Catching up with the crew from S&S cycle at the Sturgis Drag Strip was fun, but running my Indian Scout down the drag strip hitting record speeds was priceless…
Running the monstrous T143 dragon or T124 Harley Dyna should have been my excitement of the day, but I was most excited to test out the new performance in my Indian Scout with the added S&S Stealth Two air filter and Twin Slash Vance & Hines Exhaust I won from the Garage Girl Ultimate Biker Makeover Contest
‘Let her rip’ was on my mind as I approached the start line with a rolling start from first gear. Soon shifting into 2nd gear and hearing Scout roar as I hit 3rd and 4th gear. “Wow, 90 mph! I wonder if I could hit 100 mph” I thought to myself.
I made it down the strip a few more times getting into 5th gear and hitting 95 mph, but couldn’t quite make the 100mph before coming to a large patch of dirt at the end of the 1/8-mile strip.
The ‘Go Guy’ stopped me before the next pass, “Just a heads up, the cones half way down the track is where you stop accelerating. Slow down sooner, you’re scaring some of the guys watching.”
“Oh, that makes sense. The cones indicate a warning point where to slow down. The patch of dirt at the end of the strip is to catch riders who go over the track. How was I supposed to know…?” I thought to myself. 
I wheeled my way around to make another go at 100mph as frustration increased. I was bound and determined to reach my goal. One of the spectators sensed this frustration and came up and gave me a few words of wisdom.
“You’re shifting too soon. Bring the RPM’s up near the red, then shift” said a spectator giving me thumbs up.
“That makes sense, why didn’t I think of that”, I said.
I didn’t allow Scout to show her fullest potential, she so badly wanted to release because I was shifting too soon. I could hear some of the spectators cheering Scout and me on… ‘come on Leah, you got this!’ 
Again, I approached the start line, this time imagining Scout breaking 100mph. Holding on the grips tight, I waited to shift. Scout gave a full roar. She felt like a wild horse running free as I shifted from 2nd to 3rd… 90mp, 95mp, 100mph!!!
I threw a fist pump in the air, we did it! Wow, 100mph on a 1/8-mile strip at the Sturgis Drag way and I never made it out of 3rd gear, cool! I proudly said, “You Go Girl” to Scout as I made my way to the parking lot and turned off the key to retire her for a job well done.
