video on this same ride. I must say your camera captured the scenery beautifully.
Hello Bell, thanks for subscribing, I am happy to hear you are enjoying my channel so far. Stay tuned, I will be having new videos coming out soon.
Robert Merz That is excellent news,Thanks for sharing your adventure
Headed there in September, thanks for the view!
My family went to South Dakota in July and while we were driving on Needles Highway, it was hailing BAD. Definitely not as nice a day as you had.
Awesome video only one thing like to listen to the mufflers more then the music I have take time to find this roads for real on my harley
Thank you very much. It is really hard to please everyone regarding the creation of a video, but I do try my best to attain that goal. I appreciate your feedback regarding the sound, and although in general my vids will feature some music, I do tailor the sound somewhat to try and please everyone. To that end I have created some videos with only the bike for sound, and some videos where I use the raw sound. A bike only sound video is Princeton to Tulameen, check it out by searching through my vids. Five Spring Falls is a raw, uncut 5 minute ride with raw sound, I think you will quite enjoy it, the link is here:ua-cam.com/video/O9pNJ0kMm1s/v-deo.html
Thanks for taking the time to comment, it means a lot, keep them coming.
Great video clips. Watched several by now but I noticed your's to have those engine breaks. Could you tell me/us a bit about it? I'd say when in top speed and then approaching a bend then stop throttle and shift down when at the right speed? And who's riding? The blond girl?
First, thank you, it is really nice to hear when someone enjoys my videos, and I really appreciate when they take the time to let me know.
Second, to answer your question I think you are referring to my downshifting style, which is called "rev matching", and if so here is my answer. Rev matching is the process of shifting down in the transmission and bringing the engine up to the rpm that will closely match road speed in the lower gear. Here is an example, in 5th gear at 60 mph (100 km) the engine rpm is 2300, in 4th gear at 60 mph the rpm would be 2800. If you shift down from 5th to 4th the engine MUST turn faster, and there is a choice to be made you can allow the road speed to push the engine rpms up, and probably from below 2300 rpm, more likely near idle, or you can raise the engine rpms while the clutch is disengaged to the 2800 rpms that the road speed is going to dictate. The 1st choice requires the clutch to slip until the engine catches up to road speed, it also produces considerable drive train shock, which at it's worst could cause a failure and at it's best will just be a less then smooth, steady deceleration. The second choice, rev matching, produces little or no drive train shock and increases rider and passenger comfort during deceleration. All this being said it also depends on the type of bike you ride, a sport bike will not benefit as much as a big slow turning 2 cylinder engine, there isn't as much torque or rotating mass to resist the sudden increase in rpms being pushed to the engine by the road speed, thus there is far less drive train shock in that high horsepower but lower torque engine. Basically if you ride a sport bike you probably won't rev match very often if at all, but if you ride a big 2 cylinder cruiser you should be except in extreme stops. Rev matching is actually quite easy if you want to try it. When shifting down pull in the clutch, while your foot selects the next lower gear blip the throttle, you will get used to how much with a bit of practice, and immediately after the blip, while the engine is slowing down, let the clutch back out. Have fun and ride safe.
Is it a toll road? We'll be staying in Belle Fourche on the way to Denver (July 13th 2020) and I want to see needles eye tunnel before it gets packed, but don't know if I need a permit. Thanks for the great footage!
As I recall, because it goes through Custer State Park there was a $10 motorcycle fee, which actually pays for a 7 day pass to the park.
Glad you enjoyed the video, and it sounds like you have a great trip planned, hope you really enjoy it!
Nice production Robert. Having ridden through there myself, I can appreciate the ride. Question: How did you get the red line to trace your 14 mile route that you overlayed on your video? I'm just learning editing and trying it on iMovie. Any tips?
Thanks Michael. Needles Highway is a very unique landscape to ride through.
The route map is something that I create for each of my ride videos and it involves several steps. I first start by drawing the route in a drawing program overtop of a saved picture of the route in Google Maps. I use a screen capture program (Cam Studio for me but others are available) to record my drawing. I then upload that file into my movie editor, I use Premiere Pro, and edit my drawing into a clean clip of the drawing and save the file as my map drawing. I then open the video ride I am working on in PP and overlay my new map drawing on top of the road footage. At this point iMovie will probably be quite different from PP so you will have different names for the editing you will need to do. What I do is use a chroma key, several times with different adjustments, to remove all the extra video from the map, leaving me with only the red line. On your editor this technique might be a green screen effect or ? called something along that idea. This will all probably take some trial and error with what colors you used in your original map. So you may have to do some fine tuning at the drawing stage before doing the final edit.
Another way that you might include a map is by doing what I suggested but not worry about losing the Google Map's image later, my work requires that everything is all original or licenced, if you are not being paid for your final product you don't need to meet that requirement. If that is the case try drawing the red line in a very dark color, highly contrasting the Google Map colors, recording and saving that file. After editing, place that new file into your video you are working on, above your road footage. Then change the opacity of the map footage to suit your needs, letting some of the original map picture show through.
I hope this helps.
Great answer Robert. Thank you. It's amazing to me how much work the editing is to make a good looking video. Fortunately, I'm not selling them or receiving funding of any kind. They are strictly for my pleasure and those that may find my site (mostly friends and family). So they don't have to look professional. I'm sure practice will help and i just have to jump into the editing world and figure it all out. The GoPro is great to use on the rides I take, but with hundreds of short clips, they need to be stiched together to make sense for a viewer. I'm also learning that too much road footage can make for a boring viewing experience (although I like the road footage to refresh my memory of a fantastic ride). I've started taking less road footage and turn the camera on during gas stops, rest stops, inside restaurants and any other human interaction. The "action" makes for a better viewing experience (at least for me). Thanks so much. I've subscribed to your channel to enjoy more of your videos. Safe riding!
You are welcome.
Editing is a lot of work. But it is very satisfying, and you can create something that someone else may want to watch and not because they are just being polite!
I overlay map is complicated at first, until you get it figured out to work for you. When I first started doing it I would spend at least 1 hour each time, now it probably takes me less than 10 minutes from starting my drawing to the finished overlay, so yes practice will be a huge factor. CamStudio, by the way, is a free download. Although CamStudio is very easy to use, it also gave me a lot of frustration before I got the settings on it that worked for my purpose.
My vids are primarily about the ride, and I am very conscious of not making them too long and losing the viewer, so I cut out the stops for fuel, wiping bugs off the lens, walking around taking a picture, etc. But you are right, those shots are the human interest component of the video, and people enjoy seeing that, especially the people that know you.
Also keep your road footage "moving". What I mean is no one wants to see just how long the next straight stretch really is, after a few seconds the viewer has already got the idea, they don't want to spend another 3 or 4 minutes in the saddle with you on the same stretch of road where the scenery never changes, so as the editor, you need to move on to the next clip with some new scenery. If you watch my vids from a technical point of view instead of for enjoyment, you will notice my clips are often only 10 seconds long, and then I move on to something else.
However you do it though, it is important to keep the whole work moving forward and ever changing. Your idea of using the human stuff is absolutely great, and will make your vids much more personal.
Good luck, and let me know how it's going by dropping a link into a comment or message on my channel.
Thanks for subscribing, I have lots of videos to watch, and more coming out so stay tuned!
Robert hope all is well. Loving your videos as always. Questions about the production side of things. Would like to learn more about how/why you established a Production Company for your outstanding videos... you give Special Thanks to the artist you choose music from; tell me more about that. So intrigued. Nobody does this better than you
Always like to hear from someone enjoying my vids, thank you.
Regarding a production company, it is just a company name, and by placing that info on the video it is a way of branding my product. There used to be a tv show on, probably still is, that used to close the show with a short animated production company logo and a child's voice would say "I did this". By having a company name and rolling it on my productions it is my way of saying "I did this", me, the guy behind the camera, the guy that is seldom seen.
Special thanks, and their name in the end credits, is per my agreement with both Sean Ashby and Paul Black, and they should get nothing less. I also use music from Jewelbeat, an online provider, and they only ask for attribution in the end credits. These musicians have worked hard to create, not only should they be acknowledged, but their work is protected under copyright law. What this means is that a video producer can only use copyrighted music in their production if it is for private home use. My videos are for public viewing and I receive monetary gain from them through UA-cam's ad profit sharing program. Therefore my videos must be entirely original, created by myself, or I must have a licence from the copyright owner of any other work used in my video. I also use a lot of sound, most of it I have recorded myself, and some I have bought the right to use from a company called Soundsnap. I have a licence from them, and I also mention them in the end credits. As far as avoiding any copyright infringement you will notice I even create my own maps rather than use Google Maps.
I hope that answers your questions.
Thank you for watching and commenting, hearing from you and others always encourages me to carry on!
Wow! Great feedback, I don’t know where to start! You need to provide a curriculum to teach me and others how to this.
I understand the name branding; thanks for clarifying. As well as the thanks to the musical artist. No matter who’s music you use, if you’re making money with your videos you need what????
FYI... no doubt Carry On! I hope to enjoy a lot of new rides videotaped from you this year! Nobody shows us better content than you. AND I like your Maps better than Google too!
If you wish to make money on your videos you need, by law, to be free of any copyright infringement. The work and all of its components must either be original work created by yourself or you must have a licence from the owner stating that you can use their work in the way in which you have. So if you intend to use "Born to be Wild" you will need a signed licence from Mars Bonfire (the song's writer) that you can produce for UA-cam to view when asked. UA-cam is very strict on this in audio, they don't seem to do any enforcement of the visual side of things but legally visual works are protected in the same way. How this works is each time I upload a video with music I receive a copyright infringement notice from UA-cam when the upload is complete. I then file an appeal through UA-cam which includes a link to a digital copy of the appropriate licence I have stored online. Usually in about a week, when they have reviewed my appeal, they release the copyright infringement on my video.
For videos that are not monetized it has been different and I am not entirely sure how those channels get away with using unlicensed music, or if they even are getting away with it. I was recently contacted by a fellow UA-camr that has been using unlicensed music for several years and suddenly UA-cam has place infringements on all his works, his videos were not monetized. So it appears that UA-cam has changed their own rules recently. What may follow for him is that (1) his videos will only be available in certain countries (where there was no infringement), or (2) his videos will continue as is but now that the copyright holder has been identified UA-cam will share ad revenue with the copyright holder, or (3) his channel may be pulled from UA-cam and he could be banned. These actions will be determined by the licence holders policy on the use of their work.
I am not sure of even where to look for UA-cam's policy on using music for non-monetized videos.
If you are considering making videos another avenue available to you is that UA-cam has a fairly extensive library of free use music that might suit your needs and is worth looking into.
I hope you do enjoy them, as we speak I am working on audio for video number 171 for my channel, which will release on a Friday in early June of this year. So definitely stay tuned, and as I say on facebook when introducing my rides, "Pour yourself a coffee, sit back, and enjoy the ride!"
What are the best roads you have been on to look back?
I did a top 10 favorites, here is a link to it. ua-cam.com/video/8xe0RWNsnFI/v-deo.html
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