Will I get beat up taking the scoot to Sturgis? I wonder if anyone has tried.

I am told that Sturgis is now mostly doctors and lawyers with their $30,000 shiny POSes, but a jap scooter would probably put you near the front of the line for an ass-kicking by whatever real bad-ass bikers are left there.

I read there was recently a shootout at an alternative Sturgis rally, supposedly by real bad-ass bikers who were upset the yuppie riders where there too.

Jesse in Atlanta

The accounts I've heard are that Sturgis is highly overrated and hyped. I suspect Jesse is probably right...most of the people at Sturgis are now yuppies...but not all.

That "shootout" Jesse referred to was at a bar at Sturgis. It involved some off-duty police officers from the Northwest who rode to Sturgis to see what it was all about and some Hell's Angels who objected to their presence. The investigation revealed, I believe, that the HAs were about to violently attack the officers and the officers shot to defend themselves. The HAs immediately objected afterwards, portraying themselves as the innocent victims of police brutality, but dropped the pretense after the facts came out. I'm going from memory, here...I saw the investigative report after it came out, but I may have some pieces of it wrong. Do a web search and get the details.

Point is...if you don't want trouble, don't go where trouble is. Go somewhere else Sturgis week and spend your money elsewhere. Those of us who ride Silverwings tend to be independent sorts who don't really care about what people think about what we ride. We don't fit the typical "biker" stereotype, so why feed into it by participating in it?

Just a suggestion...

Let's all of us S/Wing Riders go to Sturgis and see what kind of trouble we can cause, just kidding. There was a m/c rallye here in Az. a couple of weeks ago called the " Too broke for Sturgis Rallye ", where about 3 or 4 people were shot. Peace and Ride Safe...Robert.

Been there done that. I used to go for the races but now the "party" is the deal. Last time there about 5 years ago, too many rude drunk and obnoxious people. Too crowded, too noisey and way too much chrome and black leather.
everybody trying to be unique and end up all looking the same. I am done with it. Too Old.

Bob

If you stay away from the overflow campground where the outlaw bikers stay, you won't have any problems.
It's all about the HD posers and their mantra. Anything not HD is pretty much ignored. If you want to be ignored, take a scooter to Sturgis.
If you want to be beat up and then ignored, take your scooter to the outlaw campground at Sturgis.

Trout fishing. Maybe I'm different or strange. Even when I rode a H-D Panhead I never wanted to go to Sturgis during the rally. I would much more like to spend my time at a beautiful mountain lake or trout stream, camping under the stares listing to the sounds of the night and very much away from the big party seen of Sturgis.

I'd like to go and visit Sturgis after the maniacs have gone home.

Just my thoughts

Alot of things to love about trout fishing...The one I love the most is... they always live in the most beautiful places in this world, and I love that.

+1 on the trout fishing...you're right, Dennis-those wily rascals know exactly where to put the trout condos...right next to the million dollar views!!!

Yep! Will be up by Sun Valley next week on the Big Wood river fishing for rainbows.

Bob

Just wish I could get away. Sounds like trout fishing heaven. I speak both Okie and Californian. Kinda mixed them all up after living in Oklahoma for the past 17 years. Some how they know I'm not from around here.

Sunday, I was headed in the opposite direction from a Harley rider at a stoplight. When the light changed, I did the "biker wave" and he did not even look at me or acknowledge I was there. No biggie, but there is a 'tude.

"Harley 'tude (or Turd)"

On that topic, while riding home last Friday I was riding in the right lane and I caught up with a harley dude in the left lane who was riding some sort of chopped abomination with ape-hanger bars. The rider wasn't very old, nor was he very large, but he clearly thought that he was something really special - all dressed up in his pseudo-macho, penile compensating costume, wearing his WWII Nazi Germany Helmet, and reeking of attitude. As I came up to my exit I pulled into the exit only lane and accellerated past him. Apparently this offended his artificially inflated micro-schwang ego and he tried to quickly switch lanes to make sure I couldn't get in front of him. When he opened the throttle his ultra-small-penis over compensating machine roared, but when he then tried to flick it into the lane next to me the front end went into some sort of rapid shimmey and he nearly lost control. He had to jam on his breaks to keep from ramming the rear end of the surburban he had pulled in behind. I looked at him as I glided past to my exit and just had to shake my head in disgust at his stupidity. This is yet another example of Darwin Theory at work. Sooner or later this guy will be removed from the gene pool.

Great story, Scootist.

There are so many of those HD brain-washed clones (clowns?), that we maxi-scooter riders are indeed a tiny minority.

That's why non-bikers constantly say to me "That can't be a scooter. It's way too big. It'll go HOW fast?"

I never initiate giving the biker wave to any rider looking like a wannabe outlaw. Why waste my time.

These are all the reasons why the wife and I didn't head down to the Laughlin River Run a month or so ago. Way too much pirate costume ego. I once had a co-worker that was HD everything. He had the clothes, the stickers all over his car (even putting one on the Tenant ride-on floor scrubber at work). He and his girlfriend could always be seen at the dealer or at the Harley store in the mall where they both had extra jobs. I remember that they sold everything there--even HD underwear--ludicrous doesn't even begin to describe it.
The worst part of it all was that both he and his girlfriend each had alimony payments to their ex's and yet were trading in their Harleys (he had two, she had one) every couple of years. No wonder why he had three jobs and she had two!

I live close to a major Harley dealer with a large HOG following. I don't have any problem waving at these fellow bikers. If they don't wave back I assume they are looking at their rearview mirrors to see if any parts have fallen off, And I must admit that some, OK maybe a few, well I've seen one passenger woth a second look.

Anyone here know the difference between a Harley D. and a Hoover (vacuum)?

Well. there are two correct answers.....

A) the position of the dirtbag!

and/or

B) the number of dirtbags!

Ok, you ask for it .....

Owning a few Wings, Asian cruisers and sport tourers I have taken some ribbing and a few comments about my "Jap scrap and rice burners" from my Motor Co. riding buddies.

Here are a few better comebacks .....

Harley Davidson, the most efficient way to convert gasoline into noise without the adverse side effect of horsepower!

What's the cheapest way to get another 50hp from your Harley? Trade it in on a Honda.

Why don't Harley riders sit on their bikes when the side stand is down? They're afraid to lean over that far.

How do you know you're riding a Harley? While coming off an exit-ramp you get passed by a Vespa.

How do you know all the aftermarket parts you bought for your Harley are worth the money? You finally break into the 15's in the quarter mile.

How do Harley engineers tell if a bike is worthy of the Harley name? They check to make sure the exhaust noise in decibels exceeds the horsepower rating.

Why don't Harley owners smile? Once they realize they have been conned into paying $25,000 for an outdated piece of crap, would YOU be smiling?

Why do Harleys have fringe? So you can tell if they're moving.

How is a Harley Davidson like an old dog? They both like to ride in the back of pickup trucks.

How do you know your Harley is handling great? You can almost keep up with the logging trucks when you're riding the twisties.

What's the difference between a Harley taken to Daytona on a trailer and one that's being ridden there? The one on the trailer is going about 30mph faster.

Why do all Harley owners have trailers? So they can go around corners faster!

Where can you find the world's largest collection of Harley jokes? Sturgis

You know you're a Harley rider if: You're unable to let your bike simply IDLE at a stoplight.

You confuse the word "character" with the more accurate term "engineering flaws".

"Water cooled,” means standing on the side of the road, in the rain, waiting for a wrecker.

I rode a 86 Honda shadow 1100 to Sturgis in 1987. Most of the posers act like you don't exist. I spend a lot of time riding Custard park and the Black hills. I got my fill of Sturgis and won't ever go to Harley Week again.

I'm headed for the Black Hills tomorrow. Won't go as far as Sturgis because these people don't use very good sense. Dangerous! to say the least.
There are a lot of people getting educated and a lot of them are very interested in the Silverwing. Once they see them perform, they perk up and begin to ask questions. That is to say the "smart ones" , ,

Go but ride----Sturgis is the trailer biker gathering. I have been there on scooters as well as big bikes. Interesting to see and observe how stupid some people are. Really fun if it rains-----the people in Haloween costumes usually don't have rainsuits and hide under bridges.

One game I used to play on my faster Honda is ----let's see how fast the HD goes----they ride in left lane----move on them and they will not yield lane buy try to go faster....and they cannot....just lots of noise and shaking.

John Grinsel

IDwingit wrote:

Anyone here know the difference between a Harley D. and a Hoover (vacuum)?

Well. there are two correct answers.....

A) the position of the dirtbag!

and/or

B) the number of dirtbags!

I humbly submit:

C) nothing, they both suck.