The legendary ride marking the H-D/Sturgis 75-year deal
On January 15, 2015, Harley-Davidson announced that it had signed an unprecedented 75-season deal with the city of Sturgis, South Dakota, to be the state Motorcycle of the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. As part of the announcement on that frigid, grey morning hours in Milwaukee, a H-D worker, mounted on a new Street 750, began yanking bricks from the wall of the famous Motorbike Only parking area beyond your Juneau Avenue headquarters. The high-revving, liquid-cooled twin did burnout after burnout, until 73 bricks were free. He repeated the semidemolition process once more at the historic entrance to the initial factory location a few hundred foot away, and again at the H-D Museum.
These 75 bricks, honoring 75 years of the Sturgis Motorbike Rally and representing The Engine Company’s past, present, and future, were destined for use in constructing The Harley-Davidson Rally Point, a fresh year-round, open-air plaza in downtown Sturgis. The plaza rests on the part of Main St. and what's now officially called Harley-Davidson Way (previously Second Road). As well as for the occasion Harley also announced that on March 23, the bricks would be loaded onto motorcycles and ridden the 900-plus kilometers to Sturgis, making Harley Owners Group (HOG) and dealership appearances along the way.
A few weeks later, I received a phone call from The Engine Company asking me to become listed on the trip. As a Wisconsin resident, I know that icy conditions, below-freezing temperature ranges, and probable snow storms are very much a factor that time of year still. As though anticipating that very notion, the next word of my invitation mentioned that I'd also be provided full heated equipment and a 2015 CVO Street Glide for the trip. I couldn’t say “yes” fast enough.
A few weeks later I awoke bright and early in Milwaukee’s Iron Horse Hotel for the ride. Monday it was, March 23rd. Bursting with enthusiasm, I flung the curtains open to benefit from the view of the H-D Museum and sunlight increasing over Milwaukee’s unique skyline. What I got instead was a snow shower that got already begun showing its white aftereffects on the museum and downtown Milwaukee.
But to my pleasurable shock, we got the green light to fire up the bicycles and hit the highway for our westward adventure. Our first stop would be Wisconsin H-D in Oconomowoc about 30 minutes outside Milwaukee. We brushed off our snow-covered steeds, cranked in the heated gear, and to perplexed onlookers and motorists exited away from the brick entrance to H-D’s head office on Juneau Avenue for the first knee of our trip. I couldn’t help but notice that the entry got one brick lacking as I motored past.
The ride to Oconomowoc took nearly an full hour as our caravan clawed our way out of town, carefully staying within the clean tire tracks organized by the motor cars before us. The CVO Road Glide sensed surprisingly stable in such conditions, thanks a lot in large part to the bike’s low middle of gravity. The Dunlop auto tires never lost grip, and the 110″ engine’s power let me decide on a higher equipment to minimize comfortably, or even eliminate, wheel spin. We’ll have a complete report of this bike in another issue.
Enthusiastic employees, offering hot cups of coffee, greeted us when we arrived at Wisconsin H-D, mon which was supposed be closed on the. Term got away that conditions were considerably worse inland eventually. That didn’t deter us, though - we were having a significant amount of fun to call it quits at this time! So, we saddled and headed to Madison to go to Badger H-D up, which is the dealership which i frequent.
From Madison we collection our GPS for Sauk City, home of Sauk Prairie H-D. My warmed riding gear made the cool, one-hour trip almost uneventful. Our path sheet pointed us to scenic Highway 60 along the Wisconsin River, however the snow plow crews experienced yet to project that far, so we waited at Sauk for much longer than anticipated awhile. A brand new snowfall in rural Wisconsin is as serene and beautiful as one could ever come across, and I used to be thankful to be experiencing it on the motorcycle where all the senses come into play. We eventually returned on the road, stopping for lunch about halfway to Waukon H-D in Waukon, Iowa. As each of us emerged from our riding equipment at the diner, our waitress politely asked how our snowmobile trip was going. She nearly freaked out whenever we told her that people were on Harleys. We were the crazy ones maybe?
Crossing the mighty Mississippi River from Wisconsin into Iowa offered significant amounts of pride and reprieve as the most challenging area of the day was behind us and we had ridden every single mile of it. With darkness approaching and dark ice a major concern, we loaded the grungy, road-weary machines into the support trailer at Cedar River H-D and did the final stretch out to the hotel in Mason City in the pick up truck. Foremost, though, we had accomplished our goal of stopping at every planned dealership along the real way. And we do etc two wheels, not four.
The following morning hours there is no snow to contend with, but the temperature was lower, the humidity was higher, and I put my heated equipment to the test. We kicked off your day at H-D of Mason City, where, extremely, local HOG people acquired also braved the frosty to greet us and wish us well on our trip. Four of them, including one female on her behalf brand-new Softail Deluxe, even took up extra bricks and became a member of us for a extend! We halted at Okoboji H-D in Okoboji, Iowa, before hitting the road for J&L H-D in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, our last stop for the day. As though heavy and chilly winds weren’t enough for us to contend with, it started to rain. No, make that a downpour. Again, due to the inclement weather, we were way behind timetable, forcing us to insert the bikes for the ultimate knee, and five hours to Rapid City, South Dakota.
It was a short, sunny hop from Quick City to Black Hills H-D, our last dealer destination. After enjoying an in-depth tour of the state-of-the-art dealership, we going to downtown Sturgis to provide all 75 bricks for the official groundbreaking of the Harley-Davidson Rally Point.
A sizable crowd got gathered for the groundbreaking ceremony, enthusiastically cheering us - and the bricks - once we drawn up and parked in the cordoned-off section out front. Expenses Davidson and Sturgis Mayor Tag Carstensen began things off with speeches before the dirt structure zone. Looking over us from the hillside was the famous Sturgis sign, and you also couldn’t help but feel proud to be a part of the occasion. Where were the shovels for the ground-breaking ceremony? There wasn’t a shovel to be seen (unless you count number the Shovelhead chopper that was present). Instead, motocross celebrity Carey Hart, riding a Project LiveWire, and H-D stock flat track racer Brad Baker aboard a Street 750, made an appearance and, on command, proceeded to do pavement and dirt burnouts, respectively, shrouding attendees in a swirling storm of car tire and sand smoke cigarettes. It had been only fitting that the trip of an eternity that started in Milwaukee with a Harley-Davidson burnout result in Sturgis with a double Harley-Davidson burnout. You can read more news here : http://www.buygenericsonlinenoprescription.com/
Wily readers might be questioning how we fit 75 bricks onto only seven motorcycles. The simple truth is, we didn’t, although we probably could’ve used the added weight for traction. Before departing Juneau Avenue, we were each given one brick to steward from the site of the initial manufacturer in Milwaukee to the Rally Point in Sturgis, the rest were in the truck, and handed out to the brave few riders who joined us. Ceremoniously, the riders and support vehicle drivers collected in a group and lowered our bricks into the dirt that would soon be their last host to honor.
It was an epic ride truly, one that, using ways, took 75 years to perform. And we seven riders helped place the foundation, one brick at a time. AIM
