It's Late And My Mind Won't Shut-Up

The Rise and Fall of the Great Sturgis Rally

10/07/05 --

I just got back from 14 very long days in Sturgis, SD. For those of you that are not familiar with Sturgis, they hold the worlds largest motorcycle rally there every year in August. Since 1994 I have taken my mobile tattoo and piercing facility to this rally and have worked it. This year was the 65th Anniversary but for such an important date the crowd was down. There were several reasons for this, they include fuel prices and economic fears. But the most prevalent reason for the down swing is that Sturgis is killing the goose that laid the golden egg. Price gouging, greed, over zealous police force and outrageous taxes and license fees are destroying what was once a great event to attend.

One example of outrageous license fees is the amount that the city charges for trash pickup.... $255.00 per vendor! Lets see 1,500 vendors times $255.00 that equals $382,500.00 for trash pickup per a 10 day event! I hope my trash service does not get wind of this they only charge me $23.00 a month now. If you figure trash service the way Sturgis does I could be paying $1.020.00 a month for trash service. Then there is the City License Fee $345.00 for a 10 day temporary license. That equals out to $517,500.00 for 1,500 vendors. Then you have the 7% sales tax that South Dakota collects from the vendors 75% of which is given to the city of Sturgis. Lets do a conservative estimate on this amount. If the average vendor makes $20,000.00 for the 10 days they owe the State of South Dakota $1400.00. Now multiply that by 1,500 and you get $2,100.000.00 of which Sturgis receives $1,575.000.00. Now on top of that the city of Sturgis owns property that it leases to vendors at an average of $200.00 per frontage foot. The City also owns the liquor store. You are now starting to get the picture of what is happening. Now we throw in the property owners who charge outlandish lease fees, greedy vendors who will pay double the going lease rate thus driving up lease prices. Not to mention price increases in the stores, restaurants and service stations during the rally. The greed machine runs high in Sturgis.

As for myself I am at the absolute max of what I can lay out and still make it worth my time to go. I will not price gouge! What you would pay in my studio is what you will pay when I am on the road, no different. If my lot lease ever increases then I will not return to Sturgis.

Sadly as I watched the traffic flow by this year I noticed that there was an even number of motorcycles and cars or trucks. This is suppose to be a motorcycle event yet there was not the amount of motorcycles that should have been in attendance. I also noticed a lot of new bikes and very few older motorcycles which means the old timers are not coming. If dedicated motorcycle riders have abandoned the rally then established vendors will not be far behind followed closely by corporate sponsors. It would not take long after that for Sturgis to cease to exist as the rally is the only thing it has going to keep it alive. I fear that Sturgis is in it's death throes even now and that they have killed their cash cow.

I will stay with it until it is impractical to go any longer and then I too will cease to return. Lets pray that if Kansas ever garners an event such as this that they have more sense than to bite the hand that feeds them.

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