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builders were to construct a bike onstage to be given away on
Thursday.Although the Black List Tour got off to a rather shaky
start this year, it’s scheduled to appear in Daytona during Bike
Week next spring, withpromises of better coordination andmore
exciting events. (I wish them luck,but if I was into skateboarding
and need-ed a cross-generational infusion, I’d tuneinto the
X-Games.) The biggest drama atthe Full Throttle happened a few
daysafter the rally’s close when the FBI raided thebusiness and, in
conjunction with the IRS, confis-cated or froze its assets.
According to local newssources, the raid was criminal in nature.
However,as of press time, no further information was available.
The most ambitious new venue had to be theBoneYard Saloon in
Whitewood, an entertainmentcomplex about midway between Sturgis
and
Spearfish. Favorite rallybands like Foghat,Canned Heat, JimmyVan
Zant, Pat Travers,Quiet Riot, The GeorgiaSatellites, Blue
OysterCult, Blackfoot, TheMarshall Tucker Band,and Steppenwolf
werescheduled to play everyevening during (and afew days before)
therally. I stopped in earlyWednesday afternoonand, in front of the
big,impressive stage I saw ahuge, paved expansewith a quad burnout
pitand a mechanical bull
but not much else. The few peo-ple present took shelter under
thecovered outdoor bar. Two insidebars (one for the general
publicand one for VIP ticket holders)were fully air-conditioned
andhad small stages for more livemusic. According to the
staff,quite a crowd turned up forVince Neil’s performance on
Monday night, but things had been rather slowsince then. The
BoneYard Saloon really is quite animpressive place, complete with
food and mer-chandise vendors and even restrooms with
flushtoilets—a rarity at most bike rallies. The venuewas off to a
slow start this year but has greatpotential.
Breakfast of championsOne event that continues to gain in
popularity
is the Sturgis Builders Breakfast. This notablefunction was the
second to be sponsored byChoppers Inc. and was held at the Broken
Spokeon Tuesday morning. And this year, the sold-outaffair didn’t
run out of food as it had during theirinitial offering. More than
30 bike builders andartists joined Billy Lane to donate
one-of-a-kind
items for an auction that brought in over$14,500 for Make-A-Wish
of South Dakota.The event was so popular last year that it’sbeen
expanded to Daytona Bike Week andscheduled for Destination Daytona
onTuesday, March 4.
SturgisContinued from page 47
Continued on next page
Greg Carter of Vicious Cycles, Best of Show winnerof the
Metzeler Custom Bike Contest
by eddieboy
STURGIS, AUGUST 4–11—Like a thermometer stuck in a
roastingThanksgiving turkey, so the Buffalo Chip Campground
reflects the tempera-ture of the surrounding Sturgis Bike Week.
The “Chip” was founded better than a quarter century ago for
party-seeking dyed-in-the-leather bikers seeking refuge from
authoritative tradition-al redneck Western values that had defined
the Black Hills Rally and Racessince their inception in 1938.
Ironically, the chopper-riding biker reinvigorat-ed the rally with
his bad-boyimage and loose morals (nevermind Harley-Davidson
motor-cycle popularity itself), causingever-larger crowds to
comesample Sturgis and its partyatmosphere in the bargain—that is,
until recently. This yearthe Buffalo Chip reflected thechanging
mood in Sturgis.
Unlike the relatively thincrowds on Main and Lazellestreets in
downtown Sturgis,the Chip saw big attendance in
a full complement of weeklong campers—the trend from tents to
RVs contin-ues to grow—and again, unlike the sparsely attended
concerts at Glencoe andother venues, the Chip’s amphitheater was
brimming most evenings.
Most telling, though, was the nature of the crowd, and in this
the BuffaloChip “read” the changing temperature of the overall
rally.
Crushed straw cowboy hats vs. do-ragsFat Boys and cowboys
mingled easily alongside motorcycle mamas and
rodeo queens respectively. Free-ranging single older gents
roamed with ever-present cameras in hand, as bands as diverse as
Poison, Rat, Foreigner, GrandFunk Railroad, and ZZ Top took the
main stage. On Monday, it was TobyKeith who took the stage—and the
cake—and stormed Sturgis, drawing wellover 35,000 fans from as far
afield as Buffalo, Wyoming, to Mitchell, SouthDakota, as well as
the leather-garbed biker rally attendee.
Sturgis appears to be slowly returning to the roots fromwhence
it came: good, solid Midwest stock coupled withfirst-time
rallygoers on first-time motorcycles hauled in atleast in some
cases by a sea of Ford and Ram pickups. The week was dominated by a
tide of fashionable crushedstraw cowboy hats; greasy do-rags were
at times verymuch in the minority—and God bless ’em all, and
God
bless the U.S.A.
Robbie Knievel Chip does happen, as Robbie Knievel’s big
Sturgis-
promoted motorcycle jump over tank and cannon, andabout 150 feet
of open air space (and five flame-throwers)
THE BUFFALO CHIP CAMPGROUND
CHIP HAPPENS!Rally returns to its roots
See “The Buffalo Chip,” page 52, column 1
TPW Sep07 180 PG 8/22/07 12:35 PM Page 48
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September 2007
was delayed Tuesday at midnight atthe last possible moment, due
to a“brewing storm” of one kind oranother, it was announced. The
dis-appointed crowd almost seemed tounderstand. This unfortunately
cutthe main compound at the camp-ground in half for a good portion
ofthe week, as barricades, ramps andprops cut a wide swath down
themiddle.
At 12:25 a.m. Thursday morn-ing the high-revving sound of aHonda
dirt bike announced the presence of white-suited CaptainRobbie
Knievel in the main arena,and not a moment too soon for
theimpatient crowds that found them-selves stuck behind metal
cattlefences that not only protected themfrom an errant jump, but
preventedhalf the crowd that attended theearlier Velvet Revolver
concertfrom being able to depart thegrounds. Scattered boos could
bediscerned above the general din.
A couple of practice runs back and forth alongside the rampssent
spotlighted dust up on the red,white and blue bunting decoratingthe
sides, before Robbie turned and in a flash of flame and smoke,
careened through the air and nearlyovershot the landing ramp,
makinghis jump closer to 200 unplanned-feet as I measured it. If
youblinked, you missed it. And hestuck it perfectly, avoiding all
hay bales, and aside from a sore ankle came out in better shape
than the paved road he nearly landed on.
You see, finally and to theircredit, the Woodruff family, whorun
the Buffalo Chip and havemade steady improvements toamenities of
all kinds through theyears, responded to suggestions topave the
main thoroughfare for thebenefit of their guests, who other-wise
must deal with slick-as-shitclay gumbo when it rains. And itlooked
beautiful this year, the road, all new with shiny blackasphalt;
that is, until the old Soviet-era army tank procured as a prop for
Robbie’s jump man-aged to chew it up under treadwhile it maneuvered
about. Themulti-ton contraption broke downfinally and found itself
unable tomuster past the wrought-iron frontgate in time for the
delayed event,darn it.
The bottom line in all this—similar to talking about the
weath-er—is that all things are bound tochange… like it or not. And
like I said earlier, chip happens. 4
THE BUFFALO CHIPContinued from page 48
Some Hall of Fame inductees arereal motorcycling pioneers,
havingretired long ago from their motorcy-cling activities. A case
in point wasthe first honoree, Al Nelson, whoreceived the
prestigious J. C. “Pappy”Hoel outstanding achievement award.The
90-year-old’s racing career beganin 1935 when, as a teenaged
memberof the Rapid City PioneersMotorcycle Club,he raced in
non-AMA-sanctioned“outlaw” events.Nelson went on to compete in
thefirst Black HillsMotorcycleClassic in 1938,and eventually wonthe
championshipin 1940, setting atrack record for the 10-mile race
thatremains unbroken.
Another pio-neer was inducteeLinda Peavy, who worked for
Harley-Davidson from 1975 to 1996. Lindawas given the assignment to
develop aprogram within the Harley OwnersGroup to attract more
female riders. In1986, she introduced the Ladies of
Harley and implemented the tuitionreimbursement program for
womenriders (then, eventually all H.O.G.members) who completed an
MSF
rider training course. Linda also servedas editor for HOG Tales
from 1990 to1995, southeast regional H.O.G. manager, and H.O.G.
events manager.Linda showed her delight at her induc-tion by
leaving wooden “nickels” with her photo and an inscription onevery
one of the 425 place settings at the banquet tables. Later that
day, I caught up with her inside the Sturgis
Motorcycle Museum where she wasaccompanied by two women
wearingLinda Peavy T-shirts, also with a photoon the front and
induction inscriptionon the back. Linda expressed her grati-tude at
having a job where she couldenjoy her passion while having animpact
on the industry and meeting alot of friends. As she quipped, “It’s
thechrome on the bagger. I mean, theicing on the cake.”
Other Hall of Fame nominees stillactively pursue their
motorcycling passions, as evidenced by the inductionof Oliver
Shokouh, the creator of theLove Ride, currently the largest one-day
motorcycle fundraising event inthe world. He became a
Harley-Davidson dealer in 1976 and in 1984founded the Love Ride
which, to date,has raised almost $19 million forMDA. Shokouh has
received numerousindustry, humanitarian, and bikers’rights awards.
He is a member of sev-eral motorcycle clubs and organiza-tions.
Good thing you don’t have to beugly to be a charter member of
theUgly Motorcycle Club, Oliver.
Inductee Chris Carr has been racing since 1983, and has ridden
for the Harley-Davidson factory for many years. His many wins
culmi-nated with an FIM world speed record at Bonneville last year,
where heclocked an astounding 354 mph. Bythe time you read this
article, you’llknow whether “the fastest man in theworld on two
wheels” can beat his ownrecord at the Salt Flats in September.
Like Chris Carr, Robbie Knievelhas a need for speed. But unlike
Carr,
Induction BreakfastContinued from page 50
See “Induction Breakfast,” page 55, column 1
Linda Peavy (center) made up her own T-shirts honoring her
induction
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