Sturgis Rally

08/21/2023

What was your most fun/memorable experience you had at the Sturgis Rally this year? What was your worst experience this year?

And most importantly, will you be back next year and would you recommend going to the Sturgis Rally to anyone else?!

08/20/2023

What do you think of the Official Sturgis Rally logo below? Is it something you love, like, or hate? Would you purchase merchandise with just that logo, and do you feel it represents the Rally?

Or do you feel Sturgis needs something different or not at all?

Just looking for some thoughts and opinions on it.

11/08/2021

This is a copy of the brochure from this years Sturgis Rally that was put at some of the campgrounds to try and get support for the 'lake'.

From what is understood and what was already believed, no mention of the destruction of the historic half mile was mentioned in that brochure in order to have the lake.

A few things to note. This was put together by the owner of the Iron Horse. As well, the names of those on the committee on the brochure.

So why is that important? Well there are only a few scenarios.

1. Those on the committee KNEW of the omission of the historic half mile being destroyed for it.

2. The owner of the Iron Horse added their names but did not inform them of that omission.

So why is this important? Simple. This was being pushed at the Sturgis Rally this year at some of the campgrounds. Do you think many of those that may have donated would have donated had they known about the destruction of the historic half mile for the lake? No. And they know that.

This is deceptive if not misleading by omission, and doesn't fully explain that to those that donated that otherwise may NOT have donated.

They also prefaced it with helping Children of Sturgis to try and illicit an emotional reaction, and shared images of things likely to not even be a part of it all.

You are asking people, at an event that the historic Half Mile helped create, to blindly donate to a lake they have no clue would destroy that historic track that they know and care about.

If the committee was aware of the omission, this is deceptive if not misleading by omission as their names are on the brochure showing representation and approval of what's on it.

While the owner of the Iron Horse was the one that created the flyers and drop boxes to put at the campgrounds (the same one now wanting that alley next to the Iron Horse), attaching the committee member names to it shows they may (or may not) have been aware of that rather important omission.

Those involved at City Hall listed on the brochure should send those people back their money and inform them of that important omission and ask if they still want to donate. This is just unacceptable and deception by omission behavior.

If I was on that committee I would have not allowed my name on that pamphlet without that also being mentioned as it's a VERY BIG deal for many people. They should have been made aware of that so they could decide if they still would have wanted to donate. Especially Rally Goers.

This is just disgusting and shameful all around. Both on the part of the Iron Horse to seemingly omit that important piece of info. But also the committee if they knew about that and still allowed it. It's shameful.

I would have shied away from this brochure as far as I could have and returned all donations as they donated under deception by omission and emotional manipulation.

Because guess what. It's not supposed to be just for the children of Sturgis right?

Iron Horse does this then just months later wants to take over an alley by it. Coincidence? What a train wreck this all is. Seriously.

08/14/2021

An article and interview from 2017 with the son of the Sturgis Rally founder, Pappy Hoel, that is still relevant a few years later.

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Pappy Hoel grew up working in his family’s ice business. In the 1930s, refrigerators were becoming all the rage and Hoel saw that working in ice had little future. In 1936, Hoel purchased an Indian cycle franchise and opened his motorcycle shop in Sturgis. The next year, he founded the Jackpine Gypsies Motorcycle Club.

The club was originally known as the Jackpines because the seven original members enjoyed racing among the "jackpines," or Ponderosa pines in the Hills. One day, after they returned from a day of riding, someone told them they looked like a bunch of gypsies, and they decided to change their name to the Jackpine Gypsies.

One of the club’s first functions was to host a Gypsy Tour through the scenic Black Hills. "The Black Hills Motor Classic" kicked off in the summer of 1938. Camping for the event was provided in Pappy and Pearl Hoel's back yard, behind their Indian Motorcycle Shop on Junction Avenue in Sturgis.

The event was "catered" by Pappy's wife, Pearl, and the wives of the other charter club members.

In published histories of the rally, Pearl recalled the menu of that first year: "Weenies, sloppy joes, potato salad and watermelon for dessert." The rally riders washed their free meal down with iced tea or coffee, served in a tent behind the Hoels’ garage at their dealership.

Today's rally is a far cry from those initial gatherings, said Jack Hoel.

"He (Pappy) would be appalled by the greed," Jack says. "My dad sold some motorcycles, but the rally never made him big money."

Cordova also thought that if Pappy and Pearl could see what has happened to the rally, they would be turning over in their graves.

"It's a lot different than it was," Cordova says. "It's really become commercialized. It's all about money now. It's not a tight-knit brotherhood of bikers like it was before."

On a solitary hilltop in Bear Butte Cemetery, not far from the epicenter of the Sturgis motorcycle rally, stands a gravestone inscribed with the word "HOEL."

08/10/2021

Apparently no one told Iron Horse Saloon - Sturgis that the majority of the Citizens of Sturgis do not want the historic 1/2 mile demolished and replaced with houses and a Sturgis Lakeside Adventure Park. No one told Ironhorse that Daniel Ainslie, the Mayor and City Council have purposely not let the facility be used or put funds towards its upkeep. Thank you Fred Kraemer for being a part of the group of people who want to erase the history of the Sturgis Rally for their own personal agenda.

08/09/2021

The Iron Horse Saloon supports the destruction of the historic half mile track. The track that helped create the Sturgis Rally for houses and a large wading pool the Sturgis Aquatics Committee calls a lake.

Don't be fooled by the reception! It's not a lake in any capacity.

But the fact the Iron Horse Saloon supports the destruction of the historic track is disgusting.

Without that track they wouldn't be in business in Sturgis to begin with because there would have been no Sturgis Rally to be born from it.

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