2005 Sturgis Photo Gallery

A sea of chrome and flesh as far as the eye can see. There are observation towers that you can climb into to take photos for a mere $5 to a local charity.

My detour through Arizona allowed me to take in the Hoover Dam during its rebirth. While we were their construction crews blasted rock out of the canyon walls as a part of the project.

The scenic road around Lake Mead is not just a good road for grandma, but a pretty good sport bike road as well. As evidenced by the two large groups of sport riders I ran into. However, its also the only place I saw anyone pulled over today. On the older sections of roads watch for large ripples in

Puffy little dessert clouds, as seen on my air filter cover.

The salt flats south of Amboy, CA are a brutal place to wait an hour for a bike to come by.

Right after I put away the camera, I turned around to leave and saw the coolest double rainbow coming off of Lake Mead. Between that and the stunning red rocks by the lake I definitely saw more cool scenery than I actually caught on film.

Colorado's Grand Junction was our resting place for the evening. They get this view at sunset, every day of the year.

Utah's red rock landscapes caught they eye, while challenging roads presented an opportunity to sharpen riding skills.

If you squint, you can just see Capitol Reef in the distance, it's the red ridge that is actually much bigger than it looks.

Just road, open sky and a friend.

Zion National Park has a series of tunnels blasted from the rock so you actually go through the massive formations. Naturally, there was a lot of backfiring and horn honking.

The cool little berg of Georgetown was my lunch stop, which was a welcome respite from the traffic clogged freeway. There are a slew of these old mining tows along I-70 if you like historical districts with dramatic mountain backdrops.

Here's the jam itself. It's especially irritating being from California, as I could just split the middle at a steady 35… but not here.

The stellar view off of Colorado's I-70, while I was taking a break from the traffic jam. I don't know if anyone but me can tell, but the pile of stuff on the back is evolving to a far more tight-knit unit. After three days, everything is right where I need it: Water, maps, camera, oil… There's an

Despite delivering me no where near where I wanted to be, this section of 119 was a paradise of wide, clean tarmac with minimal cars to screw it all up. You can still see a bit of snow on the mountains in the distance.

Junction and Lazelle, this is the Hollywood and Vine of Sturgis, where the two main drags form the center of town. Main Street is one block South of Lazelle and has most of the vendors and bars and such. I'll show you tomorrow.

The Wyoming state trooper didn't know what to make of me. I was practically giddy while he was writing me for 87 in a 65. He even made a special note to tell me that if I didn't pay I'd get my license suspended in California. What he didn't know was that I was pushing 120 a little earlier.

This picture might be the most expensive I've ever taken. I was catching back up to my group afterwards when I got popped by Johnny Law. The last hundred or so miles into the Black Hills is just round little rolling hills, except this bluff off of US 85 somewhere north of Cheyenne, WY.

My first time to Sturgis I rode one of these. According to the sign here in the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum it was one of the most expensive bikes ever made. The company put out under 2000 machines at a cost (to their investors) of over $110 million.

Just a few short years ago all the bars were either old historical buildings or makeshift constructions. Now, several massive edifices to alcohol have sprung up. God Bless America.

Much like the main drags of many an American town, people leave vehicles out by the curb to sell. Of course, Main Street, Sturgis is probably getting more hits than Ebay Motors right now.

Your new-generation bike rally exhibitionists: more flash, less flab. Editorial Note: I cropped out the view of this dude in a speedo... you're welcome.

Worker and exhibitionist all rolled into one.

Man everything in Sturgis is customized, check out this cross: a wheel, battery pack powering Christmas lights, and "Jesus Loves You" decal.

A classic Old-School Exhibitionist, complete with automotive-engined pink trike.

Nighttime in Sturgis is a focused activity: drink, see and be seen, drink.

The de rigueur Bikini Bike Wash at Rapid City H-D. Saddlemen's Tom Seymour told us they do a pretty good job for $20.

A perfectly un-shining example of a rat bike, or trike in this case.

Is that sex toy on your pillion or are you just happy to see me?

Yup, that's a turbine, alright.

A trio of H-D's current factory racers, from their display at the Rapid City Civic Center.

In increasing numbers, sisters are doin' it for themselves.

Sometimes the bug bites you early. Notice the very well-formed sneer, bravo.

One can only assume that she practices crashing face down, with her arms behind her.

I know you'd probably go into withdrawal without the gratuitous babe shot, so here's one from the hillclimb,

It was going to happen someday, right? With cruiser bicycles getting the chopper treatment lately, the fat tire craze was bound to follow.

Possibly the next big trend in big-bucks bike building, I've been noticing a growing number of bikes with frames machined from billet aluminum. Needless to say, this one is sick.

This section of Nemo Road was both spectacular to look at, and filled with smooth, clean sweepers to strafe at high velocity.

One word: Clean.

I was staring at the right side of this custom from the Legend show and trying to figure out how to ride it. It seems like no matter what you do you will run afoul of either the chain, exhaust or velocity stack on the way to the right footpeg.

The devil is in the details.

At the Jackpine Gypsies Hillclimb, some guys (like this one) make it.

...and there's this guy who didn't make it. He blamed his crash on the Speed Channel-installed helmet-cam recorder on his hip screwing up his balance.

Bike shows and hip hop concerts are the only places in the world where fat ass is a compliment. In contrast, the green Goldammer bike (far left) looks emaciated.

This row of bikes is probably insured for over a million dollars.

Multi-time champion Chris Carr leads the pack at the Sturgis short track.

Customized Sportsters are rare birds, especially ones done to this degree with a rigid perimeter frame and lots of other trick touches.

The Harley-Davidson Ride In Show features mostly somewhat-modest garage-built customs, like this fully chromed-out Sportster.

Haul ass in style! Some sick bastard mated an '80s vintage FXRT fairing to this V-Rod and made probably the fastest full-boat tourer on the planet, with the possible exception of my friend Skeeter's Turbocharged "Whale." But that's a story for another time.

I’m not sure if Angie Land is her name or the place where she bar tends, but the Full Throttle Saloon is trying their darndest to turn this vivacious bartendress into a pseudo-celebrity. Her signature move is the butthead, seen here.

Smoke 'em if you got 'em.

So, I’m riding along in the Buffalo Chip Campground and see this. I’m not sure how they got water pressure in a campground.

These ain't your average springbar fancy city tents.

I believe this is the third thong shot of the gallery.

Thunder Road bike show.

A rare straight stretch of Spearfish Canyon showing some of the cool rock formations that line its length.

I'm not sure how familiar you all are with the Ness family, but Arlen Ness you've probably heard of. He has a son Cory, who also builds fabulous customs. This Victory is the first creation by Cory's son, whose name I think is Kyle (sorry if I'm wrong). Kyle is 17, nuff said.

Well, it's not a thong, but this is the last installment in the assless-chaps series. This girl is like six-feet tall. From the Victory party.

At the top of Spearfish is the little town of Savoy, which naturally hosts festivities (a place to get drunk) during the Rally.

A pair of Hogs banks into a gentle right hander in Spearfish Canyon.

Bridal Veil Falls is a popular spot to take a break along Spearfish Canyon.

My hat's off to Victory and the guiding hand of Arlen Ness (who has been giving them design advice for a few years now). When I first saw this bike I thought that it was nice custom, then I looked at the stock bikes parked nearby and realized it was just a paintjob.

Okay, so I shot this from a truck, Nevada's Valley of Fire is not to be missed if you can help it. It's an hour and $7 well spent.

On my way out I missed the Virgin River Gorge on Arizona's I-15, since I rode up it in darkness. Try not to do this on your trip.