Rapid city is so far away and big city. Myself I don't go there. I like deadwood. I am not going to Sturgis to visit dealers. You can do that anywhere.

 

Thank You for that Enlightenment.
I certainly understand why you stay away from Black Hills HD and crowds in huge city like Rapid City. And a far ride from Deadwood
Do you stay away the week before, during, or after the Rally?

 

I go after by 3 weeks in Sept. There is a considerable reduction in our cabin rental and the roads are mostly ours. No long wait for food and beer and the weather is a lot cooler.

 

I’m not really a crowd person but during the rally is so much fun. Only jack wagons I run into are people on the roads that don’t know how to ride their bikes. Speed limit will be 50 and they are doing 30 looking around, I usually blow by them in a passing zone and go on enjoying my ride. Went for the first time in 18 and not sure I would enjoy it cause of the crowd, loved it and have gone every year except 19, spread a dear friends ashes in TN in 19. If you just want the riding go before or after, if you want the full experience go the week of, already have our campsite reserved for next year.

 

I like going during the rally, only time I have gone, 4 times. rapid city to me is big boring city, far away. I an not much for urban city riding. But I guess some big city folk might like it.

 

I went for the first time in 21 and thought the same that would be turned off by the crowds but ended up having the time of my life. Was there last year and this one also and plan on doing the 2025. Don't spend a lot of time in Sturgis but enjoy riding the black hills area and being around others who love motorcycling as much as I do.

 

It’s been 5 years since I’ve gone and unlikely I will go again.
The journey getting there and returning is what I remember and enjoyed the most. Avoiding the main interstates and going through small towns in Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska. Stopping for gas, a cup of coffee, eating and staying in Mom&Pop hotels, restaurants, bars. Comparing notes with other riders.
Takes me back to my early years when most of Americs was like that.

 

... Sturgis has never been on my bucket list... but... if I can glue it together, I will go next year... get there the last couple of days of the event itself, to be able to say I did it... then stay for a few days for the local roads... then head east... wander about the heartland... and do some of those bucket list items i have on it, while I still have a functional bucket...

 

Ive been 3 times.
2016 a group of 5 rode Ga to SD and were there week of rally & camped in Glencoe. I rode solo on my bike. Rained at least some every day of the trip. It was fun, I got the shirt & all that good stuff but I’ll probably not do that again.
2018 we arrived 2 up in the hills the Sunday before the rally and rolled out the Friday it started. Camped in hotels. Much more enjoyable to me at this point in my life. Vendors were there but we really only went into Sturgis 1 day. Most of the time we were riding in the hills.
2023 was a much longer trip for us. We rode to Cody Wyoming and hit Beartooth , Chief Joseph & the east side of Yellowstone.

 

My answer is not in the poll. Either a week or two prior, or in September. That’s what I’m doing this year.

I’ve been there for Sturgis week several times, several other times just ran into Sturgis for a day, but the creeping sameness was taking over 10-15 years ago. It used to attract lots of small specialty vendors, handyman stuff, neat stuff not available through bike shops. Then Chinese cheap knockoffs took over, now replaced with mega spreads of Pakistani, Indian, Vietnamese, or other 3rd world economies who are replacing China. I have no interest in downtown. Harley Sturgis used to sell a ton of over stocked helmets, now they import cheap helmets. Different business model, not better or worse, just different and not what I’m looking to experience.

So my real answer is after you’ve all gone home, summer thunderstorms are rare because it’s getting colder, but. Freezing is still a month or more away. After all, it’s not really the “Sturgis” rally, it is the “Black Hills” rally of which Sturgis is a centerpiece.