Myself and 3 friends are leaving VA on Friday morning. A couple of days in Sturgis will be a big part of a two week cross country trip. Safe travels to all.

 

You just need to take a lot of pictures to show them and tell them what a great time you had and they’ll be chomping at the bit to go next year.

 

Don't really want to go by myself.

 

You won't be alone.

 

Everybody's different. I've ridden by myself, and with groups, honestly I prefer to go by myself. Stop when I want, travel the speed I want, etc.

 

Living in Vegas, I don't own rain gear. After reading this thread, I ordered a set just in case. After a ride recently, my wife said her bike was running kinda crappy, so I performed some maintenance on it and we went for a short ride this morning. Got caught in a thunderstorm and we both got soaked, and she ran out of gas in the middle of it. Flipped it to reserve, and when we got home, the rain gear had been delivered. Haha! And her bike is good again.

 

I've ridden to Sturgis 15-16 times through the years. Some of my favorite things to see:

1--Mount Rushmore . . . it really is impressive and worth the parking fee. But get there EARLY . . . right when it opens, do the tour (45 minutes or so) and get out before the huge crowds get there.

2--Ride the Eye of the Needle road in Custer State Park and watch out for the buffalo.

3--Ride up to Deadwood and walk the downtown area. Watch out for the Dead Man's hand.

4--Ride up to Spearfish and take Alt14 (Spearfish Canyon Road). Nature at it's best.

5.--The Ride to the Devil's Tower is nice. Be sure and ride HWY 34/24 through Belle Fourche (lots of biker stuff going on there).

6--Check out Black Hills Harley Davidson in Rapid City. There are almost as many biker vendors there as in Sturgis.

7--On your way in Ride the Badlands National Park road and be sure and stop at Wall Drug in Wall, SD to get your free cup of ice water.

8--If you like barren, wide open country, ride HWY 2 through Nebraska from just north of Kearney to North Platte on your way to Sturgis. Towns of 400 pop are 50 miles apart out there.

Bring rain gear, it will rain at least one of the days you are there. Keep hydrated, its high desert climate. Only bring one or two shirts with you, you will buy a bunch to wear while you are there. Watch out for the crazies. Respect others and have fun.

BTW, I'll be there Aug 4-7. I'll be guy in the black t-shirt.

 

My favorite Sturgis t-shirt from a couple of years ago said:

"I Rode My Bike to Trailer Week at Sturgis"

 

Why not?
Thats for sure. I've ridden up there alone several times. It never bothered me. You'll see lots of bikes on the road going and coming. I'm gonna try and make it up there at some point.

 

Great inputs Preacher. Adding on to your's a little:

Don't forget to walk the pathway all the way around the center. I'd been there 3 times previous before I knew it was there. Great views and you end up directly under Rushmore (more or less). Very nice....

While in Belle Fourche visit the Belle Inn restaurant for breakfast. Cowboy steak and eggs kinda place. Incredible.

On our way to Yellowstone we ended up on I-80 in Nebraska and it was so much better than riding I-90. Took Hwy 26 out of Ogallala all the way to Torrington, WY. Was much the same as you stated above. Great road full of awesome little towns.