Community Forums

Boeing Guy · 07-28-2011, 03:36 PM

I don't know if this is the right place for this thread. We just retired a week ago. I haven't ridden a bike for years but my neighbor goes to Sturgis for bike week every year and has invited us along the past couple of years. We have always declined since we are not motorcycle people any more and didn't want to use precious vacation time. So this year we accepted their invitation. We are staying at lazy J campground. Any IRV2ers going to Sturgis. I'm a bit leery about going to Sturgis for bike week. I heard there might be some drinking and partying going on. And some kind of rally in Hulett Wyoming on wednesday. Not sure my old body is ready for it. If your'er going maybe we can connect.

RJay · 07-28-2011, 04:03 PM

Hi Jim,
About five summers ago we spent the summer a the Lazy J RV park. The sites are very narrow and terraced with a beautify view. I understand the park has changed hands since we stayed there.

Sturgis is a must see during bike week, very entertaining to say the least and the sights...oh well, you just have to be there.

Easyrider · 07-28-2011, 04:15 PM

We won't be there but were there in '97 and had a great time. We didn't go to Hulett and heard later that it gets pretty wild there and I'm not sure I would want to go there. But the riding and scenery was great and if you're a people watcher you'll have plenty to watch while there. You'll see everything from celebrities to people that look like they spent their last nickel to get there talking and drinking a beer together. Downtown Strugis was so packed it took hours to get anywhere so we only went there once and then stayed away. There will be so many bikes that the overflow spreads out for about a 75 mile radius so all the surrounding cities and towns are also full of bikes and people. We stayed in Rapid City while out there and the traffic was almost all 2 wheeled during Sturgis week. Have fun- I wish I could go with you.

Lued · 07-28-2011, 04:28 PM

I will be there in a week,

I'm staying in a cabin near Lead SD in the hills, cool at night, Don't be leery about going, its not the Sturgis of the past, I know I was there, You can drink and party till ya drop, or you can take it easy and stay out of Jail.

now day's I'm back at camp by 8:00 or so, before dark, after dark the copes get bad. Wyo is the best, I like Sundance Wyo on Wednesday, Get a map of the hills and take a different trip every day, Have fun there is allot of stuff to take in. GO FOR IT

melvonnar · 07-28-2011, 06:05 PM

Been there:
If you like bikes and crazy drunks, thats the place to go for both.

MegaRoadie · 07-28-2011, 06:23 PM

Sturgis has been swallowed up in greed, glutony, debauchery, more greed, brawls, more debauchery, and even more greed, and the worse part is the Hollywood crowd now believes it is a "cool place" to come and show off their money.

Our last trip there was 2004, we actually had to stay in Wall, SD since I waited 6 months too late for reservations. Watching the "so called bikers" pull in in their toy hauler, offload the bikes, go to the sprinkler system and rub down with mud and dirt to look "weathered" and head out was a hoot. About as real as a used car salesman's swearing the corvette was owned by a school teacher who only drove it on sunday for the last hundred years... if ya get my drift.

The cost of anything/everything suffers from ego's bigger than the greed, the true bikers are gone, the T & A on display is great for 15 minutes then it gets old as well.

Gone are the days of trying to stay in a group hoping that someone sees the parts falling off the harley, sleepin in a sleepinbag in a garbage bag along the side of rest areas, drinking coffe made with the morning's bath water or outta the rest area sinks, and hopin it got hot enuf to kill the germs and bacteria... lol

I'll take my morning tea with Bailey's Irish Creme in the slideout kitchen gaucho with a poached egg and a side of turkey bacon as I try and remember what it felt like when everybody else's damned bike started right up and I was holdin onto a belt bein pulled down the rest area egress road hopin a jump start worked... lol Those days are gone and I can say with limited certainty I do NOT miss them at all !!!!! And I shiver at the times I tried to explain to DW where all the bruises, cuts, scrapes, missing teeth, and big creditcard bills to harley shops came from. Yes... those were the days,,, WERE !!!

I do NOT suffer from mental illness, but rather enjoy it daily !

Jus Cruisin · 07-28-2011, 07:03 PM

Been ridin' for 40+ years and still haven't done the Sturgis thing. If it is anything like Daytona Bike Week (live near Daytona), I wouldn't recommend anyone that hasn't ridden for years to pick Sturgis as a place to get back into riding. Too many bikes and a bunch of unpredictable riders.

WheelingIt · 07-28-2011, 08:01 PM

We don't ride but we were in the area (Custer) the week *before* Sturgis last year. There were a TON of bikers around and roads were pretty congested (we waited over 1/2 hour just to get into see Mount Rushmore), but we didn't really experience any out-of-hand partying or drunkeness. There was definitely a bit of fun going on and lots of "show", but nothing that (I thought) got out of hand. We stayed at Custer State Park which was fairly laid back. Don't know what the parks closer to the event are like or whether the week itself gets more crazy.

jdcollins · 07-29-2011, 09:55 AM

I was there in 2007. It was on my "bucket list". After 30 years of riding I wanted to do it while I still could on a bike. :-)

I blogged my trip cross country trip. I'm glad I did because its a faint memory now. (No wise cracks please :-) ) Here's my BLOG.

Joe

menoble · 07-29-2011, 10:41 AM

We were just out there over the 4th of July, stayed at Whispering Pines CG near Silver City. It was fabulous, for a holiday weekend it was not crowded anywhere, not even Mt. Rushmore! Sturgis itself was pretty slow since most of the big attractions (mega-bars) weren't open, and the busloads of sexy bargirls hadn't arrived yet. But that's not the scenery I went out to see anyway, Bike Week in Daytona is better for that, because that is ALL there is to see in that part of FL

. We got a map and rode all of the Suggested Itineraries, and a few side trips like Nemo, Badlands, etc. The people I talked to says it is just crazy out there during the rally, but they love it because it brings millions of $$$ to the local economy. From my experience, a lot of today's "bikers" are grey hairs like me.

baja · 07-31-2011, 06:10 PM

We are heading back to Sturgis and stay at Days End campound they are in town for easy access, take a shuttle bus to attend concerts all week, lots of fun of course our bikes are in the trailer rode it once 1300 mi to old to call it fun now besides that's why we have a motorhome

Ray,IN · 07-31-2011, 10:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WheelingIt

We don't ride but we were in the area (Custer) the week *before* Sturgis last year. There were a TON of bikers around and roads were pretty congested (we waited over 1/2 hour just to get into see Mount Rushmore), but we didn't really experience any out-of-hand partying or drunkeness. There was definitely a bit of fun going on and lots of "show", but nothing that (I thought) got out of hand. We stayed at Custer State Park which was fairly laid back. Don't know what the parks closer to the event are like or whether the week itself gets more crazy.

How about that! We were there that same week. We were parked at Crazy Horse CG atop the mountain N. of Custer. Got a hail storm one evening; it was in the mid 80's in Custer that day. After we left and headed E on the interstate, about20 miles W of Wall Drug we saw about 8 motorcycles being loaded onto a flatbed trailer while another 6-8 were parked in the median. Something caused a wreck, resulting in 3 ambulances and a medi-vac chopper at the scene. Westbound traffic was re-routed while the highway was cleaned of wrecked bikes, broken bodies, and emergency vehicles.
DW banned me from riding anymore, I crashed badly (once) and she still remembers vividly.

powerboatr · 08-01-2011, 10:05 AM

my older sis and brother in law will be there
look for a big fiver being pulled by a real nice maroon 250 KR, she drives.....
he follows on the cycle, they are over 50 and pretty down to earth

WheelingIt · 08-01-2011, 05:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ray,IN

How about that! We were there that same week. We were parked at Crazy Horse CG atop the mountain N. of Custer. Got a hail storm one evening; it was in the mid 80's in Custer that day.

Wow..what a coincidence. I think I remember that same hail storm! Small world!