Knuckle Saloon – Jeff Maddox

September 26, 2024September 26, 2024

Buffalo Jeff

So it’s been a while. Every year around July, I start thinking of the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally and my sub-conscious always starts packing my motorcycle for the trip. It’s a reflexive thing and whether the trip happens or not, doesn’t seem to matter. I used to be very consistent in going each year and the last few years just haven’t happened. What changed? Nothing, except I refused to make excuses to not go. And there you have it.

So this year I made the trek and I also hauled my bike up on a trailer. I’ve done this once before and quite frankly, it doesn’t matter to me at this point. I’ve ridden there so many times in the past and trailering takes a lot of stress and weather-worry out of the equation. Oh, and I took my BMW. My, how things have changed. If you’ve read any of my older posts, I also rode a BMW there in 2019 but went early before the rally officially started. We are seeing more and more adventure bikes everywhere we go and the Sturgis Rally is no exception. Let’s sum this up; I went, I trailered, and I took a BMW. Yep.

Leaving after work on a Saturday, the plan was to arrive at Ender’s Lake in Nebraska by dark, and spend the night in the back of the truck. I stopped in Colby Kansas for a bite to eat and when I climbed out of the cab of the Ranger, I was jumped in the parking lot of Arby’s by a guy named Heat Index. Wow, it was hot! OK, whether or not it’s cool to haul your bike to Sturgis, at that moment I was cool with it. Literally.

“when I climbed out of the cab of the Ranger, I was jumped in the parking lot of Arby’s by a guy named Heat Index. Wow, it was hot!”

I arrived at Lamphere Ranch Campground about noon on Sunday, and got the bike off the trailer to ride into town to get lunch. I know it’s been a couple of years but it seemed like I hadn’t seen this many people downtown in a long time. For the first weekend of the rally, I guess that’s to be expected. I’m hungry and well rested from the drive so let’s eat. The sights and sounds of Main Street is classic Sturgis and as I sit at the Loud American eating my lunch, I know it won’t take long to get back into the groove.

After lunch I walked the sidewalks to check things out. Lot’s of people, t-shirts and traffic of course, but also everyone with a bagger had their music turned up to the max which the old man in me found annoying. If you’re going to force me to listen to your music for the 20 seconds it takes for you to get down the street past me, let’s agree on what song is playing. Anything from Journey works for me. I suppose it’s just me and by time I finished lunch and set out on foot, I hardly noticed.

It always amazes me with the plethora of people, that you will even see someone you know but it never fails. Years ago we met a guy that goes by the name Buffalo Mike and he is what you might expect from a rally of this type. A helmet with horns and leather vest with no shirt on pretty much sums him up. Or so I thought. After seeing him at the rally several times over the years, Buffalo Mike is a great guy. I bumped into him again this year in front of the Full Throttle Saloon and we got caught up. He’s 74 years old if you’re wondering. Yes, it’s his thing to put his sweaty helmet on your head…

Buffalo Mike is a great guy. I bumped into him again this year in front of the Full Throttle Saloon and we got caught up. He’s 74 years old if you’re wondering. Yes, it’s his thing to put his sweaty helmet on your head…

These pictures were taken ten years apart and I’m guessing the old man next to Buffalo Mike is me, Buffalo Jeff. He rode his Heritage Softail Classic from Oregon and I trailered a BMW, but I didn’t bother to mention that part.

Monday was a good day to ride to Deadwood and through Spearfish Canyon, Nemo and a few roads in between. It’s nice to get out on the roads in the morning before the traffic picks up and then back into town for a bite to eat. Looking at the picture above, I could stand to skip a meal. But not today. Off to the Knuckle Saloon for something to eat and a $6 beer and it’s time to get a few steps in.

If you like to people-watch or have any interest in motorcycles, this is a great place to be. There’s plenty to see from a tourist standpoint and the sights and sounds surrounding the rally can wear you down after awhile. Lucky for me, I like all of the above. At the Full Throttle Saloon custom bike show, I ran into Kevin Bean’re and talked to him about his bike and travels. He has quite the life and always smiling.

For me, the 84th Sturgis Rally weather was perfect. I rode a little, walked a lot and saw a few friends and made a few new friends in the process. There is a lot that goes into putting this rally on, and if you have any inclination to go, I would say do it. Next year for the 85th the attendance numbers will be higher, but that’s just how it goes. Maybe next year I’ll leave the old man in me at home, ride up instead of trailering and find a helmet with horns. Either way, I hope to see you there!

July 30, 2019

Three More Sleeps

It happens every year in the month leading up to Sturgis. I go back and forth about whether I’m going, the highs and low’s of planning and then it all comes together and a date gets penciled in. Or does it? This year it does.

I’m actually getting my gear together and making a list of those items I will forget. It never fails, you can put it all in a pile and you end up taking those things you really will never need and leave behind the necessities. Of course you can pick up anything you need along the way, but that isn’t the point. I have it sitting right there on the garage floor.

I’ve sent a few messages to people I know who will be there in hopes of meeting up for a beer. I know I want to head out to the Full Throttle to see the progress in person, and do a couple of rides in the area that I haven’t done in a few years. Man, I wish The Knuckle Saloon still had the amateur MMA fights like they used to. Oh well, I’m sure there will be plenty going on, it’s just a matter of wandering around.

So, the next decision is which direction to ride on the way up. I’ve taken about every road up and back, mixing up the scenery and giving those few crooks the opportunity to skim my card at the gas pump. Yes, this has happened. Like every trip I take, I always have a goal of meeting some locals in hopes they tell me their life story. It will happen, and I’ll be all ears. That’s okay and it never gets old listening to someone tell me a little about themselves or the community in which they live. Good stuff.

As I sit here typing this, I should be in the garage packing some stuff. I did get my cup holder mounted. I struggled with that. Not from mounting it, but rather if I need it. Really? A cup holder? Hey, it’s a long trip.

I guess Friday morning is only a couple of sleeps away, and there will be plenty of time to gather my crap and strap it down. I’m ready to go – at least in my head I am.

September 2, 2015February 15, 2016

Sturgis or…Bust?

I was so looking forward to the 75th Annual Sturgis Rally and at one point I wasn’t sure if this year was going to happen – read: Clarityville. Like every year, this gives me a chance to get away and spend a week riding the highways and byways of Kansas, Nebraska and South Dakota while finding interesting things along the way. As I’ve said before, Sturgis is a great place to turn around because it’s the ride I so look forward to, and although a good time is always had during the rally, weather can also play a big part in having a great trip versus a good trip. You see, there really isn’t such a thing as a bad trip to Sturgis. Well…

Planning this trip every year always starts about a week after I get back from the rally, and last year was no different. As winter rolls in you lose a little urgency and just like everything else, plans are put on the back-burner until the first break in the weather and then it all fires back up. Who’s going, who can’t go and all the other details and gossip that go along with planning for Sturgis seem to find their way into the conversation whenever there’s the false sense of Spring in air. We know the trip is happening but like a kid who can’t wait for the last day of school, it’s not getting here fast enough. I swear, we’re just like little kids sometimes.

I heard rumors and I’ve seen old grainy photos of what appears to be people going to Sturgis with dare I say, their motorcycle on a trailer. Heck, I didn’t know you could put a motorcycle on a trailer and why would you? It is a self-propelled machine capable or moving bodies and souls great distances with little more than the twist of the throttle. So this year it happened to me; in a borrowed trailer I hauled my touring bike to the rally. Gasp! A touring bike on a trailer. Where do you buy a t-shirt that says “I hauled mine?” Oh, the verbal beating I will take for this.

Gasp! A touring bike on a trailer. Where do you buy a t-shirt that says “I hauled mine to Sturgis 2015?” Oh, the verbal beating I will take for this.

Let me say this. After hitting rain across the Kansas/Nebraska border, hauling it didn’t seem so bad. After all, I’m delicate. I’ve ridden to the rally 8 years in a row with nothing to prove, and this “pulling a trailer” thing was a little foreign to me. Such things as wipers, a comfortable seat with armrests and climate control changed everything. If I didn’t know any better, I would have wondered why there were so many bikes on the road all heading in the same direction. But wait, I knew better. After a long day behind the wheel, camp was set up, the bike was unloaded and it was a quick ride into Sturgis for a bite to eat. Lot’s of people and somewhat tough to park, but not too bad. Saturday night was pretty uneventful and after all, I did have a long day driving. Can you tell I’m a little bitter about not riding this year? Yeah.

Sunday plans were to ride to Spearfish and head through the canyon to Lead and then south to Rapid City. Back up through Custer State Park into Keystone, Hill City and Deadwood, ending back up in Sturgis. A good days riding and I really hoped to get 250 miles on the bike before it got hot and crowded in the Black Hills. That was the plan… Hitting I-90 west to Spearfish my motorcycle coughed and hesitated. Hmmm. Surely a fluke, I thought to myself. Stopping in Lead about 60 miles later, the decision was made to go back to Sturgis, abandoning the plans due to heavy traffic and a bunch of folks out on the roads that probably shouldn’t have been there – at least on motorcycles. What’s a couple of close calls among friends?

After getting back into town and wandering around for a few hours it was time to head back to the campground for a siesta. Apparently pulling a trailer with your motorcycle in it can wear a fella out. Pulling up to a stop sign leading up to the main drag in and out of Sturgis, my bike died. I fired it up, got a block further and it died again. Rinse, lather, repeat for another couple of blocks and then it wouldn’t start. An innocent bystander watching the parade of bikes rolling into town from his front yard, asked if I needed a ride somewhere, and I gladly accepted. Pretty handy having a pickup and trailer just down the road in the campground isn’t it?

I know what you’re thinking. Am I glad I towed the bike to the rally? Yes, and of course no. The unpredictability of a breakdown is always there no matter where you ride. I’ve been fortunate enough to not have this happen to me on any other trip, and I guess I was probably due. The fact that I trailered this year is pure luck and as a biker, we usually have a plan B in the event of a breakdown. You do have a plan B don’t you?

So as much as I wanted to stay, it was a little difficult getting around in the pickup. With my frustration level peaking, it was only logical to leave the rally early. Two days early. Driving as far as North Platte Nebraska to spend the night, the rain convinced me that I would rather be in the cab of the truck than on a bike. What is it about rain and Nebraska? Or am I getting soft? I think I actually used the word “delicate” earlier. Wednesday, when I should have been planning on an evening at The Knuckle Saloon for the fights I was changing a blowout on the trailer which ruined the tire and wheel. A borrowed trailer at that. Thanks Russ!