bkbennett
Active member
Call me crazy, but I took a trip with six Harleys and a Buell to Little Stugis last weekend. It was my first foray into "bike rallies." It wasn't a long trip -- about 250 miles to get there.
My feeble attempt at analogy: It was the motorcycle equivalent of a Presbyterian from Long Island walking into an AME church service in South Chicago. (No moral or racial overtones intended, just complete culture shock!)
What to say? So many people, so few teeth.
Ostensibly, it was a "Bike Rally." Bikes took a back seat to babes and booze, for most in attendance. I use the words babes and attendance loosely. Many of the females saw their best days long ago, and many attending in body were absent in mind.
Bike events? They had drag races on dirt, but other than that the bike events weren't much.
It was a two-wheel, redneck circus! I saw clowns, I saw elephants, and I saw daring men riding two "ponies" at the same time.
I guess if you ride a Harley, you don't mind doing what comes difficult. While alcohol consumption was enormous, Little Sturgis is held in a DRY COUNTY. Every drop had to be packed in.
I didn't see any other FJR's. I did see a few sportbikes, scooters, standards and lots of metric crusers. Oh, and ten thousand variations on what constitutes a "real motorcycle."
Bottom line is that people were pretty accommodating in a live-and-let-live way. I grew up half-redneck, and I love 'em. Still, the weekend left me with lot's of questions. For example, "What did the few black people there think of the fact that for every display of the Stars & Stripes there were ten displays of the Stars & Bars?"
Some were very curious about my ride. One guy said, "You packed your tent and all that gear on your bike?" Yup, with room to spare!
It was wilder than I expected, and my appetite for discovering the "Biking Life" was satiated.
If anyone is interested in hearing (or seeing) more about how the "other half" lives ... let me know.
https://image24.webshots.com/25/3/80/59/296...82VOmmca_ph.jpg
And here is the Sunset Strip of Little Sturgis ....
https://image44.webshots.com/45/5/95/42/227...82dBPqax_ph.jpg
My feeble attempt at analogy: It was the motorcycle equivalent of a Presbyterian from Long Island walking into an AME church service in South Chicago. (No moral or racial overtones intended, just complete culture shock!)
What to say? So many people, so few teeth.
Ostensibly, it was a "Bike Rally." Bikes took a back seat to babes and booze, for most in attendance. I use the words babes and attendance loosely. Many of the females saw their best days long ago, and many attending in body were absent in mind.
Bike events? They had drag races on dirt, but other than that the bike events weren't much.
It was a two-wheel, redneck circus! I saw clowns, I saw elephants, and I saw daring men riding two "ponies" at the same time.
I guess if you ride a Harley, you don't mind doing what comes difficult. While alcohol consumption was enormous, Little Sturgis is held in a DRY COUNTY. Every drop had to be packed in.
I didn't see any other FJR's. I did see a few sportbikes, scooters, standards and lots of metric crusers. Oh, and ten thousand variations on what constitutes a "real motorcycle."
Bottom line is that people were pretty accommodating in a live-and-let-live way. I grew up half-redneck, and I love 'em. Still, the weekend left me with lot's of questions. For example, "What did the few black people there think of the fact that for every display of the Stars & Stripes there were ten displays of the Stars & Bars?"
Some were very curious about my ride. One guy said, "You packed your tent and all that gear on your bike?" Yup, with room to spare!
It was wilder than I expected, and my appetite for discovering the "Biking Life" was satiated.
If anyone is interested in hearing (or seeing) more about how the "other half" lives ... let me know.
https://image24.webshots.com/25/3/80/59/296...82VOmmca_ph.jpg
And here is the Sunset Strip of Little Sturgis ....
https://image44.webshots.com/45/5/95/42/227...82dBPqax_ph.jpg
Last edited by a moderator: