FJR1300 & Little Sturgis, KY

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bkbennett

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St. Peters, MO
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.

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https://image24.webshots.com/25/3/80/59/296...82VOmmca_ph.jpg

And here is the Sunset Strip of Little Sturgis ....

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https://image44.webshots.com/45/5/95/42/227...82dBPqax_ph.jpg

 
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Well, it seemed like oil and water mixed okay despite the culture shock. I am as US Citizen that was born and immigrated from England when I was a baby. Being English, I was a minority when I went to a Jamaican Independence Day party. Now Jamaica's independence was having their 20th anniversary that year, in other words, the wounds were still seeping, and not healed all the way over yet.

I was there with my brother and my sister. We seemed to be in our own crowd until I got some balls and asked a girl to dance. We danced and I was very respectful, and then suddenly we were part of the party and accepted in. I think the fact that I know pretty much ever Marley tune by heart helped ;)

It's amazing to me how from the outside things look so foreign and foreboding, yet when we jump in the mix it's usually easier to get along than people would anticipate.

There have been, in a very few cases, where jumping in was NOT a good idea, but I won't bother talking about those now. Sounds like a fun experience! Did they put knobbies on the Harleys for dirt drag?

 
Sounds like a fun experience! Did they put knobbies on the Harleys for dirt drag?
Some put on knobbies, yes.

It was a lot of fun. You're right about jumping in and finding out the water is not as bad as it looks. In general, my experience is that those who ride have a libertarian approach to life -- live and let live, just don't tread on me or mine.

 
I'm getting a permission denied on the piccies. Since good oral hygiene is the top priority in rural NY I just have to see for myself :lol:

 
So how was the tooth -to- tat ratio?

It's been my experience that it isn't always that great <lol>. Like you said though... It's still fun.

 
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