2006 Sturgis Photo Gallery

Photos at Sturgis 2006. Sturgis 2007 Motorcycle Rally Wrap-Up.

There's just something about a bikini bike wash that invigorates the spirit. And that is one hell of a lot of bikes in the background. What you're seeing is not even a tenth of the parking lot.

A typical gas stop, while we try to get everyone pointed the right direction.

Imagine this road with six more lanes and it pretty much sums up my scenery through the Mojave Desert.

I'm used to high gas prices in Baker, CA. It is the only place to get gas for those with short ranges. The funny thing is that gas was the same price in Barstow.

Finally some touring (in the true sense of the word). The little sliver of blue in the background is Lake Mead. The road to Valley of Fire is a twisty one, but the posted limit is 35, so beware the coppers.

The blue skies and red rocks that made the Valley of Fire famous. Only $6 (cash or check) to enjoy this scenery. Or free if you read this website.

Open asphalt. A scene from the behind the controls.

Green River melon stands are worth the stop.

The open desert expanse is the perfect scenery to lose yourself in thought.

Green lawns in the middle of a scorching desert? As Don King would say, "only in America!"

Utah is littered with scenic byways.

Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words.

SR 128 curves its way through red rock following the Colorado River.

Roadwork seems to be a fact of life in Colorado. We passed at least 10 work sites today.

Another fellow traveler riding through the Colorado mountains on his way to the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.

There are even businesses up above the tree line in the Park. One of the many touristy stops that we passed up today.

I'm no expert, but this looks like a 1500ish drop right off the side of the road on Rt. 36 in Rocky Mountain National Park.

Another shot from above the tree line in Rocky Mountain National Park. As we got closer to Sturgis more and more bikes started appearing on the road. The guy on the orange bike, ended up in the neighboring hotel room to me that night.

Space was limited on the high passes through Rocky Mountain National Park, the scenery made it all worthwhile.

Our riding group was joined today by these guys on American Ironhorse Texas Choppers. I thought they might slow us up, I was wrong. They did bounce hard parts off the ground regularly in the tight stuff though.

The Electra Glide's home for just one day.

Colorado's spectacular Highway 34.

What happens when you tempt the Motorcycle Gods. This was our second stop, when the slow-leaking tire rolled off the rim. After patching, crew at Big O tires in Estes Park declared this tire roadworthy. it exploded 100 miles later.

A typical Wyoming highway. Bikes got thicker through the day, but still looked thin for Rally week.

Just one of the beautiful decaying buildings to be found throughout the region.

Miles-long ore trains and bugs are just fact of life on the road in Eastern Wyoming.

Rolling up US85 to the west of the Black Hills, the scenery improves a bit, but fun stretches of road are few and far between.

Hard Bikes has a pair of hard bodies posing with their bikes for tips. This man's name is Derek and he does not want his girlfriend to see this picture. but he does want it to appear in a magazine.

Proof, helmets actually help keep your hair in place.

The power and the fury of Main Street Sturgis. That is a lot of chromed steel.

"Honey, would you look at that backpack, it looks so cute on her."

Town and Country Plumbing makes a mean Roast Beef sandwich and serves ice cream and Indian tacos as well.

This army recruiter was hard at work on this OCC creation, trolling for new enlistees.

Another self-captioned photo!

Another pair of chaps is sold. Be sure that, when buying chaps, you are only fitted by a trained professional, injury, death or the occasional grope may occur otherwise.

I saw and shot photos of this girl no less than four times, as she and her rider circled the strip continuously.

A family out for a bonding ride down Lazelle St. While known as a "helmetless" state, South Dakota actually has a helmet law for those under 18.

Dave Perewitz's Build Off winning Custom. Yep, that's a 20 in the back.

The Top 50 site before the rain got bad.

The triumphant Perewitz crew celebrates a hard-fought victory.

This anit-bling bike is Paul Yaffe's entry to the Biker Build Off. It lost. When a bike like this loses, you know the competition is fierce.

260 cubic inches. It's about the size of GM's early smallblock 8. It's so big it's sick.

This stock Softail-based chopper looks like it was made to be flogged, probably by the mile-long fringe.

The folks at Independent Cycle are known for their clean designs. The modified VRod headlight is especially cool.

John Deere people are devoted.

This is the motley bunch that I am destined to spend my Sturgis trip with this year. Despite the very serious-looking touring equipment (or perhaps because of it), they didn't seem to want to leave the interstate much.

Black Hills Harley-Davidson, home of interactive vendors, ones that you can wear or ride home with the goods attached.

A large group of riders tackles Vanocker Canyon, just outside of Sturgis in South Dakota's Black Hills.

In yesterday's update I showed you a guy named Derek that didn't want his girlfriend to see his picture. Today, I hand him my camera for five minutes and this is what I find on it.

I was meant to snap this picture. I parked next to these oddly-dressed individuals when I arrived in Downtown and over four hours later (I had to process the free drink I was bought early-on) we left at the same time. Weird.

In a bold stroke of marketing, the tattoo parlors are open at least a s late as the bars to ensure proper lubrication.

The Dungeon boasts one of the worlds largest collections of previously-worn, autographed women's underwear.

Most of the downtown Sturgis bars have some vintage bikes decorating the walls or floors. This is the Broken Spoke.

Some cleverly-placed lights designed to call attention to the Broken Spoke Saloon and this V-Rod's engine.

Lightning plays across the hills north of Sturgis, as seen from the Knucklehead Saloon.

In Jamaica, homosexual acts of any sort are illegal. Thank goodness we're not in Jamaica.

Trying to drown any fears of the looming hurricane season, this gentleman from Baton Rouge prepares for a shot of tequila complete with shot glass, salt and lime in strategically-placed locations.

Inside One Eyed Jacks there were all sorts of entertainments available for a generous tip. The tall girl with the invisible pasties also had the enviable talent of dancing on top of the bar while she poured drinks.

Inside One Eyed Jacks there were all sorts of entertainments available for a generous tip. Here we have the whipped cream body shot.

I'm not sure if these girls were advertising something or employees of the bar, but they were hanging out in front of One Eyed Jacks posing for photos. Perhaps they were auditioning for a job here next year?

The Peanut Gallery (in One Eyed Jacks) is an important component to the mob mentality that causes some folks to disrobe in front of strangers.

The main feature of the northern areas around Sturgis is Bear Butte, which if you know your way around, you can navigate by on the many dirt roads.

This Sportster-rider couldn't figure out that you need to burn out in a gear higher than first to get any real smoke.

The always flirtatious beer girls. You can park your bikes right in the main arena at the Full Throttle, which adds nicely to the atmosphere.

The second sage the Full Throttle is under cover of the loft area. More of an open air bar than arena.

You meet the friendliest girls selling gum disease.

This is the white version of a pimp. (if that's too harsh: See anything you like?

School's Out is a bike and photography exhibit by noted photographer Michael Lichter. In the Thunder Dome.

Single-sided (non) swing arm, single-sided springer, and single-sided motor- and footpeg-mounts. Damn. From the Metzeler Show.

This bike is so insanely long that you can literally see it riding a mile away, as I did while riding the plains yesterday. Later, I almost took out the front end of the bike on Main St, as it sticks out way past the bikes it's parked next to… longer than most big trikes and Boss Hosses.

This bobbed Sportster looks pretty high tech… other than the Indian-style leaf spring front end.

Thong and chaps? Naw, screw the chaps!

The bike entrance to the Broken Spoke County Line comes right through the bar.

This H-D Evo crate motor can blend up to 4 drinks at the same time, and sounds good doing it. This is Evil Twin's first event, the Oregon company hopes to make it to all the big stuff in the coming year.

For once a realistic speed limit. If you're going 45 on one of these big boys, you're the man. Road like this crisscross the prairie north of Sturgis, and make for good shortcuts if you can do gravel.

Kid Rock and his Posse rock the 'Chip.

Prior to the Kid Rock show there were some cool fire dancers doing their thing to the side of the stage.

Devil's Tower is actually the lava plug of an old cinder cone volcano. All of the surrounding mountain has been eaten away by erosion.

'Smile, you're on motorcycle-usa.com!'

I was frankly surprised that the misters didn't turn into an impromptu wet t-shirt contest.

I got nothing.

Question: Why does the shirtless guy have all the Mardi Gras beads?

Just a picture to show that, despite the hype (and my pictures), it is mostly men in Hulett.

A slightly overweight Alice Cooper stalked the town, posing for pictures.

The road in to Hulett from the west over the Belle Fourche River.

The Lemonade Lady tells it like it is, and serves up a mean homemade brew. In the nearly triple digit heat, she did a brisk business at $5 a pop ($3 for a refill).

A Rhinestone Cowgirl.

This guy's a dick. You stay classy Sturgis.

Maybe the new town motto should be: Hulett, Exhibitionists Paradise.

Sure, she's probably someone's grandmother, but she does go to the gym. Yes, she's wearing a g-sting.

The Rodeo Bar, where it all began, and easily the busiest business in town.

Some guys just have no idea what to do if a camera is pointed at them. But maybe it wasn't me...or him.

The Sky Shot at sunset. What could be more romantic than getting queasy with your honey?

Radical Cycle (creators of that sick six-carbed motor I showed you the other day) was doing dyno tunes in the Top 50 lot, so I took advantage and got some numbers for the 96-inch '07 H-D's.

Do I really need to caption this? There were an intriguing number of scooters buzzing around, mostly as runabouts, but it looks like this one might have been ridden here.

H-D decided to go less corporate with this year's entertainment and hired the Purrfect Angels to shake their stuff. The almost 50-strong troupe was at locations around the Black Hills, so you could probably catch them any time of day or night during the rally.

One of the truly unique things you get at the H-D show is a dizzying array of vintage H-D's restored to somewhere near showroom condition.

You didn't think I'd go a whole update without a gratuitous babe shot did you?

This customized Heritage was easily the nicest in the Softail Class. I'll let you know if it won in the next few days. The Heritage Springer in the back was in my Daytona coverage, if you recall.

This outrageous V-Rod was the work of Scotsman, but I didn't catch his name. He has the balls to enter it not in the water-cooled class at the H-D Ride In Show, but rather up against the big boys of the Radical class.

The last-minute cleaning is one of the rituals of a bike show. and the mark of a successful builder. Frenchman Nicholas Chauvin is an old hand at the American shows, I first saw one of his bikes at Daytona Bike Week 1999.

US trials champ Geoff Aaron was on had at the Top 50 show add a little dazzle for those in attendance.

Harley-Davidson's Jessica Craker interviews Miss Sturgis 2007, Nichole Golinvaux, and later would challenge her to a dancing competition.

If you know anything you know that radial aircraft motors are all the rage these days. but why?

Top 50's Hardlife class features this Twisted Chopper (foreground) and the winner of the class (background).

This Shovelhead bobber from the Top 50 show was both striking and restrained.

Captivated by the rumble of an air-cooled twin, yet dedicated to leaning it over and hauling ass? Ecosse makes a mean hand-built sport version of the ol' familiar Evo powerplant. But it will set you back around $70k.