Posted by WDO on August 28, 2000 at 05:24:40:
In Reply to: Little Sturgis 2000- my viewpoint posted by Witch Doctor on August 28, 2000 at 03:27:32:
First, a minor correction to WD's post: the 10W40 oil doesn't work well when you're cruising at 3 mph in 103 F weather. The rest of the time it seems OK to me, though my new Intruder got so hot a couple of times that the *keys* burned my fingers when I turned it off! But it didn't really lose any oil like the Savage did. WD put about 4-6 tablespoons in before we left Sturgis this morning.
I have to agree with him about it truly being an all-brands rally. Although there is a liquor store in the town, you can't buy beer there. And if you drive the 13 miles to Starkville to buy beer, it's only sold hot. Go figure!
We had a slight SNAFU with meeting up with Allison, who was really stressed about it - she had ridden all the way from Birmingham, Alabama, alone, and didn't relish the thought of spending the whole weekend alone with 12,000 strangers! But we finally connected and all was well.
I had an incredible bit of luck Friday evening. There was a burned-out old Hell's Angel selling parts in the vendor area. WD and I were poking around his wares and lo! There was the PERFECT set of handlebars to modify my Intruder for my (short) reach! I got them for - get this - $5.00. Chad, who is a pretty good expert when it comes to chrome (he is a PVD tech, after all) says they're well-plated and the slight scuffs should clean up nicely. Incredible!
We also saw some interesting characters besides the old Hell's Angel. There was this one guy on what we thought was an old HD (but really was an old Shadow) who had glued two HUGE bull horns to his helmet. He and his lady rode up and down Main St. (all 2 blocks of it) all weekend with this *GIGANTIC* Confederate flag flapping behind them. Then there was the guy with the unbelievable Road Star "dragon" bike with trailer. You guys would have had to see it to believe it. He had green dragons painted everywhere there was a flat spot on the bike, and he had a coffin trailer painted to match. The spikes you sometimes saw sticking out of the top of a WWI German helmet? Well, those were mounted in a row down the back fender from seat to taillight (ouch, don't ever fall backwards, dude!) It's basically indescribable. Most tricked-out bike I ever saw, down to the talon kickstand.
Other wonderful people: Chuck from New Augusta, MS, about 60 years old with a looooong grey beard and tattoos up his (wrinkled) arms. Sweetest guy you could ever meet - used to ride a Savage, got rid of it because he didn't know about the white spacer and now has a Triumph Legend. He stands about 5'0 and might weigh 125 lb. soaking wet.
There was Tom, Ron, Clyde and wife, Tim (?) etc. - the BMW crew camped over at Bench Mark Works (Vetch's BMW shop/museum) who were hospitable, funny, and let us ride with them to a great little Mexican place in Starkville on Saturday night.
Of course there were Intrudn, Steph and her Dad. They were with their MIG group so we didn't get to spend as much time with them as we would have liked, but at least we got to meet them face-to-face. (Intrudn had SHAVED HIS HEAD for the Rally - what a shock!) He and Steph are two of the nicest people you'd want to meet - even though he's a hellraiser here on the board. (Back at ya, Intrudn!)
The locals were, as usual, very glad to see us. They drove in from miles around to stroll up and down Main St. and look at all the bikes parked along both sides of the road; they made fried pies and lemonade and sat out in the 100+ F weather to sell them to us for a pittance; they were helpful when we got lost and friendly when we stopped to ask dumb questions. Heck, we even had one old fellow stop and talk to us about the Rally on our way home today. We were about 70 miles away by that time, but he knew all about it, rides a Gold Wing ($5000, for sale, I have his card if anyone's interested) and couldn't make Little Sturgis this year 'cuz he fell off his bucket truck and strained his ankle real bad. "It's all swole up and black as a nigger!" he said. (This is Mississippi, and I'm quoting, so please, no flames about the N word.) Chad and I almost lost it over that comment. He had to turn away and giggle!
Ahhhh, local color! (No pun intended)
I got a big kick out of watching WD and Chad squirming around on their uncomfortable stock Savage seats whilst I, on my Noble Intruder, was quite comfy. We had to stop about every 40-50 miles to let them rest their backsides, but since we weren't in any rush it made for an easy trip.
There was hootin' and hollerin' in the campground Saturday night, but no drunk dropped his bike next to our tent like happened last time we went, and we managed to sleep through most of the ruckus.
The most interesting observation about the Rally as a whole, however, was that after about 3 hours all the big twins looked alike and we quit noticing them. There were so many of them, most of them drag-piped, that they became background for the really interesting bikes like the chopped antique Triumph Tigers, the dragon bike, the "horny" fellow with the Confederate flag, the VW trikes (one with car still attached, I kid you not!), the BMWs of all shapes and sizes (but all with that peculiar hunchbacked tank), a couple of sport bikes, and every paint scheme/color under the sun. We even saw a bike that was purple until the sun hit it and then it was blue - a complete color transformation - and WD says that paint costs about $1400 US per gallon. (I don't care HOW MUCH it costs, I WANT IT!)
There were quite a few more women riders this year (two wheel, I mean. I didn't count the 3-wheeled women). I was glad to see more of us out there.
Fortunately there were more food vendors this year, too. The alligator-on-a-stick people were even there! (Yes, real alligator tail. It's GOOD!)
OK, I've typed myself into a stupor. If I think of anything else to amuse/amaze, I'll put it up later.
Be safe,
Lisa