2009 Sturgis Black Hills Motorcycle Rally

[Rerun]

I drove through Sturgis South Dakota yesterday and yesterday was the first day of the motorcycle rally. The rally lasts from Aug 3 to Aug 9 and I've never in all my life seen so many motorcycles in one place.... and they were mostly Harleys.

I heard that the Sturgis Rally (this year its the 69th annual) attracts over 100,000 bikes from across North America and over 500,000 people visit the rally.

It was very impressive.

I snapped a few quick pics but they are still on my camera. I will try and post a couple tonight.

If you are interested in getting some more info on this event, here is their website..

http://www.sturgismotorcyclerally.com/


P.S. Mount Rushmore, which is about a 45 minute drive from Sturgis, was also very impressive.

[Ford Prefect]

I was through the Black Hills one summer when the bike rally was happening. I wasn't right in Sturgis, but I stopped and had a couple beers in the saloon in Deadwood where Wild Bill Hickock was shot. That was kind of cool ... having the bar full of bikers created the right atmosphere for such a place. I certainly had never seen so many weekend warriors in one place before.

[Montana Moe]

One of my co-workers goes every year.
He always has some great pics, most cannot be shown on this site...

[habernac]

I hit the Sturgis area in September one year so no bikers around. Loved Mt Rushmore. I think it'd be a blast to ride down to the thing. The people who trailer their bikes in are totally missing the point of the whole deal.

[Rerun]

Originally Posted by habernac

I hit the Sturgis area in September one year so no bikers around. Loved Mt Rushmore. I think it'd be a blast to ride down to the thing. The people who trailer their bikes in are totally missing the point of the whole deal.

I was gassing up in Sioux Falls South Dakota and I got a chance to talk to a few bikers on the way to the rally. One was biking it and the other 3 were trailering it. The one biking it said that trailering your bike is definitely the way to go it you are travelling a long distance. Both these groups were coming from Michican and Illinois. The one riding his bike said its very tiring and if you run into bad weather it can be brutal.

Now, since we here in Calgary are really only a two day ride to Sturgis, it probably would be ok to come by bike... but any longer than that I think I would go for the trailer option.

[fundmark19]

When I was 7 we were on a road trip and couldn't figure out why all the hotels were booked when trying to call ahead for a reservation. We finally got the last room at a ty hotel. We then arrived and the streets were just covered with motor bikes that being said I would love to go down and check this out one year. Its on my list of must do things

[Rerun]

Originally Posted by fundmark19

When I was 7 we were on a road trip and couldn't figure out why all the hotels were booked when trying to call ahead for a reservation. We finally got the last room at a ty hotel. We then arrived and the streets were just covered with motor bikes that being said I would love to go down and check this out one year. Its on my list of must do things

Its tough finding a hotel room within a 100 mile radius for that week... plus they really jack up the rates too. A room that would normally cost $69 will cost $169