I had a surreal breakfast watching the Monaco Grand Prix. The guy next to me said he had no idea where that was. When I explained it was in France but wasn't France, he glazed over. When I said Grace Kelly used to be the Princess, it meant something to him.

I decided that as the Missouri River divided the states of Nebraska and South Dakota, I would start out by following that. There is an old pioneer route that does exactly that, criss-crossing the river as it goes with lots of historical markers along the way. Obviously tarmacked these days to the usual high standards you see out here. This area was the last part of the mainland states to be settled. Seemed strange to think settlers only came here just over a century ago.

Because of this, much of the land is still native Indian, marked as reservations on maps – can they not come up with a better name (Lands? Territories?). These parts are distinctly depressed in comparison. Run-down shack towns, broken down cars in the yard, no lawns. All very different. Something must be wrong. I can't believe they want to live like this but then I don't know the full story. I resolved to learn and understand what I could on this trip.

The morning ride was mostly on the Nebraska side. This wasn't Idaho. There was wheat instead of corn! And views of hills in at least one direction. The non-reservation towns were less uniform, the houses not so smart as those in Idaho. There was a pioneer feel here that Idaho lacked. Religion seemed less imposing This was an area where people made their own destinies.

The Missouri is still a big river even up here and I crossed it a few times and stopped for the viewpoints. A crossing would take me into South Dakota or back into Nebraska. It was a Sunday morning, so everything was quiet. Except for people going fishing. There were quite a lot of them . Folks buying bait at the gas stations. All men. And I met one biker who was heading off for a day of jet-skiing. Bank holiday weekends are real down-time out here.

After lunch, and having booked my motel for the evening, I left the river behind and headed into South Dakota proper. The landscape was getting hilly with rocky outcrops and huge horizons. It was still mainly wheat with the occasional vineyard but I was also now seeing livestock for the first time. On a map, this area is classic Great Plains, a huge grid of roads running north-south and east-west, each separated by about 10 miles of huge fields. I was headed north-west, so did a huge zigzag across the area. Despite the hills, the roads remained straight, often with huge crests and dips. I loved it out here; this was so far off the tourist trail.

But that was to change, as my eventual goal was the famous Badlands of South Dakota, my first National Park of the trip and back into the world of tourism. These hills are a sudden change to the scenery. After 1100 miles of easy greenery, these are as harsh as you can imagine. Practically impassable, ignored by the pioneers and worshipped by the natives. I entered the park in relative heat with a strong sun, but whilst I was there a big storm just rose up out of nowhere and whipped across the area. The beauty of the park was reduced to a display of nature's power and everyone took shelter whilst it blew over.

The park was relatively small compared to others I’d been to. But it was very accessible. I’m not a fan of the American propensity for putting blacktop all the way to the major sites, but when you’re on a Harley the fact you don’t need to go off-road is very welcome. Because of the winding drive through the park, it felt a bit like a Disney ride, working its way around the good bits. I wished I had the time, the gear (and the weather) to get away from the road and see the real side. I don’t think I’ll ever see anything like the Badlands again, they really are quite unique even if, bluntly, they’re not spectacular when compared to a lot of American national parks.

After that, it was a short-ish hop (70 miles) to the tourist town of Rapid City, the gateway to the Black Hills. I had found an independent motel tonight - the chains can get a bit samey, and it was my first swimming pool of the trip! Rapid City is very pleasant. It has a smart central square with nice places to eat. I chose a simple restaurant and had a good old fashioned surf'n'turf.