Motorcyclists flock to Sturgis for a wild ride
But after 77 years, event is getting tamer as Baby Boomers age
Among the rumbling V-twin engines, the half-naked, body-painted women, the black leather jackets and majestic beards, a gnawing question arises: Has the world’s biggest motorcycle rally lost its edge after 77 years?
There’s no question Sturgis remains wildly popular. An expected 500,000 riders are flocking to this tiny town in the Black Hills this week, filling hotel rooms, parking their RVs in fields and setting up tents on lawns. They’re riding the curvy, hilly pavement for hundreds of miles around the city, and doing anything conceivably motorcycle related, all under the single-word description: “Sturgis.”
But this storied week-long biker rally is no longer the raucous spectacle it once was, when motorcycle gangs fought in the streets with wrenches and set fire to foreign-made bikes. Today, you’re more likely to find doctors, lawyers and accountants than Hells Angels, although you’ll still see them, too, selling patches alongside scantily clad women hawking motorcycle insurance.
Just maybe not so rowdy these days.
“There aren’t so many naked ladies anymore,” said longtime attendee Robert Huddleson of Vista, Calif., who makes and sells custom motorcycle helmets.
Huddleson has attended Sturgis for more than a decade, and misses the rowdiness that once permeated the streets, which today are patrolled by police officers. Many are high-ranking officers who have taken vacation to work Sturgis, which pays, houses and feeds them for the week.
Much of the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally focuses on Harley-Davidson, the storied manufacturer of American-made bikes with Vtwin engines and that distinctive rumble. Riders come from every state and dozens of countries to share in a camaraderie that’s virtually impossible to understand unless you’re a rider. And there’s three parts to the package.
First is the riding: cruising Main Street, whipping through the Black Hills, rumbling past Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse. The pavement here is smooth and gravel free, with sweeping turns and vistas.
Second are the concerts. This is one of the nation’s largest music festivals. Ozzy Osbourne is headlining this year’s Buffalo Chip concert series, joined by Night Ranger, the Doobie Brothers, Blue Oyster Cult and Lynyrd Skynyrd.
Last, but not least, is peoplewatching. Saloons line the two major streets, benches and stools facing out so patrons can drink, eat and people-watch simultaneously. Diners crane their heads to watch women walk past or admire a flamboyant chopper.
“It’s loads of fun, great people and excellent people watching,” said Amanda Augustine, a teacher from Phoenix. “People think bikers are something they really aren’t.”
For many Americans, Sturgis conjures up images of an anything-goes motorcycle festival, where drugs flow, fists fly and nudity runs rampant. But the reality is that most attendees today are professionals with too much to lose if they get arrested. Surprisingly, the top three professions at Sturgis are doctors, lawyers and accountants, said city manager Daniel Ainsley.
Doing the math makes that statistic easier to understand: New Harley-Davidson or Indian motorcycles start around $20,000, although high-end models can hit $50,000, and that’s before any real customization. Then there’s the logo-wear clothing, the gas, the insurance and the ability to take a week’s vacation.
These aren’t Easy Riders, living a carefree life on the road. These are aging Baby Boomers with kids, mortgages and nice cars.
The most risqué thing you might see on the street is Cierra Browning ’s airbrush-painted torso. Wearing fishnet stockings and a lacy thong, Browning, 21, a restaurant manager, stood outside the Tattoo Cellar, calling out to passersby, cajoling them into getting inked. Her outfit consisted of an eagle with an American flag painted on her back, and another eagle across her bare chest, her nipples covered by stickers.
Along the next block, young women in miniskirts hawked legal representation to motorcyclists, and across the street Progressive Insurance created a free pop-up tattoo parlor and barbershop.
Around the corner, accountant Lisa Frushour celebrated her 50th birthday. Her two wishes for the milestone: To ride to Sturgis with her husband from their Maryland home, and to walk, body-painted, around the festival.
Frushour and her spouse are the kind of guests Ainsley encourage. The city runs the festival, with help from corporate sponsors, and Ainsley said the shifting demographics means the rally needed change. Older folks want an experience that feels edgy without truly being dangerous, he said, and sponsors want them to test-drive $40,000 motorcycles.