Sturgis Video Observations

[TN Mark]

No, I'm not at Sturgis. I can't even ride yet after full left knee replacement. So, I watch a few Sturgis videos and made a few observations.

Lots of Boss Hoss and V8 trikes
Lots of couples which is nice to see
Lots of riders with handlebars so high and arms so straight they can barely negotiate their bikes in parking lots
If you have a Harley and think it's somehow 'special', go to Sturgis. There are dozens of others exactly like your 'special'.
I spotted a few beautiful Victory bikes
So far I only saw one Moto Guzzi CA 1400, Black, two up. The bike and the couple looked awesome.

Yea, I know WG isn't the regular 'Sturgis' crowd. But, a few observations nonetheless.

[bacongrease]

 More and more trikes each year, and more various 3 wheelers.   More small bikes. I rode the FXR, could anyone fix the Stone if there was an issue.     

[MarcoSolo]

I was on 90/94 in Wisconsin going east Sunday morning and west Sunday afternoon and there were bunches of bikes headed west. Lots of rain in the morning but they were bombing nonetheless.

[Vagrant]

Going to Sturgis on my hog. Ha! I just drove from a fishing trip N. of Winnepeg to Ga. 1600 miles. I took I 29 and I 70 all the way through North and South Dakota, Nebraska a bit of Iowa and Kansas. I saw tons of Harley trailers heading there. There few actual riders and they were about 1/2 trikes.

[PeteS]

Ten years ago we were on our way to Oregon coming across South Dakota on Hwy 212. We stopped in Newell for lunch along with a lot of other bikers. I was thinking if riding through Sturgis just to see what it was all about until someone mentioned it took 3 hours to get through town. Being all loaded up for our trip that didn’t seem like much fun so we pressed on skipping Sturgis. That night in Gillette we were watching the news of traffic backed up for miles on I-90 near Rapid City. 212 had almost no traffic and you could travel any speed you wanted to.

Pete

[Perazzimx14]

I was just in Sturgis and the ony motorcycles we saw were the 4 we were on. Spent about 45 minutes split between the BMW shop and the HD shop the were on our way.

Going 2 weeks befroe the rally has its advantages

[Dr. Enzo Toma]

I've usually been there on a Ducati, with a group that's a mix of mostly Harleys and Honda GoldWings. If I get my V7 850 back from the 24,900 mile service in time, I'll be riding out there and catching the tail end of the event to meet some friends and family in Spearfish, SD.

Unfortunately we had two friends, a couple, die attending the rally this year. Very sad news. I did an AMCA ride with them in Illinois and Missouri in June.
https://www.kotatv.com/2026/08/10/illinois-couple-identified-fatal-motorcycle-crash-near-hill-city/

When I lived in Illinois I would often ride out with our club, and with a medium size group of bikes traveling together it was a relatively safe and comfortable trip. Riding out there on my own to meet up with the group though, it's become sketchier over the years. There's always been the joke of it being a trailer show, but each year it's more and more motorhomes pulling toy haulers on the way out there. You really need to plan your route and avoid interstates if you don't want to be on a motorcycle surrounded by such giant vehicles, driven by people who may only operate a rig that big a few times a year. They really don't mix well with motorcycles in terms of safety, and most multi-vehicle accidents I've witnessed in the area involving motorcycles have also involved RVs or trailers. During the rally, law enforcement have 0 tolerance for riding/driving under the influence (good!), and many places to stay have shuttle service between the hotels/campgrounds and Main St.

I typically don't spend much time on Main St in Sturgis, but some favorites to see in the general area are Spearfish Falls, hiking to Devils Bathtub from Spearfish Canyon, Devil's Tower not far into Wyoming, Custer State Park, D.C. Booth Historic National Fish Hatchery, the Jackpine Gypsies hill climb, Deadwood, and of course Wall Drug and the Badlands if you're coming from the east.

[Motormike]

Unfortunately we had two friends, a couple, die attending the rally this year. Very sad news. I did an AMCA ride with them in Illinois and Missouri in June.
https://www.kotatv.com/2026/08/10/illinois-couple-identified-fatal-motorcycle-crash-near-hill-city/

I looked up the report, and even tried to reconstruct it looking at Google maps.  The article mentions a vehicle passing on the shoulder, then says that somehow caused the riders to brake, lose control and rear end the Toyota that was waiting to turn.  Don't know or understand what a car passing on the shoulder around a stopped vehicle would cause that.  I suspect bad reporting.  RIP to your friends in any event. 

[Dr. Enzo Toma]

I was a bit confused by the details as well, and don't have more.
I pictured the 2 bikes riding behind an auto, that auto then swerves to the shoulder to pass a stopped car waiting to turn left, the bikes instead panic braked and crashed. IIRC Kurt had over 150k miles on that Panhead, so wasn't for lack of riding experience. Very unfortunate.

[TN Mark]

Sorry to read about your friends losing their lives like that Dr. Enzo.

[rudyr]

I was there was going to Ws.rally but saw storm between Ar &Ws. So off to Co. pike peak then to Sturgis mostly 2 lane hy. 106 deg out & 101 back after Sd. Went thru main St Sturges 2 time during the day.  Friend got a 26 trike and traded a 2023.  But don’t go topike peak with a bike with hyd. Clutch. The guy I was with lost a clutch on top of mt. came all the way down no clutch.  next day dealer told him pretty common brakes and clutch. just bleed the all the air out. 3200 mile 6 days was not to bad. Got in Sunday nite. My 80 year old friend and me (83)ready to ride Monday the young one (50’s) not so ready.rudy