How many of the campfire members are headed to the 75th this year?

We live in Spearfish, and I work in Sturgis and things are starting to heat up already. Early estimates look to be over 1 million in attendance.

If coming, I'd suggest you do most of your grocery shopping elsewhere. Many empty shelves at Sam's and Walmart already.

I live in Rapid. We should be seeing the annual gas and restaurant price increases soon. I'm already seeing/hearing an increase in bike traffic. All predictions say this will be a record year.

Bob

It's number 3 on my bucket list, right after visit Mogadishu

I with you on that. I live about 20 miles away and avoid it every year. It's great for those that are into it and come out. It sucks for the locals.

Bob

Q.) What's the difference between a Harley and a Hoover?

A.) The position of the dirtbag.




Clark

We've been going since the mid 70's off and on. I figured out how to have fun for about 3 days and not get in the same rut. I've made a lot of friends through the years, that's the main reason I go. This year though, we are staying in Pierre at a friends motel and look around Oahe. I see a camping/fishing trip coming up soon.

It's on my bucket list.

What are the dates for this year ?

It`s a freaking Zoo.On my list of places to stay away from.Riding a bike is dangerous enough with out a bunch of drunken azzholes out on their once a year road trip.

IIRC It is always the first full week of August..


I had fun, lots of it.

Love Spearfish. Beautiful area..

Been goin' since '92. Camper will be full of food so no worries there. Besides, we'll be located 3.5 miles west of Custer City where it's not quite so nuts..

Leaving Saturday, noonish. Comin' back on Aug. 6th.

Good. Keep it that way. That's one less a-hole bikers won't have to deal with..

You ever been there? Only time ya run into that type of crowd is after 8 pm or so.. We get goin' early - like 6:30 am or so before many wake up.. By 4:00 pm we're back at the camper and go nowhere else the rest of the day.. No problems.

It's the newbies who've little experience on roads w/o shoulders that usually get into trouble and get hurt.. The daytime crowd is 180 degrees from the nighttime bunch.

Except for the mega-millions "the locals" make off the run every year... They never complain about that..

I'm guessing you'll have to pump the cum out of your ass more frequently than the shieter in the camper.

Fugger. Made me spit coffee.

Out of the gate this am, I do believe a fresh tongue sharpening was had last night.

What do ya all do while u are there ,read tramp stamps?

It's like Frontier Days on Steroids. Hell on the locals, but a great pump for the local economies.

When I first moved here over 20 years ago I used to head into Sturgis each Rally. These days I hunker down at home and try to ignore the pulsing drone of "thunder in the hills." I'm simply too old for all that schitt

I have to go. Live in Spearfish also and work in Sturgis. All the 4 way stops are up slready. Closing main street 5 days early this year. Concerts starting at the Chip this weekend. It is going to be ugly with people. Estimates are 1 to 1.2 million. More than the population of South Dakota.

Puts quite a stress on the infrastructure of the area.

Going to a small town along with 1 million other people...yeah, that sounds fun...NOT!!!

I like bikes, I even like some bikers. I can even be accused of being a "people person" from time to time.

But I don't like HUGE crowds of people, pretty much anywhere, anytime.

Only 'huge' crowd will be in town during..

Keep in mind those 1-million+ bikes are scattered over an area of about a 100 mile radius of the town..

But at every other time of the year I'm like you - avoid crowds as much as possible..

Whoa- that IS early. Hy 34 from Sturgis, east, is definitely one road I avoid; what with the Chip traffic combined with Full Throttle Saloon crowds THAT stretch of road is a genuine nightmare during the rally.

Dang.. Saturday can't come fast enough..

Sturgis rally.... The Good...

...The Bad...

... aaaaand The Ugly...














... and trust me, I'm being gentle with y'all when it comes to The Ugly! It gets waaaaaaaaaay worse than this.

Man, there's some beautiful iron parked in town for the week.. Some of those boys sunk some serious bux into their rides.

Yeah, well, it was never advertised as any 'Miss Universe' rally.. It's more about the bikes than most anything else..

Doc? Was that YOU?

Nope. I got hair.

On my head.

And the gal I was allegedly photographed doing that to, the tequila warn't in her belly-button...

... but, yeah, it's reallllllllly aaalllll about the bikes. Riiiiight....

Now, now - I said 'more', not "all".. Pay attention..

Couldn't pay me to go, I would end up beating the chit out of some loud mouth drunk.

Riiight... jeez.

Funny, the Good, Bad, and the Ugly all looked Good to me.



Well, maybe not the being arrested part.....

Well, if they have Pee-wee Herman at Sturgis, it HAS to be cool!

John

You goin' this year Doc?? Be nice to meet up and shake that beefy hand a pump or two..

BOOK IT! lol

Yeah. I'd actually be more willing to pay money to see PeeWee perform than 95% of the "entertainers" out there. Throw in some cheap liquor, bad food, and trashy women you don't have to be responsible for, and you have the makings of heaven on earth right there.

Can't make it this year, Lee. Savin' my pennies and vacay days for Zimbabwe at the end of August.

good luck with that...

I bet 90%+ of them don't have legal pipes on their bikes, the noise must be unreal. What are they compensating for with those loud pipes?

I'm actually heading out to Custer Aug8th. The hotel I'm staying in in Wall is costing us $185 per night, right now it's $500 per night! Nice to see someone making money off of the loud pipe gang.

Was in Sturgis today, drove down Vanocker Canyon and road the 20 minutes home. Will be away during the entire rally and someone staying at our house.

If you going to the rally during the day, most are out riding, and you don't see many drunks. The real excitement is after dark.

I will be driving through there tomorrow working my way home.

Not looking forward to it. I always try and make sure I'm fueled up before I hit that part of the hills this time of year

My son and I are riding together this year for the first time. He has a 1200 Sportster
and I am riding my 1996 Electra Glide.
Just think if one million people each stay five days and spend one hundred dollars per day.
Redneck, keep an eye out for me I will be the Grey haired guy on the black Harley Davidson.
Everybody else GFY.

Whew. I was afraid you were gonna be hard to pick outta the crowd.

Doc that was a nice photo essay until the last pix


this ain't an Eastwood movie, I'd have been just fine with the good & the bad


I've got a mirror when I want to see ugly

I'm leaving Long Island next Wednesday at 0430...taking my Son along for the first time...This will be my 8th trip I think, never had any trouble of any kind or problems with drunks...Just don't put myself in those situations, but I guess if a fella wanted trouble it would be there for the taking....I spend most of my time AWAY from Sturgis just riding the country also manage to get in an afternoon of shooting p dogs as well.

For my son to ride



URL=http://s805.photobucket.com/user/EQFD193/media/photo-179.jpg.html][/URL]

Probably a loud mouth drunk bragging about a dynasty.

that is nice, sans windshield and all...

my FLSTF. it's been to Sturgis Bike week four times now. ain't no four blocks on earth like Sturgis on Saturday night of bike week. never had any problems there myself.

Great shot Toad !!

I don't want to win a Darwin award so I think I'll keep the Kawasaki home again this year

Sweet lookin' ride! You gonna hang some bags on it, or are you trailering it?

I'm guessin unless he puts a scabbard on there to haul the prairie dog blaster then a trailer it is! Tis a good lookin ride.

Say Doc,

Can you name the two Americans shot in the back of the head in a theatre?

Abe Lincoln is one of course...

The other is the guy who was sitting in front of Pee-wee Herman in that porn theatre back in 1991...

John

Rode there in my Dads Side car in 1958.Went there about 20 times the last being 20 years ago.Theres many better places to go.

Hope you and your son have fun, EQ. Nice sleds, BTW.

Nice Fattie, toad.

Have fun, Redneck. And remember.. don't overeat.

Eat all you want, Greg, the plate never empties and there is always leftovers in the morning.

Thanks, Sean. But, won't be anywhere near that table in Sturgis next month.

Thanks guys.......Trailer and Duelly are all hooked up and ready to go first thing Wednesday morning...About 3800 miles for me round trip and I really don't have the extra time, so trailering the four bikes is the only way to go.

Better have a good reason. Those boys up there take care of things rather quickly, no law enforcement needed.

Sounds good! I rode a rented Harley the one time I visited Sturgis Bike Week. Picked it up in the Twin Cities and had a nice ride from there. I wouldn't care to ride from the east coast all the way to SoDak. 1700 miles is a long drive in a 4-wheel vehicle, and on a bike you'd need an ass of iron.

I know guys who've done it, but they fit the iron-ass description, and the only thing harder than they ass is they head. I doubt even Bristoe would ride from home to Sturgis and back!!!

Looks like a clown show.

I'll pass.

Ya know, it's comments like this one by okok (not to mention his whole "Dynasty" clusterphuqk last winter) that make me truly wonder if he's old enough to drive yet...

We had occasion some years ago to head out that way one first week in August. Started picking up Sturgis traffic in Dallas. Actual convoys of the same by OKC.

Grand Island Nebraska, a whole state away, "welcome bikers" signs started appearing, and campgrounds devoted to the same were found all across the Sand Hills.

From up on Bear Butte outside of town you could see distant lines of Harley coming across the plains like ants.

I do hope they've been successful in stopping the sprawl from impeding on the view from the 'butte.

I'll not call that "going to Sturgis", Bear Butte was as close as we got, but Sturgis ain't a bad thing to have on one's bucket list.

Planning to do the Isle of Man TT with my son next year myself, but that's all about motorcycle races, warm beer, cold drizzle, and soggy fish and chips. Nary a "SHOW US YOUR TITS" sign anywhere.

Birdwatcher

Damn, dude, where's the fun in that?!?!?

Sturgis is a freak show, which is why folks go. It's actually a pretty safe and affordable freak show, at that. I liken it to such spectacles as the Kentucky Derby (Hunter S. Thompson's article on that schitshow in 1970 still holds true today), the Daytona 500, and soccer's World Cup Final. You ought to go at least once in a lifetime to see the elephant, to prove to yourself it's as real, wonderful, beautiful, ugly, and smelly as they say. It simply is.

Forecast there in early June usually runs 60F/40F, intermittent showers, sustained winds. That might be a contributing factor.

I've been checking, right now its a balmy 65/50 over there, maybe they should do the rally in July instead I dunno.

Birdwatcher

He's riding a Sportster all the way there??? I had one of those for two years.. Couldn't ride 20 miles before I hadda get off and walk off the back ache.. What rough ridin' sobs THOSE are.. But - hey, if he can do it, hat's off to him..

Gray-haired guy on the black Harley.. Piece of cake.. Meet you there..

No kidding - that trip = "BORING!"

It can be.. But I've seen plenty of freaks just 40 miles west of me - year round.. And I love every minute of it..

Yup, sounds like it's best he stays behind the keyboard.

By warm do you actually mean warm, or warm as in not American style beer cold, ice chips forming cold, so cold you can't taste it because you really don't want to?

Now THAT is my kind of rally!!

I have never felt the need to dress like one of the Village People or one of the dudes from the Blue Oyster on Police Academy. I'll pass.

Book it!

According to the City of Sturgis Rally Dept., the actual number is approx. 400,000. If it's like most events, even that is exaggerated. Most folks overestimate crowds.

No dress code up there. Everything from bib overalls to full dress leathered up yuppies. Even wild west cowboys and no cover up 18 year olds. Grannies that will make you look for eye bleach.

Doc, couldn't have said it better.

Word to the wise okiephenokie. if you don't REALLY know who or what you're bitin' off and gonna be chewin' on, best keep your mouth shut until you do.

8th grade sociology lesson over.

LOL!!

I well recall ambient temperatures as a little kid in Blackpool, right across from Man. See, I kept aquarium fish but had no aquarium heater. No surprise, the only way of heating the house (or our hot water) was the coal-burning open fireplace in the living room.

I woulda loved to keep tropical fish but the fish tank temperatures (in the living room yet), varied between 55 and 65F, so goldfish it was.

So I guess I mean 55 to 65F cold, ambient temperatures.

Birdwatcher

Isle of Man TT would be cool as heck to see. Talk about a death wish, those riders, wow!

I've been through Sturgis a few times, including the week prior with the VHA Jamboree.
But I have a rice rocket and I always wondered if the roads in the Black Hills are worth a darn -- as in requiring gear changes or otherwise staying busy going around real, actual corners.
Anyone? Would I feel happy trailering there and then riding for a day or two?
A clue of what I'd like:
California 20: Fort Bragg to Willits
California 36: Coast to 20 miles west of Red Bluff
Page Mill Road above Palo Alto, the Alice's/Skyline figure 8.
Sunday Ride out of Mill Valley
Left Hand Canyon, Rocky Front

Several roads out there that will "require gear changes".. but if you're looking for real twisties you'll be somewhat disappointed. Some of the roads that had qualified prior are now wider, straighter and safer.. Too many people died on old Hwy 85 going from Deadwood to Sturgis or Deadwood NW to I-90.

Still, between I-90 and Nemo on the Vanocker Canyon Road there's a few corners that one must pay attention to - especially that one downhill, reverse-camber curve that the sign sez "15 MPH" (IIRC) means just that - 15, or you'll be in the weeds. ('Course, Birdie will try to take his crotchie through that one at 50+ --- and he'll be in the weeds too )

Curviest road I've ever taken is the Dragon between NC and TN.. I was too busy to count, but I think I changed gears well over 500 times inside of those eleven miles..then I turned around and drove it back again.. My clutch hand was aching after that ride..

Best time to go there is right after the kiddies are back in school..

Amazing. 250,000 miles on bikes here, often at triple digits, only went "into the weeds" but one time. Got lucky, walked away without scratch despite no helmet, the bike was bent up some tho.



Anyways here's a couple of photos of my "crotchie" at and near the 'Dragon', which I somehow survived.

FWIW we did find the Tail of the Dragon to be somewhat over-rated.....







.....too much motorcycle traffic moving only as fast as the slowest link, which, lets face it, is almost always hefty old guys on Harleys, sometimes with their brides on board. And we got roads right here in the Texas Hill Country that are every bit as much fun to ride.

And one thing I learned bicycling across the US last summer... America has a crapload of old guys on loud bikes, everywhere you look. So regardless, during Sturgis, I can say from much experience that trying to hustle a bike down decent roads in such company is most likely gonna be an exercise in frustration at best.

Birdwatcher

Lee, Mike... I would agree that the "twisties" in the Black Hills area aren't much to write home about, but there are some lovely roads & scenic views to be had.

I haven't rode the Dragon's tail, but I'll confirm Birdie's comment that we have some awful challenging roads here in the Texas Hill Country, particularly south and southwest of Kerrville. In particular, the Three Twisted Sisters (State highways 335, 336, and 337) is a popular ride with plenty of reverse-camber changing-radius turns that apparently resulted from the idea that you can pave a donkey-track and call it a primary highway if you like.

http://www.motorcycleroads.com/75/555/Texas/The-Three-Sisters-(AKA-The-Twisted-Sisters)--Ranch-Roads-335-336337a.html

The problem I have is, having ridden those same roads so very many times (pretty much every weekend during my motorcycle period) I can prob'ly still ride 'em blindfolded

Then when DPS finally took notice maybe fifteen years back and started to impound bikes for egregious speed violations on the Vanderpool Mountain Road (between Vanderpool and Leakey) that put a definite crimp in the mood of the place. Actually, it took 'em long enough, speeds of 100+ on the straightaways were usual and EMS was regularly picking up wrecked guys off of the roadside or from the slopes below the road going over the mountain.

The last decade at least though, popularity has pretty much killed these roads, at least on weekends. Heck, run 'em in a CAR and you'll still get slowed up by lumbering, rumbling packs of slow-moving shiny bikes with stern-faced riders.

The Tail of the Dragon? Not nearly as long; tighter, slower, with bunches of the aforementioned decreasing-radius turns, and even less room for large numbers of bikes. I like Vanderpool Mountain better (heck, I've even contrived to drive school buses with kids over it a time or two , just for the scenery).

Birdwatcher

Have to agree there. I had my wreck last spring on 335 partly due to overcrowding... I passed a clot of slow-moving baggers--mostly Goldwings--on a straightaway and didn't slow down quick enough after passing. I would've been OK except for the loose chips on the next curve, but coulda-woulda-shoulda don't signify. (45 mph don't seem fast until you're doing it sideways with yer helmet scraping asphalt...)

I drove through there a couple months ago on a weekday and the traffic was almost nonexistent, which has led me to think about running down this fall and redoing the circuit midweek.

I grew up in Sturgis. It gives one a warped sense of what constitutes a "good party." It is kind of sad to see what the town has become lately, it used to have at least a little personality beyond the rally. But hey, things change, people do what they have to do to make a living.

I haven't been anywhere near there in August for 20 years. The summer of the 50th I worked at Bear Butte state park. We expanded the campground and brought in additional GFP wardens to help run things. Reading the FBI intel reports on the gangs and listening to the police/EMT radio bands all night (I was the college kid so got the red-eye shift) was an education.

All indications are that it will definitely be a blowout year this year. I hope nothing gets out of hand, best of luck to the locals and I hope everyone has fun.

We have our own thing going on in Hollister once a year, not as big as Sturgis, but only five minutes away.

Coming home yesterday, I saw the first accident involving a motorcyclist. Luckily didn't look too bad. I'm sure there will be many more. Hope no one goes home feet first this year. Be safe guys.

I think it's great that folks enjoy Sturgis. Hell I make it a point to make the Sandpoint 4th of July parade every year since owning up here. We saw our tenth a few weeks ago. Just can't see why folks have such opinions of what other folks enjoy?

Harley Davidson is picking up the tab for any veteran of any stripe if they decide to get their motorcycle endorsement through a HD riding academy (held at HD dealerships) and I never actually had one so I decided I couldn't pass up the 325 dollar discount.

Sooo today and the last 2 evenings I've been spending my time at Doc's Harley Davidson (home of the world's fastest panhead and 3 full time zoo keepers for the menagerie Doc has - really, check it out) and the place has been full of people stopping in asking for all kinds of work to be done - quick because they're headed to Sturgis soon.

Class is decent with good people and we were discussing Sturgis today - it's not on my bucket list but I could like Daytona I think - once.

Just not big on the rallies.

Holy Shizzizle!

Acres and acres of sterile paint jobs and chrome and then, this....





Might have been the coolest bike in the whole rally

Whoever rides that thing clearly knows his way around bikes and clearly knows how to turn a wrench. And that bike could prob'ly tell some stories.

His ol' lady ain't half bad neither.

Wouldn't surprise me if he rode it there.

Dunno what they do when it rains though.

Birdwatcher

REAL Harley! See the puddle of oil?

LOL

Beast Mode.............Book it!

Well, Jeff-0 is gone. Maybe Sysop could just change his name to





Kok-0.

A good friend (retired USAF CMSGT) will be working the Rally as a Red Cross volunteer. And this morning my youngest is over at the Loud American Roadhouse interviewing for a job during the Rally. Lots of folks take vacation from their regular jobs to work the Rally

Surely getting *paid* to attend something like this is the absolute best of both worlds

Hey, a few of 'em might even use this annual windfall to pay for a Harley

See? Its all good....

Should be interesting this year, the Dept of Homeland Security was heavily involved in planning. The Feds, FBI and DEA are always present. National Guard units are being assigned to Camp Rapid in Rapid City.

Got to help some motorcycle accidents victims on Friday and Saturday already.

Looking to be a banner year!

This may be morbid, but typically judge the rally by the number of traffic fatalities. Typically figure one a day, but it has been less than that lately.