The Sturgis Bike Week Schedule

The 68th Annual
Black Hills Motorcycle Rally

August 4th - 10th, 2008

In case anyone out in Motorcycle Land did not know the exact date for this years Sturgis Bike Week. August 4th be there.

Slippery Sliding at the Full Throttle Saloon!

Sturgis 2002 has many stories to tell so this is another favorite one. One of my main goals for this Sturgis trip was to go experience the Hill Climb that goes on each year in Sturgis. I have always wanted to see one personally since living in Salt Lake City, Utah I never experience the Widow Maker Hill Climbs. So on one particular day at Sturgis 2002, can't say what day it was they all blend together, I woke up telling my husband today is the day I get to experience the Hill Climbs. He agreed and once the other members of Sweater Vest Hill woke up I told them the plans I made. They all agreed this would be fun but before the hill climb we all needed breakfast to cure our hangovers from the night before. So we hopped on our bikes and headed over to the Full Throttle Saloon for the breakfast buffet.
Once inside the Full Throttle we seated ourselves at the main entrance and chowed down on our feast. While eating I decided to get a bloody Mary to help the hangover and my how fast the first one went down so I proceed to go to the bar again for a second. This time everyone else decided to have a drink to keep me company. After a half an hour had past and 5 bloody Mary’s had found their way to my hand and everyone else had surpassed their first drink we thought it might be nice to walk around the bar before heading over to the hill climb that started in 20 minutes.

We came upon the School Bus Bar located at the back of Full Throttle. At the School Bus Bar you can write your name on it so we all thought it would be a good idea to dispaly our Sweater Vest Hill colors. We all took our turn signing the bus and stepping back to gleam at our masterpiece. Time had pasted and laughter was flowing, we were all having a good time when all of a sudden the heavens opened and unleashed the rath of con - it started down pouring. So we decided to wait the ran out and have one more drink. We sat down and proceeded to sip our drinks while looking out over the landscape of the bar and past to where we could see the Hill Climb 1800 feet away over by Glen Cove Campground. Dang, I thought, this is a great spot to watch the Hill Climb. Everyone agreed so we decided to spend the afternoon here. Captain Tuna stood up and offered to by another round so off to the bar he went. While at the bar the helper was bringing out trash bags to change the trash and something clicked in Captain Tunas’ mind. He challenged the helper to slip a bag on and slide down the

mud that ran down the center of Full Throttle. We were all laughing and egging him on.

If you are not familiar with The Full Throttle Saloon, inside it opens up to a big circle where covered boardwalks line the outside with bars and shops and the middle is a wide open space with a slight incline for at least 300 bikes to drive in and park and for all the people to watch the nightly concerts. So after 20 minutes of down pouring rain it was very, very, very muddy. So with the smarts of the Bar Helper, he passed down the opportunity and Captain Tuna decided he would do it. Captain Tuna bought 5 trash bags and turned to all of us and asked “Who wants to go Slippery Sliding?”

Alpha Dog jumped at the opportunity and they both slipped over their head one of the trash bags. Captain Tuna and Alpha Dog looked at each other, gave a nod and ran down the stairs into the mud and landed on their bellies racing down the very, very, very muddy hill. Captain Tuna was doing circles on his belly while Alpha Dog was going back and forth from this belly to his back. My god they were wet and muddy. We were laughing so hard and people all around the edge of the boardwalk bars were looking, pointing, taking pictures and cheering Captain Tuna and Alpha Dog on. After these two grown men went slippery sliding down the muddy hill at least 20 times people were coming up and buying them drinks after drinks. They had become celebrities for the day!

To this day I still can’t remember how long we stayed at the Full Throttle that day or what we did afterwards. I have yet to make it to a hill climb, but every time I say I want to go to one the memories of this experience makes my cry from laughter!

Oh the Stories I have to tell.

I was laying in bed last night and couldn't sleep and thinking about this blog and the sweatervest hill website. Now that I have started both of these a flood of memories have overflowed my head of the 11 times I have been to Sturgis. Each year has experiences to tell and the bizare things that happen. In Sturgis there is always a talel to tell so I will tell mine. My first experience of Sturgis was in 1991, (on the back of a 1958 rigid frame, suicide shift, panhead chopper over 1800 miles OUCH), 1994, 1995, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007. I'm excited to go back through all my pictures and recollect the thrills that took place. So look forward to the tales to come.

Members and their bikes!

Here is my ride a 2002 Harley Davidson Low Rider FXDL. I bought it in August of 2001 the day we left for Sturgis. The day before I visited South Valley Harley Davidson in Sandy, UT and there she was sitting in the window and shining her true blue colors in the sun. She had my name written all over it. So I called my husband and told him I found my bike and the the next day we went to pick her up. They say the first 500 miles you should brake your bike in slow and that's what I did on the way to Sturgis. I was smiling the whole way! Along our route to Sturgis when we would stop and a few people, that were from Salt Lake City, would comment on my bike and ask if that was the bike in the window from South Valley HD? I would grin and say yup! This bike is so comfortable for me to ride all day long. The seat is comfortable for my butt, the height is just right because I'm 5'8" and my feet can be planted on the ground and I can hold the bike up, blue is my favorite color, and the 88cc engine likes to ride at 80mph up and down hills, and it hugs the road nicely in turns. This is a great bike!

Better and Better

Things are looking up for the Sweater Vest Hill website. It's going to be cool and full of pictures. Me and Alpha Dog have been working on it and can't wait to have it looking just right for all the SVH riders.

This is the start of something crazy!

I want this blog to be for all to tell about their wild and wierd adventures from the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. It will take us a while to get the site to where we really want it, but you just wait and see. Please Tell Us what you think and post your Favorite Sturig story.

Keep The Rubber Side Down,

says's DoubleDown

Sweatervest Hill Here we come. For the 9th year in a row.

110 days until we saddle up and ride like the wind for our 9th year in a row Sturgis trip. Yes friends the Sturgis 2008 Black Hills Motorcycle Rally. Sweet Mullet, I can't wait. Now that spring is starting to almost make it's way to Utah, we are planning and I mean making big plans to head for the "Buffalo Chip" Campground and plop down at Sweater Vest Hill. Once again the center of our trip will be KID ROCK!!!!! at the Monster Outdoor Stage at the Chip, I will not go see him in SLC, but I will drive 750 miles in the wind, rain, sun, and fun to see him rock the stage at the Chip. Kid Rock is Monday night August 4th. We will also see Puddle of Mudd, and Alice Cooper. YES!!!!

So get this, Our Road Captain, hated Kid Rock, didn't want anything to do with him. So about 3 years ago I tried as hard as I could to teach him my favorite Kid rock song. It goes like this. "My name is KID ROCK, N you never met a Motha ..... quite like me." Well all day in his drunken mis guided state he didn't get, then when the concert was finally over, He understood. Since then he loves Kid Rock and can't Wait to see him again. Right Captain?????

State-by-State Motorcycle Laws

Here is a good site to give information about Motorcycle Laws State-by -State.
Make sure you ride safe by knowing your state laws and others.


http://www.amadirectlink.com/legisltn/laws.asp

Sturgis Pictures

2004 "Dutch Touch" with the flamming red hair, member from SLC.

2003 Founding members cooling off after a long day of drinking.
Alpha Dog, Not the Princess, Road Captain

DoubleDown with Billy Lane in Sturgis Aug 2002

Alpha Dog with Indian Larry in Sturgis Aug 2002 right before he died.

Sturgis 2008 - August 2-10

Alpha Dog and I will starting our Sturgis ride Friday, Aug 1st, leaving Salt Lake City around 4pm and ride I-80 East to Rawlings, WY and camp for the night. Then on the 2nd ride RT 287 & 22o to Casper, WY then I-25 North to RT 259 & 387 to Wright, WY. Then jog South on RT 50 to RT 450 East and take the senic way through "Thunder Basin Nat'l Grassland" over to New Castle, WY for dinner. Once back in the saddle, turn North on RT 85 going to Lead and down through Deadwood and reaching either I-90 or RT 14 that takes you into Sturgis. We arrive in Sturgis the night of August 2nd and stay at "Sweater Vest Hill" in Buffalo Chip Campground, located below the swimming pond. We'll stay for Kid Rock on Monday, Aug 4th, and then start our return to SLC on Aug 5th.
If anyone is coming from Utah, lets meet up and ride together. It's always funner when there's a group.

Here's a map viewing route: http://www.mapquest.com/maps/Sturgis+sd/

Sturgis Rally link: http://sturgis.com/

Buffalo Chip Campground:http://buffalochip.com/

Getting Started

Here is the space were we can blog about "Sweater Vest Hill MC". It is designed for members to discuss Motorcycles, Rally's, Rides, Motorcycle Technical issues, keeping intouch, and any other matters.