2010 Sturgis Rally Report

With locations and activities spread out over a wide area, it’s difficult to get an accurate count of attendees. Sturgis city officials count the tons of trash hauled away to indicate the number of people in town, and the tonnage was up nearly 18% as of August 10, five days before the weeklong event officially ended. More than 750 vendor permits had been issued in Sturgis, the most since 2007.

According to local officials, 17,600 people visited Mount Rushmore on Aug. 10, the largest number of people to visit the national monument in a single day since the park began keeping track in 2000. Park rangers say traffic to the national monument was heavy all through the week as thousands of visitors made the 50-mile side trip to and from Sturgis.

Motorcycle.com added to the attendance total by cruising into Sturgis for a brief visit. Harley-Davidsons, of course, are the dominant bike of choice at the rally, but you’ll see every cruiser brand you can think of, plus a healthy smattering of Gold Wings, BMW s and sportbikes. The thousands of motorcycles parked day and night on Main Street was like a bike show combined with a market-research clinic. Check out what we found in our Sturgis Bikes gallery.

Music and motorcycles go together like petrol and oxygen, and the Legendary Buffalo Chip campground was the place to see some big-time rock & roll acts. The Chip’s Lon Nordbye says the lineup (including Kid Rock, Bob Dylan, ZZ Top, Motley Crue, The Guess Who, The Scorpions, The Doobie Brothers and Ozzy Osbourne) is one of the top-10 entertainment buys in the country. We only wish we had time to see them all.

A bike rally with about a half-million attendees has so much going on that it’s impossible to cover it all. Below are a few snippets of news centered around the Sturgis rally.

AMD World Championship of Custom Bike Building

The AMD World Championship of Custom Bike Building returned to Sturgis for its sixth annual competition. This year’s Freestyle World Championship title went to Belgium’s Freddie “Krugger” Bertrand for the innovative Veon convertible motorcycle. The V-Rod powered Veon has an adjustable frame that transforms the bike’s riding geometry from a low-riding cruiser mode to a more aggressive sport mode.

In cruiser mode, the Veon sits low to the ground with a 23.8 inch seat height with the front end out at a 30-degree rake for a 63.4 inch wheel base. At the flick of the switch, the bike transforms to sport mode. The front end moves inward for a 23 degree rake, the wheelbase shrinks to 60.4 inches, and the seat moves up to a height of 30.5 inches. Ground clearance also increases to 9.3 inches from 6.7 inches to allow for greater lean angles. The Veon uses two sets of footpegs to accommodate the different riding positions.

Bertrand, who finished third in the AMD Championship in 2004, 2005 and 2009, built the bike for Norwegian engineer Peer Toftner who designed the transforming technology. Mark van der Kwaak performed the CAD and engineering work while Bertrand did the actual construction.

Second place went to Mark Daley of Oregon’s Thunder Struck Inc. Daley’s Sniper chopper uses an Indian Motorcycles Powerplus motor with the inlet and outlet ports reversed. The heads were modified so that the correct sized valves could be operated by the reverse grind cam.

Third place went to the Championship’s first-ever entrant from Belarus. Yuri Shif of Yuri Shif Customs brought his ’30s German race car inspired creation called The Machine. Shif started by joining two early BMW Boxer engines at the cranks and then reversed the rear cylinder heads so he could install a supercharger to feed all four inlet ports. Shif’s Machine also captured the World Championship title in the Metric class.

The U.K.’s Shaw Speed and Custom took home a Screamin’ Eagle motor for winning the Modified Harley-Davidson class with the Strike True II.

Check out our 2010 AMD Championship gallery for pictures of other custom builds.

Pee-wee Does Sturgis

Actor Paul Reubens, in the role of his ’80s cult character Pee-wee Herman, was a special guest of the Legendary Buffalo Chip. Pee-wee Herman arrived at Buffalo Chip Sunday in the sidecar of a 1938 Kiwi Indian Motorcycle, representing the year the first Sturgis Motorcycle Rally was held.

At Buffalo Chip, Pee-wee led the crowd in an attempt at setting a record for the largest performance of his famous “Tequila” dance from his 1985 film Pee-wee’s Big Adventure. Pee-wee also taped a segment for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno that aired Aug. 11.

Pee-wee also led this year’s Legends Ride, a fund-raising event benefiting the Black Hills Children’s Home and the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum and Hall of Fame. The ride has helped raise nearly $100,000 over the past two years, and this year’s ride looks to be the biggest yet. Unlike the nearly 300 riders that took part, Pee Wee rode a Schwinn bicycle dressed up like the “Easy Rider” Captain America Chopper at the head of the parade. Other celebrities that took part in the Legends Ride include actor Lorenzo Lamas of “Renegade” fame and a tie-dyed Rupert Boneham from the reality show “Survivor”.

2010 Sturgis Hall of Fame Class

The Sturgis Motorcycle Museum inducted six new members to its Hall of Fame. This year’s inductees include:

Putting the Final Touches on a Restored Classic

Bill Rodencal, Harley-Davidson Museum restorer and conservator, and Ray Drea, Harley-Davidson vice president and director of styling, pinstriped a 1914 Harley Model 10-E. Ralph Gullickson of South Dakota, whose uncle bought the bike 1915, had the bike restored at the Harley-Davidson Museum, and Drea suggested they apply the final pinstriping at Sturgis. The vintage motorcycle will remain in the family, to be passed on to Ralph’s son, Greg Gullickson.