Our family vacation to see Mt. Rushmore, Deadwood, Yellowstone was in August 2000, so of course we stopped at the I-90 exit to Sturgis to pick up some Sturgis 60th anniversary t-shirts,
Parked our rental Ford Explorer right in front of the first "Sturgis gear" stand we saw and got out.
We bought shirts for the whole family, plus a really nice "I rode mine to Sturgis" pin, got back into our rental Ford Explorer and drove off.
We'd rented the car in Denver (airline strike left us stranded after missing our connection to rapid city), and drove to Deadwood where we had a hotel reservation.
We saw maybe 20 motorcycles headed to Sturgis the entire distance, and probably 4 times as many fancy motorhomes, expensive pickup trucks etc. pulling Wells-Cargo type trailers.
The parking lot at out hotel was overflowing with similar rigs.
Reminds me of this little story....
How the Grinch Stole Sturgis (author unknown)
Every tramp in Scooterville loved Sturgis a lot, But the Grinch who lived just north of Scooterville... Did not!!
And so every August for 63 years, Amid a great thunder and crunching of gears, The tramps rode the Black Hills, those pagans and trolls! Like salmon returning again to their shoals. And the Grinch would turn bitter as coffee turned cold, and could not be approached and would not be consoled.
The Grinch hated Sturgis! The whole Sturgis deal! And if you ask why that's the way he would feel, Well, it could be his attitude wasn't just right, Or could it be his truss bound his buttocks too tight!
But I find that the likeliest reason of all, May have been that his balls were tw o sizes too small! But whatever the reason - his truss or his balls - The Grinch hated Sturgis, just hated it all...
Just flat hated those tramps with their swagger and airs, And hard miles of pavement that showed in their stares. Of storms in the mountains and wind on the plains, Or wrenching on roadsides in pouring down rains.
He hated those chicks with their pectorals bare, And their T-back bikini's and tattoos like Cher! He'd seen all their pictures at home in his chair, He'd read Easyriders and wanted his share!! Yes, the very word "Sturgis" would send Grinch on a tear, But what irked him the worst was he couldn't be there!!
The Grinch cried to the sky, "Am I really to blame?" Can I help being frightened by rides in the rain? And he moaned and he whined, "Must I shoulder the shame" And he grumbled and scoured his cowardly brain, Until inspired, at last to him it came..... I COULD TRAILER THE BIKE THERE , WHY, IT'S ALMOST THE SAME!!
And thusly encouraged, he returned to his town, And called to the trailer trash, "Gather ye round!!!" "For I've had Epiphany! Brothers take note, You can trailer a bike like you trailer a boat!!!"
"We'll park out on the outskirts , offload the machines And pretend that we rode in from, say, New Orleans!!!" So the trash loaded trailers and cried what a hoot, "We'll dress up like bikers with leather and boots... Festoon them with conchos and feathers and such! Oh what do you think, Is this eye patch too much?"
And they dialed up the A/C, and punched in the cruise, Voila! Now to Sturgis - without the abuse! The abuse that 2 wheels are rumored to give. NO! We live to trailer and trailer to live!!
The trash swarmed to Black Hills, their purpose well focused To drown the small town like a plague of caged locusts!! To balloon the run's turn out to three hundred grand! Til the few real b ikers had nowhere to stand, And the Grinch grinned and giggled to see what he'd done- Now Interstate 90 looked like Hwy 101!!!
Now those tramps out of Scooterville were not so dim witted, They saw who was there and they saw who there fitted!!
So one said to the Grinch, "Who are you fooling jack? Your jeans reek of Downy, your scoot's too imac!! You're spoiling our party with your trailer posers! What's the name of your outfit? Satan's chauffeurs?"
But the Grinch grumbled back, "Now it's OUR party too! We invited ourselves just like did you! Just show me the sign that says only some bum, Who rides motorcycles is welcome to come, And we'll load up our trailers and start our RVs, And head for Laconia, or Daytona Beach!!"
Now the tramp out of Scooterville was taken aback No such sign existed, had ever, in fact, Such things were unspoken; all part of the lore. No such sign had ever been needed before!!!
The tramps had to concede and withdraw from the field... The Grinch and his ilk were unwilling to yield, And flooded down main street of Sturgis by night... And by day lined the highways in lines out of sight.. The tramps knew the end of their era was nigh, And a breeze blew among them, a general sigh. The tramp's spirits were trampled, and a mist filled their eyes. Till suddently some yelled "Wait, here comes Clive!"
And the cycle lord moseyed thru the bikers downcast, And boomed "Cheer up brothers, we've not seen the last, Of our noble degenerate lifestyle pass!"
Then Malcom E. Clive popped open a cold can of beer, He stared at the Grinch with a leer and a sneer, He shook his head slowly and hacked his throat clear!! Then preached brother Malcom "Thats not why we're here!" "It's not for the pins or the patches or gear! It's not for for babes with tits out to here - Okay, maybe the babes, and the beer." "Sturgis ain't something you buy in a store, Or pull on a trailer, no, it's something much more."
"See, the Sturgis we love doesn't happen in town! Isn't drag pipes and paint jobs, or pulling tops down! The Sturgis we love is always around... It's the sunset you saw from a scoot broken down, It's the story you tell of the hail in Cheyenne, The dust storm in Julesburg, the chill in Montan."
"The town merely serves as a place we all go. To tell our stories to people who know ...... To tell those road tales of deluge and drought. To crazies who know what YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT!!!"
And yes there are trailers, and more every year, And guys who just ride under skies crystal clear, And pull into town in a jeep wagoneer. And the sign may say "STURGIS"......
BUT THEY'VE NEVER BEEN THERE!!!!
America's not for everyone! 
