Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Some "firsts" from Sturgis...

1) FIRST time the round-trip to/from Sturgis did NOT require the use of a spare tire..

2) FIRST time the overall ambient temp during the entire rally hovered around the 68-75F range.. Lady at the campground said she's been there for over 15 years and this was the coolest rally she's ever seen. I've been going since '92 and had not seen temps this cool overall either.. Hurts the beer sales..

3) FIRST time I had damage to the bike upon arrival at the campground. One of the (Micky Mouse) tie-downs in the camper's garage let go and the bike tipped over and the bracket that holds the LH aux. llight/signal light broke in half.. Next morning at the HD dealership in Rapid City found me first in line at the parts desk. Back to the bike, (thank God I bring a large assortment of tools) the wife held it in place while I spliced in new wires. Remounted, all works fine, whew..

4) FIRST time I ever had damage to the camper via a Class-A motorhome that was in the process of passing me on I-90 about a dozen miles E of Rapid City when a gust of wind from the approaching storm front caused him to get pushed into the LH rear quarter. Best guess is $1K damage to mine. But his camper, upon the slight impact, broke off his RH mirror assembly and had the awning disengage and get ripped completely off from the wind and land on the freeway.. Cars behind him scattered like cockroaches to avoid the carnage..

Going to get a damage estimate this am and send him the bill. Very nice guy, apologized profusely, owns some cement business in IL.. The SD trooper (another VERY nice buy, btw) wrote up the report and it'll be available online in a few days.

Glad to be home. Can't wait for next year..

Which campground you stay at? I assume it isn't 'the Chip.

Any good concerts this year?

We stay in Custer City at the Beaver Lake facility about 3.5 miles W of town on Hy 16. No idea re: concerts - we don't attend those usually.

AARP annual Jamboree?

Lee, did you eat at Black hills Burger and Bun in Custer? I really like their burgers. Went there for the first time a few weeks ago.

Black Hills Harley sold a bunch of rain and cold weather wear. I live close by and spent the week riding in the Rockies. Visited Sturgis the day before the rally started and again the last Saturday. Great sale prices yesterday at the vendors still on site at the dealership.

I avoid Black Hills Burger and Bun during the summer season, the wait to be seated is FAR too long. The Alpine Lodge in Hill City is a better meal but again virtually impossible to get a table during the summer.

Lee, glad you had a good trip, albeit with some mishaps.

The weather WAS fantastic, made up for the super hot July we had.

Should be two more good years, then the 80th will hit. But with the demographics changing it may not be so bad.

Sounds like a fun trip even with a couple of bumps in the road.

We tried that place once... and once is all we'll try. Mediocre, at best..

There's a restaurant/steak house just north of Pactola reservoir on 385 that serves a very good prime rib. Funny thing is, we never had a single burger the entire trip.

Less vendors at the rally this year - several open spots went unfilled. IMHO the city (or store owners) is pricing themselves out of the market.. I wouldn't be surprised to see discounts for vendor spots coming up soon - real soon - maybe even this next year..


Never been to one.. When you get old enough, you can fill me in with the details..

When do we get to see the titty pics?

Ran into a guy that was going home from it at a gas station. He'd had to lay his bike down to avoid a deer on the way home, got separated from the bike and did a nice slide down the highway for a bit. Bike and him survived with only bruises, thank God he'd been bright enough to wear his leathers.

We see those guys coming through here going to and coming from the rally wearing nothing but shorts, a tank top and a little bandana on their heads. Makes you wonder how many survive an incident like you describe.

Glad you had a good trip! Where are the PICS?

Glad you did ok, Lee... but I think your good tire fortune was marred by the RV sideswipe, no? I used to run a 36-ft Winnebago Class A, and at the time I held a truck driver license and had hundreds of hours in large vehicles worth of experience, and there were several times I pulled over, slowed down, or just plain parked to avoid an incident such as the one you suffered. It defies logic to give people with passenger car experience only the privilege of driving those big Class A's without fu their training.

Anyways, let me echo the prevailing sentiment... where's the pics?

Glad the trip was safe, hope you had a great time............Pics..........

AMEN on the license thing, should be a commercial type license and requirements with testing for even bumper pulls over 20"!

Glad you had a good trip and rally, have not been since '96, that was the last time for us.

Geez... Yooze guys and yer pics..







Some of the damage...

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I heard when this gal got out to gas up, she created quite a line of traffic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SR3BcaFKAM