Sturgis 2015

[akbeemer]

Monday was the first official day of the Sturgis Rally. There were six fatalities (one in a cage) and 55 injury accidents. Yesterday there were three non-vehicle related fatalities. Very sad times for several families indeed.

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- Mike Sanborn, long time Sturgis resident and rally supporter:

For more than 20 years I tried to make sure people coming to the Sturgis Rally had the time of their lives. Now, six people are dead as of the first official day of the 75th Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. Six families, instead of celebrating motorcycling, will now grieve on the anniversary of their loved one’s violent death. Sturgis will be a reminder of their most horrible day.

I watched five or six beginners on brand new Ultras trying to negotiate the hill I live on, this morning. Nobody dumped. But somebody will before the end of the week. This is not a typical rally folks. In more than 20 years of working the Sturgis Rally, I have never seen this many inexperienced and downright dumb motorcyclists.
People in cars, RVs, delivery trucks and pickups with toy haulers are simply no smarter.
If you’re a fat guy over 50 and you bought or rented a big motorcycle for your first motorcycling experience at the 75th Rally, you’re probably scared to death right now. I certainly would be. I’m scared to death driving a car, because I genuinely don’t want to kill people trying to enjoy their vacations.
I was THE statistic. Over 50. Never rode. I at least took the rider safety course. Bought a Heritage Softail. And, I never had time to ride it and become a skilled rider. So I sold it. And, you my friends, are safer because I’m not on the road with that beautiful machine.
It’s bad mojo to kill a tourist. You won’t be the most popular guy at the next Chamber mixer.
And, for those of you who chose this rally to learn to ride, either park it and have it shipped home, or at least dispense with that moronic machismo no-helmet baloney and cover your frickin' head.
Virtually everyone associated with this motorcycle rally has failed the tourists who are coming here. There is no excuse for the amount of construction, or the traffic jams, or the price gouging. And, that additional access to Sturgis via Pleasant Valley, probably doesn’t look so foolhardy now.
Six dead on Monday. What an utter tragedy. Those driving on four or more wheels, look around, slow down, look three times and then look 2 more. Those on two wheels, wear a helmet, long sleeves and leathers and stay off the booze. If you’re drinkin’ – walk, take one of the bus services, but for Christ’s sake don’t die because you were stupid on your vacation. A drunken motorcycle wreck is a bloody undignified way to go.
To my good friends on two wheels – and you know who you are – no matter how much you think you can handle this crowd, this traffic and these morons on a couple beers – you can’t – and not because you’re not experienced enough or skilled enough. It’s because there are too many others here and coming here who will be stupid, drunk or both. Stay at camp on the deck – you have more fun there anyway. It’s not safe this year. Not anywhere. And, I expect to see every one of you next year.

 

[AKsuited]

News story here: http://www.inforum.com/news/3810318...est-ever-arrests-and-deaths-reported-en-route

I avoided Sturgis on my ride home mainly due to concerns about traffic and rally-goers taking all the rooms and campground sites...

Harry

 

[greenwald]

Was riding back from Bloomington, MN on Friday after a Mall of America venture, on I-94 and WI Hwy 29 and had completely forgot that Sturgis Week was approaching until I saw countless Harleys being trailered westbound - then I figured out why.

Hope the carnage doesn't continue.

 

[rich]

I spent Friday and Saturday at the rally. It was a blast! People do die every year, and with the amount of people converging in the hills this year, it is going to be a higher rate than normal. Sad. Be safe out there, everyone.

 

[arthurdent]

returnees

I live on a major thoroughfare at the edge of BFE and operate a Biker Aid Station for the four days of heaviest "inbound" traffic. We saw a very large number of riders and trailer-ers headed up and about 1/3 as many headed back.

Today I was at a fuel stop and talked to several of the returnees. Most had positive things to say:
Not really different traffic levels from years past.
Don't be in a hurry.
Not the doom and mayhem reported.

I think a lot of people were looking for this year to be "exceptional" and in many was has been. Thing is, when you're in the middle of a herd of anything, you're going to have incidents due to simple math caused by degrees of freedom.

 

[pete4638]

Most of the riders I know own Harley's. They attend rallies, but few of them have gone to Sturgis. Unlike Daytona or Myrtle beach, accommodations in Sturgis are few and far between. Living in a tent, in that kind of heat, is not something that I would want to do. The roads in and around the rally are congested and the river of alcohol being consumed by the people at the rally ensures that you will be riding with a lot of impaired riders.

New riders, low mileage riders and just plain unskilled riders are why I gave up group rides. When you put a new rider, on an 800 pound motorcycle and give him a few drinks, you are really asking for trouble. Our local club had a no drinking policy on their rides. That never stopped some of the riders from sneaking off the restaurant bar and slamming down a a few drinks while waiting for lunch to be served. The HOG, Harley Owners Group rides officially ended as soon as you arrived at the destination. They didn't want to be responsible for people getting drunk at at lunch and wrecking while riding home.

The traffic at these rallies is hell on air cooled motorcycles. Harley's really suffer in the slow and go traffic that you get caught in at these events. Even my cool-running Dyna, with an oil cooler, would start getting pretty warm in traffic. The big dressers would overheat very quickly. First turning off one cylinder, then shutting down the entire motor. You can imagine what 275+ degrees F does to oil life too.

Sturgis is a biker party - booze, bar girls, hookers, and music - did I mention booze? I like to ride a motorcycle. Sitting around with a bunch of drunks, who may or not know how to ride is not my idea of fun. Riding with these guys, while they are on the way to the next watering hole is just plain dangerous.

The guys that I know who do go to Sturgis get there at the beginning of the rally and are gone by day two. It's beautiful country to ride in, if you can avoid the earthlings.

Pete

 

[greenwald]

Most of the riders I know own Harley's. They attend rallies, but few of them have gone to Sturgis. Unlike Daytona or Myrtle beach, accommodations in Sturgis are few and far between. Living in a tent, in that kind of heat, is not something that I would want to do. The roads in and around the rally are congested and the river of alcohol being consumed by the people at the rally ensures that you will be riding with a lot of impaired riders.

New riders, low mileage riders and just plain unskilled riders are why I gave up group rides. When you put a new rider, on an 800 pound motorcycle and give him a few drinks, you are really asking for trouble. Our local club had a no drinking policy on their rides. That never stopped some of the riders from sneaking off the restaurant bar and slamming down a a few drinks while waiting for lunch to be served. The HOG, Harley Owners Group rides officially ended as soon as you arrived at the destination. They didn't want to be responsible for people getting drunk at at lunch and wrecking while riding home.

The traffic at these rallies is hell on air cooled motorcycles. Harley's really suffer in the slow and go traffic that you get caught in at these events. Even my cool-running Dyna, with an oil cooler, would start getting pretty warm in traffic. The big dressers would overheat very quickly. First turning off one cylinder, then shutting down the entire motor. You can imagine what 275+ degrees F does to oil life too.

Sturgis is a biker party - booze, bar girls, hookers, and music - did I mention booze? I like to ride a motorcycle. Sitting around with a bunch of drunks, who may or not know how to ride is not my idea of fun. Riding with these guys, while they are on the way to the next watering hole is just plain dangerous.

The guys that I know who do go to Sturgis get there at the beginning of the rally and are gone by day two. It's beautiful country to ride in, if you can avoid the earthlings.

Pete

I've been to both Daytona Bike Week and Sturgis.

What Pete said.

 

[pete4638]

I used to live in Orlando (I still have a house there). Daytona was a little over an hours ride so I went to bike week most years. Later on I knew a family that owned a hotel with a bar in Daytona. Bike week was a cash cow for them. The worst part of Bike week in Daytona was the traffic. The cops didn't have much of a sense of humor either. They made a lot of money writing tickets for minor violations.

But the amount of money that bike week brings in to the local communities is astronomical. Staggering actually. So the locals put up with the loud bikes as a tradeoff for lower taxes and a big payday for local business that cater to the rally.

Pete

I've been to both Daytona Bike Week and Sturgis.

What Pete said.

 

[36654]

But the amount of money that bike week brings in to the local communities is astronomical. Staggering actually.

Geez.............That's great if my vision of the future is a job working in a

1) Hotel
2) Restaurant
3) Bar or
4) Law enforcement

Same can be said, when we talk about legalizing gambling or prostitution.

 

[arthurdent]

*snip*

But the amount of money that bike week brings in to the local communities is astronomical. Staggering actually. So the locals put up with the loud bikes as a tradeoff for lower taxes and a big payday for local business that cater to the rally.

Pete

Most of the folks I know who live in the Sturgis area vacate from Mid July to mid August and rent out their homes for most of the year's mortgage payment.

 

[36654]

Most of the folks I know who live in the Sturgis area vacate from Mid July to mid August and rent out their homes for most of the year's mortgage payment.

What remains when they get home?

I've been to Sturgis in the off-season. Reminded me of the proverbial horse that's rode hard and put away wet.

 

[arthurdent]

What remains when they get home?

I've been to Sturgis in the off-season. Reminded me of the proverbial horse that's rode hard and put away wet.

a group that can afford to pay $10k for a week's rental is generally going to leave things "OK". Wear and tear are expected.

The generally rowdy types are in tents at the Buffalo Chip and 8 to a room at the "6". The folks who rent out their homes have a set of "rental" furniture that they move in before they leave and anything personal gets moved to storage.

Contracts are a nice thing and when you're asking that much for a home rental, you've done your homework. The CMA group that I was part of have an agreement with a church camp. $25 per night including breakfast. The group has earned the trust of the camp and the camp gets an extra two weeks use of the facilities with very little expense to them. As a result they have added two new shower buildings and several new cabins in recent years.

Stereotypes are just that. A percentage get out of control and the whole group is labeled. Just like every BMW rider is an anal engineer without a sense of humor.

 

[36654]

Stereotypes are just that. A percentage get out of control and the whole group is labeled. Just like every BMW rider is an anal engineer without a sense of humor.

In PA we used to have a helmet law and, of course, you had the ABATE folks. But we also had a Harley assembly plant and several towns that accepted the stereotype that they were going to be tourist destinations for helmet-less harley riders exercising their rights and visiting the assembly plant. So, the helmet law went away............

 

[greenwald]

In PA we used to have a helmet law and, of course, you had the ABATE folks. But we also had a Harley assembly plant and several towns that accepted the stereotype that they were going to be tourist destinations for helmet-less harley riders exercising their rights and visiting the assembly plant. So, the helmet law went away............

Ahh.... the pilgrimage to York. When I rode motors (Harley-speak for H-D's) for a living, there was great peer pressure to make that visit - never did. Peer pressure doesn't work well on me.

Quote Originally Posted by arthurdent View Post

Stereotypes are just that. A percentage get out of control and the whole group is labeled. Just like every BMW rider is an anal engineer without a sense of humor.

And that's not entirely true about BMW guys - some will feign a sense of humor from time to time.

 

[akbeemer]

My friends in Spearfish rent their yard to campers. They built an outdoor shower and toilet facility for the campers to use. Most of the campers are longtime friends so there are few issues. Another friend who also lives in Spearfish works for a vender installing windshields on Harleys. We makes a ton of money working for a week. Like most residents they have figured out a way to benefit from the rally and just endure the chaos.

 

[36654]

Ahh.... the pilgrimage to York. When I rode motors (Harley-speak for H-D's) for a living, there was great peer pressure to make that visit - never did. Peer pressure doesn't work well on me.

The only good thing about that whole chain of events was..............once York, Gettysburg and others got their Harley weekends going, the Biker Rally in Hanover died. Being that various hate groups participated in the Hanover event, it's good that it died.

 

[pauls1150]

I do so have a sense of humor! It's just not politically correct, and it's even frowned upon amongst the more puritanical.

 

[Rinty]

And today's the last day.

The guy I went with, some years ago (a lifetime MOA member), had a good system. We rolled in the Friday before it started, stayed at a motel in Spearfish that had a pool, enjoyed the partying, rode the Black Hills, and then left on Sunday. We were basically Sturgissed out by that time.

It was a fun thing to experience, once.

 

[greenwald]

The only good thing about that whole chain of events was..............once York, Gettysburg and others got their Harley weekends going, the Biker Rally in Hanover died. Being that various hate groups participated in the Hanover event, it's good that it died.

KARMA

 

[greenwald]

And today's the last day.

The guy I went with, some years ago (a lifetime MOA member), had a good system. We rolled in the Friday before it started, stayed at a motel in Spearfish that had a pool, enjoyed the partying, rode the Black Hills, and then left on Sunday. We were basically Sturgissed out by that time.

It was a fun thing to experience, once.

Last I read, traffic death toll was 9 (record is 11).

That still the case?