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Posted on 08/11/2025 10:33:02 AM PDT by DUMBGRUNT
When arrests at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally get too high, officials resort to an overflow jail, a quasi-retired 1950s era jailhouse. “When you have 50+ drunk individuals who aren’t happy to be there, haven’t showered in a few days, highly intoxicated, it gets thick back there,” a prison official said.
“If you know anything about bikers, we have fun, we party. Sturgis is a giant party. It’s the freedom to do whatever you want, ride a bike naked if you want,” he said, adding an important addendum. “But you might get messed with by the cops.”
Rally arrests are so high that officials resort to an overflow jail, a quasi-retired 1950s-era jailhouse with metal bars that open and close with a lever-lock mechanical crank.
There is also the ever-present tension among motorcycle clubs like the Sons of Silence, Mongols, Pagans and the Hells Angels. “We have contacts with the upper echelons of those groups, and we reach out to them to say, ‘Listen, we do not want any issues so you need to control your members and make sure that they're in line.’ They usually respond well to that, but oftentimes it gets [tense] and things happen.”
(Excerpt) Read more at cowboystatedaily.com ...
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Never saw anything too far out of line, heard the hot fun is in the outlying hills at night?
A guy I worked with bought a bike faster than his reaction time... Months inpatient hospital time, two years of repair, surgery, and PT... NOT fun in the hills that night.
Motorcycle hooligans Ping!................
My one time to the rally (I have been to the area several times) my group of four Army buddies and three wives spent a week and timed it so we left on the first day of the rally.
I’m in Wyoming now visiting relatives, waiting for the crowds to clear for a quick visit before I spend two to three weeks exploring Montana and Idaho until I “take the long way home” to Texas.
Enjoyed riding the Black Hills on a sportbike with my wife. I saw Sturgis from a distance. Even without the rally, that was probably close enough. It must be an amazing event.
I loved riding, but I knew it was just a matter of time if I kept rolling the dice.
Is there a biker in the house?
Sounds like so much fun. /s
“There’s people laying across the floor,” he said. “Nowhere to walk. Basically, stepping over people. I got a mat to sleep on, but they ran out after a while, and then there were just people on the floor with a blanket.”
The heat, the crowds, the mayhem, the filth, the noise, the cost.... I just can’t imagine what there isn’t to enjoy.
Why,Yes, we are.................
I have a motorcycle endorsement on my drivers license for large displacement. Most motorcyclists do not.
I did my motorcycle drivers test with a Honda 1,000 cc
Gold wing.
I live in Hawaii, I sold my motorcycle as most my fellow motorcyclists have done also.
We got tired of idiots trying to kill us.
I won’t define idiots other than to say they elect
people from a party that starts with a “D”.
Today I refer to most Motorcyclists as “organ donors”.
I miss my motorcycle.
But today when that assh0le pulls out in front of me I’ll
t bone them and then wait for someone else to call for help!
I drive a truck and I’m out of date for my first responder
card.
I rode dirt bikes from the time I was big enough to straddle one until I was in my 20s. After that I took a long summer trip with my son on a borrowed Harley. Shake, rattle and roll in the hot summer sun, not my idea of a good time for more than just a few hours. Four days of it was enough to satisfy all my thoughts to “give it a try”.
You have 3 wives? I am struggling with one!
“exploring Montana and Idaho”
We are in North Idaho and regularly do that.
* Bitterroot Valley, especially the southern end. Trapper Peak juts up from the Divide. Fantastic fishing. Super hiking. Hike to Baker Lake for spectacular alpine scenery. Stop into Mr. T’s Mercantile in Darby to see the most amazing Elk mount ever with a huge mountain lion bringing him down. Amazing taxidermy work!
* Skalkaho Pass. Maybe 10-15 miles of dirt road from Bitterroot Valley over to Philipsburg, but well maintained. Spectacular waterfall at the pass.
* Phillipsburg, Anaconda and Wisdom. Sapphire hunting on Skalkaho road near Phillipsburg.
* Big Hole Valley. We must missed the closing time at the Big Hole National Battlefield. The movie at the visitor center is reported to be very good. Look for the big hay-stacking system used in the valley. It’s unique in the USA, but was the main way hay was stored before bailers were invented. HUGE 20 ft x 20 ft x 40 ft. stacks of hay! You can see a working model of it in the Phillipsburg museum.
* Lolo. Be sure to have steak at the Lolo Creek Steakhouse
* Across the street from the Lolo Creek Steakhouse is the “Traveler’s Rest” state park. It was a stopping point for the Lewis & Clark Corps of Discovery going west and coming back east. It was a huge area for Indian Potlatches and fur trappers. Great museum. This is the ONLY known area with archeological proof that Lewis & Clark stopped there! Be sure to watch the show on Amazon “Lewis & Clark: The Journey of the Corps of Discovery” before you go. What those men accomplished is breathtaking. The whole area in Montana and Idaho is filled with their history. The major river “Clark Fork” used to be named the possessive “Clark’s Fork.” It was named by Merriweather Lewis but was purportedly never seen by Clark!
* The St. Ignatius Mission, in St. Ignatius, MT. It is a landmark Catholic mission, founded in 1854 by Jesuit priests Pierre-Jean De Smet and Adrian Hoecken. De Smet worked in missions in Idaho. Visit the Cataldo Mission just off I-90 close to the Montana state line in Cataldo, ID.
* The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation in Missoula. Amazing elk mounts.
* The “Bison Range” run by the Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes. There’s a 10 mile loop over the top of a high ridge and you’ll see LOTS of bison. We spotted about 60 a couple weeks ago.
* St. Regis, MT on I-90. Stop at the “St. Regis Travel Center” for the best milkshake and grilled cheese. We always stop there. Head north from St. Regis on MT-135 along the Clark Fork River. Be sure to enjoy the natural hot springs at Quinn’s Resort.
* Head NW to Plains and Thompson Falls. Hike the Four Lakes Loop west of Thompson Falls. Head up to Libby, MT on MT-56 through the spectacular Cabinet Mountains, some of the most rugged, most remote mountains in the USA. There’s an easy hike over the Kootenai River on a suspension bridge just west of Libby.
* At Libby, head north on MT-37 that follows Lake Koocanusa for many miles. Stands for “Kootenai - Canada - USA”! Very remote, little traffic, and spectacular.
* At Eureka, MT you are just 6 miles south of Canada. Head SE to Whitefish and Glacier NP. Glacier has a driving reservation system if you want to drive into the park. Either get a reservation, do a tour in the park (like the Lake McDonald boat tour - recommended) or arrive at the entrance before 7 am (check the time). Drive the “Going to the Sun Road.” Amazing road!
That’s enough for now. And I didn’t even cover any of Idaho. Have a great trip!
* Or head up the east side of Lake Pend Oreille to Sandpoint, ID.
My first rally was before our senior year of high school as a 17 year old with three buddies. We were on Japanese cruisers ( Virago, Shadows, Magna) and had given no planning to the trip. First night, slept in a park until RCPD sent us on our way. The next two nights we were lucky to find a motel room. It turned out to be vacant because the prior occupants had been arrested.
We figured out that they, and the surrounding rooms, were Bandidos. We had no issues with them. About the only interaction was when one of our group said “those are beautiful bikes” to one the first morning. The reply was “ they’re shore purty, aren’t they?”
No fake IDs were needed (and at the time the 3.2 age was 18 so no one really paid attention) and the wildest event of the trip was seeing a couple of topless women! We were high schoolers, after all, so that was as crazy! Also, it was 1984…
Been there 3 times with the wife and just about every rally in the states at least one time. After 52 years of riding and not one issue with the wife on the back (I’ve had a few riding alone including a life flight out back in 98) I decided at 70 years old I’d go out on top with the wife never getting a scratch. Sold my 2011 street glide in May..to a 75 year old Vietnam Vet !!!
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