Racing Roots Motor Maids of America and a pioneer lady rider, announced that her

group would be attending in 1952. 1970s

Sturgis Motorcycle Rally
Grows From Humble Beginnings To Major Biker Party PART 1
BY WENDY PITLICK
When about nine racers and 200 spectators turned out for the Jack-
to town to party with the Gypsies and enjoy the races, but everything
The increased interest drew even more events, as in 1953 the Ameri-
can Motorcyclists Association brought the five-mile AMA National
Race back to Sturgis, and one block of Main Street was closed for
fancy riding exhibitions. As word spread across the country, more and
more racers rode to the Black Hills to compete, until in 1957 riders
from every state in the country were in Sturgis for the weekend, and
the Black Hills Motor Classic was rated as one of the biggest 10 races
in the country. In 1959, about 60 racers competed and 545 spectators
registered at the Gypsy headquarters.

pine Gypsies’ first annual racing event in 1938, the Gypsies knew they
had started something great.
They just didn’t know it would get
to be quite so big!
Started with an idea to increase
business in the Sturgis area by
staging a motorcycle racing event,
the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally began
as motorcycle racers flocked to the
Black Hills to compete for $750
in prize money, and have some
fun at a carnival and dance at the
community hall. They camped in
local businessman and fellow biker
J.C. (Pappy) and Pearl Hoel’s back
yard, and spent the weekend doing
all things motorcycles.
Pepper Massey, Sturgis Historian Even then, the Jackpine Gypsies
knew they had a winner as a head-
line in the next year’s paper on Aug. 3, 1939 read “Speed demons to
thrill motor fans,” and the next year’s three-day event drew riders from
changed just two short months after Pearl Harbor in December of
1941, when the event came to a halt.
“The reason it stopped during the war was very practical,” said Interim
Sturgis Motorcycle Rally Director Pepper Massey, who is the former
director of the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum and a Rally historian.
“Most of the people who were racing, when you talk to the old guys,
they were all overseas fighting.”
But after World War II ended, the bikers came back with even more
enthusiasm than before. The war had left much devastation around
the world, and bikers were looking for opportunities to play hard. Once
again, they looked to the races in Sturgis. That year, according to
archives from the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum, the net return on the
Rally was at a whopping $2,000, which was significantly higher than
the first year’s $544.
“The Motor Classic is shown to be a real community booster and
created purely for the benefit of the community,” an article in the Black
Hills Press stated about the event. Indeed it was, as just a few short
years later in 1949, city officials had to block off Main Street to accom-
modate the hundreds of bikers who had roared into the Black Hills for
the races.
1960s
By the 1960s, the Rally had outgrown Pappy and Pearl Hoel’s backyard,
and bikers began to set up camp at the Sturgis City Park, where the
Chamber of Commerce hosted a free feed for all participants.
By the 1970s, the Black Hills Motor Classic had become the premier
destination for motorcycle racers and fans.
But the growing crowds at the city park and the rapidly growing events
soon got out of hand, as the 70s saw the advent of wild parties as-
sociated with the Rally.
“The 60s and 70s were a tumultuous time in the country,” Massey
said. “There was a lot of change and a lot of angst. You could feel
some of that during the Rally. People were a little different, it was a
little edgier.”
The 70s were also when prices started to go up, as the Gypsies
discovered their net profit in 1971 was only about 60 cents, including
$10,628 in receipts and $10,627 in disbursements. At that time, the
board raised the ticket prices to $3, up significantly from the original
50 cents.
As the crowd began to swell to more than 5,000 in 1973, museum
archives reveal that city officials were hesitant to compare 1974 with

1950s
By the 60s, the crowd for the Black Hills Motor Classic had grown ex- previous years because the crowds were nearly impossible to count.
10 different states and two Canadian provinces. The races in 1939 ponentially to more than 700 bikers, who had long since moved their
were dubbed as one of the greatest celebrations in the Black Hills, By 1976 18,000 bikers rode into town only to be temporarily stormed
party from the Hoel’s backyard to the Sturgis City Park. By 1963, the out as golf ball sized hailstones pummeled the Northern Black Hills.
with future predictions pointing to further growth. once weekend event was extended to four days in order to accom- But the races went on, as racers competed for $81,000 that year.

1940s
In 1938, nine racers and about 200 spectators showed up for the
first annual Black Hills Motor Classic.
In just two short years of hosting the races, the Jackpine Gypsies
knew they would need to continue to come up with different events
to continue drawing people to the area. The 1940s started off with
a bang, as the first weekend in August drew spectators to watch a
burning wall crash, jumping exhibits, and various motorcycle stunts.
Spectators watched in excitement as the racers they had come to
know intimately through camping with them at the Hoel home wowed
the crowd. Some rode Indians, others rode Harley Davidson’s, but all
were motorcycle enthusiasts who were happy to be in the Black Hills.
For awhile it seemed that the event would continue to draw people
THUNDER ROADS MAGAZINE 14
Be safe out there-the life you save may be your own
By 1955, the Black Hills Motor Classic had more than 100 percent
growth, and all forecasters predicted the family racing affair would
continue to draw more spectators from all over the country.
As bikers continued to enjoy and appreciate the many freedoms of
riding, more people began to hop on bikes and head to the Hills for
the growing Black Hills Motor Classic, as it was dubbed at this time. In
August of 1950, 388 bikers rode to Sturgis for the annual races. “You
will get the thrill of seeing hundreds of motorcycles assembling to start
the nationally known Gypsy tour and one of the fastest race events in
the country,” one reporter from the Sturgis Tribune wrote in anticipa-
tion of the Rally.
But the 50s brought more than just additional bikers to the races. It
also drew some unlikely participants, as Dot Robinson, founder of the
modate the masses, and to capitalize on the event that had become
a boon for the small Black Hills town. Still considered a family event,
bikers paid $1 a day to camp at the city park and the Chamber of
Commerce hosted a free feed for the bikers every year.
After 25 years, a comprehensive count of racers and spectators put
the crowd at about 1,500 in 1965, and by 1969 the motels in town
were booked solid while spaces in the park quickly filled up. The
Chamber fed 2,000 bikers that year, and forecasters called for even
more growth in the coming years.
As the Black Hills Motor Classic began to draw more and more people,
the city of Sturgis opted to close Main Street for bike parking. However, a
newspaper article from the 1950s reported that bikers were instructed to “park
their bikes and not interrupt the festivities with unnecessary motor noise.
While Outlaw motorcycle clubs had become somewhat of a problem
in previous years, by 1978 the Meade County Sheriff reported very
little trouble as arrests were down by 70 percent from 1977. However,
bikers still partied hard in the city park, as burnouts and burning
outhouses became the norm, and law enforcement officials began
to steer clear of the park during the Rally due to the large volume of
people and wild activity.
Information compiled from archives at the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum and
Hall of Fame and from interviews with local Sturgis historians. To learn more
about the history of the Rally or motorcycling, visit the Sturgis Motorcycle
Museum and Hall of Fame, 999 Main St., Sturgis, S.D.
Wendy Pitlick
Reporter
Black Hills Pioneer/Buffalo Chip Gazette
315 Seaton Cr., Spearfish, SD 57783
1-800-676-2761, 605-642-2762, wendy@bhpioneer.com
THUNDER ROADS COLORADO - AUGUST 07 - 15
 Racing Roots
Sturgis Motorcycle Rally
Grows From Humble Beginnings To Major Biker Party PART 2
WENDY PITLICK

1980s
By the early 1980s the bikers’ days in the Sturgis City Park were
nearing an end as city officials had grown weary of the smell of
burning outhouses. In 1982 city officials put the kibosh on camping
in the park, and such venues as the Buffalo Chip Campground and
Glencoe Camp Resort were born. Located outside the city limits, the
campgrounds offered a place where bikers could spread out, enjoy
live entertainment, and party without worrying about the constraints
of being in town. Spreading out proved to be beneficial to everyone,
as law enforcement officials reported that the bikers behaved well, When hundreds of thousands of bikers started showing up for the
annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, city and state officials began to
despite the crowd of 30,000. Bikers were happy too as liquor store
take notice and made significant efforts to welcome the visitors, as
sales showed record totals for the week with Harley Davidson’s this banner strewn across Main Street illustrates.
introduction of the Harley beer. Approximately 1,059 cases were sold
that year. less of a family affair and more of an adult party atmosphere.
According to Massey, the 1980s also saw a movement nationwide
that would directly result in a boom at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.
Dubbed as the RUB movement (Rich Urban Bikers), wealthy public
2000s
figures such as Malcolm Forbes, Jay Leno, and Ben Nighthorse By August of 2000, much of that changed as city officials began to
Campbell, a U.S. Senator from Colorado, had made it public that they work hard to reconstruct the face of the event that had become the
were motorcycle lovers. state’s largest tourist attraction. Bringing in hundreds of thousands
of dollars in revenue each year through at least 700-800 transient
“Prior to that, and some of this still exists today, the image of the
vendors, city and state officials began to take control of the economic
Harley rider has always been the rough and tough biker. Sort of the
treasure that was the Rally. By the 60th anniversary, the city had Rally
bad boy image. The 80s saw people of wealth and intelligence riding.
organization down pat, and while more than 650,000 bikers showed
That made the public think it was OK, that maybe it wasn’t that bad,”
up that year, officials reported that it ran smoother than ever before.
Massey said. In addition to changing the image, the 80s saw Harley
Davidson introducing the Sportster 883, billed as a woman’s Harley, “You could feel the difference,” Massey said in comparing the 50th
opening the doors for more riders. This all combined to increase the anniversary to the 60th. “It was huge, but it was calmer.”
crowds at Sturgis even more as in 1985, 48,000 bikers from 50 states Larger coffers and more selection industry wide had something to do
and 10 countries showed up for the celebration. with the significant increase in numbers as the custom motorcycle

1990s
By 1990 numbers at the Rally were anybody’s guess as the 50th
anniversary started with a bang. City officials were blindsided as they
estimated more than 350,000 bikers had come to town to celebrate,
over 200 percent more than previous years. In the mid-80s, the
Rally had grown from about 70,000 to more than 100,000, so city
officials expected growth. But the huge influx of people who came out
in droves was completely unprecedented as city crews scrambled
to contain the crowds, and law enforcement was significantly
overwhelmed.
After the 50th anniversary, the same bikers continued to come every
year and the numbers at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally would forever
be estimated in the hundreds of thousands, with at least 300,000 to
400,000 expected every year. 1991 saw Rally headlines, as it was the
first year no bikers or residents died during the event that had become
THUNDER ROADS MAGAZINE 10
Be safe out there-the life you save may be your own
industry began to take off and after market products began to
become the most sought-after items in the industry. For the first time
in the history of motorcycling, the general population of bikers could
afford higher-priced, custom motorcycles, and the industry took full
advantage of that on the streets of Sturgis.
With the increase in dollars spent on the motorcycle industry, came
an increase in Rally sponsorships and crowds, and by 2001 the city of
Sturgis decided to create its own Rally department. The department
would work with the hundreds of vendors who applied for transient
merchant licenses within the city limits every year, and would solicit
sponsorships from such companies as Jack Daniel’s, Snap On, Harley
Davidson, and other well-known names throughout the industry. It
was a corporate event, but the bikers who continued to come for the
party didn’t seem to care as they paid inflated prices and planned
their vacations around the Rally that had once again become a family
event.
continued on next page
THUNDER ROADS COLORADO - SEPTEMBER 07 - 11