breakfasts served every morning by the Grace reported and sustained, by some miracle, no one
Lutheran Church. This particular church has was killed. While this little stunt by Mother Nature
been serving breakfast to hungry motorcyclists could ruin an evening for sure, rumor has it that it
and vendors during the rally for the past 23 years. only got worse. I have heard several reports of
Funds raised by this service are disbursed folks being written “faulty equipment” citations
through several channels including, Meals on trying to leave establishments after the storm.
Wheels, Hospice, the local senior citizens bus The funny thing is the faulty equipment was due
and many, many more deserving recipients. The to damage from the storm.
average attendance at these breakfasts peaks as The weather was not the only monkey
high as 700 to 800 on busy days with 3100 wrench thrown into things. Folks that paid over
breakfasts served on the average week. $100 each to see Aerosmith got exactly 2½
Sturgis Harley-Davidson was bustling all rally songs for their money before Steven Tyler took a
long with folks just itching to get that special header off the Buffalo Chip stage, gaining 20
piece of chrome or apparel to complete the per- stitches in his head and a broken shoulder. Luck-
sonal look they were after. Folks that stopped by ily I got a picture of him in town earlier in the day
were treated to one of the most impressive feats while he was still undamaged.
of engineering I have ever seen. Steve “Doc” Overall, my estimation of a milder crowd this
Hopkins of Doc’s Harley-Davidson in Shawano year seems to be backed up by the South Dakota
County, Wisconsin brought his “Timeline” mo- Highway Patrol. They reported that through Sat-
torcycle for everyone to marvel over. Imagine, if urday, August 8, there were 241 DUI arrests in
you will, a motorcycle 24½feet long, featuring all Sturgis, down slightly from last year’s 253. Felony
the air-cooled V-twin engines the Motor Com- drug arrests also decreased from 35 to 28, while
pany had produced from the first F-head to the misdemeanor drug arrests plummeted, from
present Twin Cam model. Not only does each 191 to 109. Attendance figures have yet to be re-
engine run, they each have their own oil tank and leased, but estimates put it on near or slightly
they each contribute power to the bike. The better than last year’s numbers. A report from
scooter seats 10 riders, sports 2 front and 2 rear The Sturgis Rally News stated that “State traffic
wheels, displaces 8790 cc’s, and requires over counts for the first few days of the rally were up
40 feet of chain to couple all the power plants. 2.9% over last year,” and there “was a 12% in-
The backbone of the frame is actually a 9-gallon crease in state sales tax receipts for Sturgis and
fuel tank. The paint job is adorned with small pic- Meade County for the first few days of the rally.”
tures relating to each engine’s lineage and im- Officially only one fatality was listed at this year’s
portant events in the Motor Company’s history. I rally, but, as you probably know by now, Bruce
have never seen anything as impressive. Rossmeyer owner of several Harley-Davidson
We had a good time meeting new friends, dealerships including his world famous Destina-
running into local friends, and checking out the tion Daytona was also killed on a rural Wyoming
sights, but by Thursday morning we were ready road on his way to the rally.
to start the ride home. This decision saved us Overall, other than the cops, the storms, and
from the hail storm that pummeled the area that the towing of scooters, we had a great time. I
very night. I am not talking quarter sized hail ei- tend to believe next year’s 70th anniversary will
ther; this was the full on boulder from the sky, be a huge event. It always seems that the an-
baseball-sized variety. The worst damage ap- niversaries marking each 10 years are mon-
peared to be centered just east of town near the strous. We can only hope that the city of Sturgis
Full Throttle. Motorcycles, RVs and cages were realizes who the golden sheep are and will quit
beat to hell and back. While many injuries were trying to fleece them at every turn.
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