2006 Sturgis Rally Event South Dakota - Sturgis 2006

We survived another rally in the beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota. We were caught in the rain three times and a hailstorm once. We didn't run out of gas, although we were close on two occasions. We also didn't fall down. All in all, this year's rally went very well. Aside from the weather notwithstanding, the crowds were close to the amount from last year. But it seemed on a couple of nights the crowd was thinner at one end of town. Then again, it may have had something to do with the new venues outside of town. A few of these were the new Broken Spoke out by Bear Butte, the Full Throttle Saloon, and the Thunder Road facility covering the Glencoe CampResort. During the day, there were plenty of things to occupy your time, such as the hill climb that was going on behind the Jack Pine Gypsies racetrack. Down in Rapid City, H-D filled the convention center with new '07 models, while outside in the parking lot, there was the demo fleet, bike wash, and food vendors. Between Rapid City and Sturgis, we found a brand new vendor area called Top 50. It was founded and developed by Jesse Jurrens from Legend Air Suspension, based in Rapid City. The Top 50 lot hosted the Top 50 show. This show brought out the best bikes in town. On the other side of Sturgis, heading out past Fort Meade, the Thunder Road area hosted the AMD custom bike-building championship, the Metzeler show, the Michael Lichter art show, as well as the Rat's Hole show and the Biker/Penthouse show. There was a bike show every day of the week somewhere in the area. But probably the best show was out on the streets. Motorcycles standing static look good and are easy to study. But the bikes certainly look best when there is someone sitting on the seat, going down the road. And, that's where we're heading. There is a much better story to be seen by looking at the photos from Sturgis, than reading just the words.