I promised a Sturgis post didn’t I? It’s going to take multiple posts, so let’s get started.

Sturgis was many things: Amazing. Fun. Frustrating. Inspiring. Crowded. And I ended up with a different motorcycle the day after I got home.

When we left for the trip it was my wife and myself and a loaded Aspen Sentry camper/trailer. We stopped in Waukee to gas up and meet the folks we were riding with. The power difference between my 96 ci engine and their 103 ci wasn’t that big of a deal at this point, but it was noticeable. Without going downhill, the best I could manage was 75 MPH, often shifting down into 5th when going up hills. While a bit annoying, it really wasn’t a huge issue until we got into South Dakota and started traveling up those long, sloping hills that just eat your speed. I spent a considerable amount of time in 5th gear, throttle completely rolled, and barely managing 65 by the time I reached the top.

We stopped in Chamberlain for the night. The first surprise of the trip was that the Best Western wasn’t allowing any discounts before and after rally week, which means a member of our party was denied his military discount. I understand it’s Sturgis and all, but really Best Western? No military discount? Our vets have earned that discount and it shouldn’t magically disappear during rally week.

We ate breakfast at Al’s Oasis the next morning and I was surprised the 5 cent coffee they had been advertising on billboards for a few hundred miles was actually pretty damn good. We made our way to Sturgis after breakfast, made it to the campground and ran into the 2nd surprise of the trip. Some of the folks we were with have been coming to Eagle’s Landing Campground for years and in that time they had never been charged to stay except for the actual rally week. Coming in a few days early had always been free. They changed that policy this year, but never put it on the website nor in any of the email communication I had with them. So before we were allowed entry, we had to cough up more cash. For my wife and I it was an extra $210. Luckily we had saved for contingencies like this. It’s their right to change their policy, but a little warning would have been nice.

Overall, the campground was decent. We got had some shade and were not too far or too close to the kaibos. Food, drink, and ice were available as needed. They did seem to have the same band most, if not all nights. They played the same songs, but mixed up the order. I didn’t bother hanging around for that too much. I could hear it from the camp just fine and was still able to speak to the people around me.

The showers though, were not awesome. I don’t want to bitch too much as I was able to take a shower and brush my teeth each day, but they were never warm, let alone hot. So it was cold showers for the most part. The women in our crew said theirs were too hot. I got once decent shower while I was there. When we came back from the Badlands I was hot and sweaty. I headed to the shower and the water temperature was somewhere between cool and warm and it felt amazing.

After all that work getting a solar panel and a power inverter to run my CPAP, things stopped working on the 2nd night. Turns out the solar charger will only charge the battery back up to 11.8 volts. Once I’d hook up the inverter, it would drop the battery voltage to 10.3. The inverter has a safety shut off that stops using battery power at 10.5 volts. I didn’t realize this at first so I bought another power inverter while i was out there that I ended up returning when I realized what the issue was.

A few friends have asked me about budgeting. I asked my BACA brothers the same questions long before we left. What we decided on, not counting our original campground reservation, was $100 per day, per person, for each day we were gone. That means it was $200 a day for my wife and I. That covered everything: gas, food, drinks, merchandise, etc.. We budgeted $2500 for the total trip, which also included the $200 to the person we paid to house-sit and take care of our animals. We had brought snacks and also ate stuff others had brought a few times so while we didn’t hit out budget each day, we also went over budget several times each day. I kept a running list in a notepad on my phone. I haven’t gone back and checked my math, so I expect there are some errors, but this is the break down. We came in under budget:

Day1

– 11 gas

– 19 food

– 15 gas

– 10 coffee

– 20 gas

– 13 gas

– 95 hotel

– 30 food

TOTAL = 213

Day 2

– 18 food

– 5 gas

– 14 gas

– 6 pop

– 30 RC HD

– 210 campground

– 40 food

– 17 gas

– 55 shopko

– 7 ice

– 35 food

TOTAL = 477

Day 3

– 16 food

– 10 gas

– 10 chipmunk

– 25 trevinos

– 25 food

– 7 merch

– 9 gas

– 13 cabelas

– 40 cash for wife

– 19 food

– 73 merch

TOTAL = 247

Day 4

– 15 food

– 16 coffee

– 70 merch

– 45 j&p

– 52 food (full throttle, way expensive for what is is)

– 88 Walmart (Inverter and other things)

– 13 gas

– 11 food

– 10 food

TOTAL = 305

Day 5

– 16 breakfast

– 13 coffee

– 28 food

– 18 food

– +75 (returned inverter)

TOTAL = 0

Day 6

– 11 gas

– 14 food/magnet

– 12 gas

– 6 coffee

– 33 supper

TOTAL = 76

Day 7

– 65 tattoo

– 22 food

– 11 truffles

TOTAL = 98

Day 8

– 14 food

– 14 gas

– 12 badlands

– 14 gas

– 25 badlands HD

– 10 wall drug

– 25 food

TOTAL = 114

Day 9

– 15 gas

– 15 food

– 50 devil’s tower

– 65 new vest

– 29 food

TOTAL = 174

Day 10

– 11 food

– 15 gas

– 17 gas

– 2 milk

– 10 food

– 15 gas

– 5 food

– 15 gas

– 15 food

– 9 gas

– 200 housesitter

TOTAL = 314

OVERALL TOTAL = 2216

Next time I’ll discuss the riding and the sites and have a few pictures as well.

Until next time!