Day 53

Day 53; still in Sturgis South Dakota

I'm a little bit conflicted tonight. Typically I talk about everything that happens in a day, but I've been told that Sturgis is kind of like Vegas... What happens here, stay here. I'll try to find a happy medium.

Last year, when I came with my dad and two uncles, Harley test rides were held at the Harley dealership in Rapid City. We went there today only to find out that test rides for Harleys are in Sturgis. Fortunately, there were a few vendors that my dad wanted to talk to about their products. Then we headed back to Sturgis.

My mom's cousin JR doesn't ever want to ride a Harley (something about having a reputation to maintain), so we went to the Indian and canam demo instead. Let me start with the canam. It may resemble a motorcycle with regards to looks, but drives completely different! The steering for me was stiff and touchy. You have to put force into it to turn, but then it shoots off in the direction quickly. You also can't lean into turns; making it harder to stay on. Back to the fun stuff, the bikes!

I had never ridden an Indian motorcycle until today. So when the lady asked which bike I wanted to ride, I had no idea. I told her that I wanted to go fast and she directed me to the Scout. It's 69 cubic inches (1133 cubic centimeters), which is a bigger engine than I have in my bike. The Scout is also about half the size of mine. Bigger engine on a smaller bike makes a happier Gregg! That bike has enough power to accelerate quickly in 6th gear going up a hill! Might be a future bike of mine. Then I tried the vintage (a bagger). Has a bigger engine, yet I was not impressed by its performance on the road. It was hard to maneuver and sluggish. I think I'll stick to the quick ones.

Then we went back to the Buffalo Chip to witness history. Doug Dangers (pretty sure that's a stage name) jumped 22 cars on the same bike that evil kenievil used when he attempted the same jump (and crashed). Dangers came screaming down the runway, launch himself through the air and almost went over his landing ramp! He probably could have jumped 24 cars and it would have been the perfect distance. JR got a great slow motion video of it!

After that came the concert! Dancers, fire breathers, and naked people... What's not to love? There is also a dog that does a great job being a cashier! I asked one of the vendors who to pay for some patches I wanted, and he told me to pay the dog. Are you confused too? I thought the guy was nuts (he kind of looked like it). I was on my way to ask the lady working there when I took out a 20 dollar bill. The dog (chihuahua) came over, bit my 20, and took it to the lady. I was in disbelief! What's even better is that she made change, gave it to the dog, and the dog brought it to me! Talk about being mind blown!

Bye now, LB