Posted by Hoggryder on August 10, 2003 at 03:21:23:
Maybe someday a bunch of our European Savage riders will come to Sturgis.
Sturgis first stop on Danish bikers' dream U.S. tour
By Heidi Bell Gease, Journal Staff Writer
STURGIS — Brigitte Yvanes and Nana Baiden cannot decide what they like best about motorcycling in the United States: the beautiful vistas, the miles of open road, or being able to leave their Harley-Davidson Electra Glide Classic outside a restaurant while they eat.
In Denmark, where they live, Harley-Davidsons are a hot commodity. "People go away for 12 minutes to visit their mother in the hospital," Baiden said. When they come out, "It will be gone."
That is usually not a worry here in the United States. And Yvanes, Baiden and 118 of their closest friends are enjoying every second of it.
All belong to the Harley-Davidson Club of Denmark. On July 4, the club shipped 70 motorcycles by ship and rail. On Aug. 1, the group flew to Chicago, where their bikes were waiting for them, along with two big support trucks to carry luggage and parts.
Sturgis was their first destination. They arrived Sunday, many of them flying red-and-white Danish flags from their cycles. This week has been spent riding the Black Hills, from Devils Tower to Custer State Park.
"That was fantastic," Yvanes, who was especially intrigued with the buffalo, said. "It was a little bit scary."
Baiden has been impressed by the sheer size of the Midwest.
"This is a big country," he said, noting that the group rode about 400 miles the day they reached Sturgis. "If it was Denmark, we would have ended up in the sea."
Today, the group heads for Yellowstone National Park. They will finish the trip by celebrating Harley-Davidson's 100th anniversary in Milwaukee, Wis.
"This is Harley mecca," Yvanes, who helped establish the club in 1976, said. "For every European, it's a dream to ride a bike in U.S. And to ride our own bikes ...," well, that's even better.
The Danes are not the only foreign bikers visiting the Sturgis rally. People from around the world attend each year, and this year's event has also drawn a group of 60 New Zealand Harley owners who are riding from Vancouver to Milwaukee.
But the Danes might be the largest contingent. And they have been planning this for years.
"Martin Luther King said, ‘I had a dream,' and so did I," planning-committee member John Pedersen said. The committee got serious a few years ago, traveling to the U.S. in 2002 to arrange for lodging, motorcycle storage, truck rental and other details.
In Sturgis, they camped at Lonestar Campground near Bear Butte, run by Marilyn Tysdal-Wylie and her family. Her five grown children take their vacations each year to come and help.
"The atmosphere is really, really nice," Yvanes said. "You feel like you're one of thefamily."
And unlike home, they can camp without worrying whether their motorcycles will be there when they wake up. Harleys are expensive everywhere, but especially in Denmark.
"Buying in Denmark costs three times as much as here," Yvanes said, because of high taxes. The country also has a short riding season, only a few months. "So it is only the real enthusiasts that ride."
Because of high theft rates, few Danish companies will insure Harley-Davidsons. The Danish club's 3,700 members have banded together to get insurance through Lloyd's of London.
For all those reasons, few club members ride brand-new motorcycles.
"A big new one costs $95,000," Yvanes said. "That's why we have a lot of old bikes in the club. That is why we also rented two (trucks) that are following us around."
A lot of thought went into that, too. "The drivers I picked, they're also very good mechanics," she said.
The oldest bike is a 1931 Harley-Davidson that belongs to Skjold Pagh-Hansen, who, at 61, may also be the group's oldest rider (see accompanying story on this page).
The adventure is being filmed by a crew from Danish public television for a documentary to air Sept. 27 on DR2.
Niels-Ole Rasmussen said the program will feature 30 minutes of Harley-Davidson history, 30 minutes of "me and my Harley" profiles, and 30 minutes about the trip to Sturgis and Milwaukee.
Producers have high hopes for the program, Rasmussen said. "They say something interesting is bound to happen."
The documentary could boost interest in the club, and in a return trip to Sturgis.
"The Muslims go to Mecca. The bikers go to Sturgis," Pedersen said with a grin that showed there was no place in the world he would rather be than here, in a hot dry field surrounded by motorcycles. "Here we are."