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GOOD STUFF TO KNOW

How Much Can I Lower My Harley Davidson Motorcycle Article taken from Pro-Street Cycles Tech Tips section     We often talk about lowering the front and rear of motorcycles. The question usually goes "how much can I lower the rear (or front) of my Harley Davidson motorcycle?" There is no firm answer for this question. Rider weight, one or two up, packed for a trip, fender clearance and even how rough the local roads are can factor into your decision. How does lowering affect handling? Again, it depends on how much you lower it. If you only lower it 1" you may only lose some ground clearance and add a slight amount of rake. If you lower it as far as you can or "Slam" it, you will most likely lose considerable ground clearance causing you to drag parts and pieces in turns and could even upset the bikes stability. Deciding on if and how much to lower your Harley Davidson motorcycle is a personal decision. We advise considering all of the issues like fender clearance for the tire wiring and ground clearance along with the handling issues. So, you decide to lower the bike, what do I look out for? The best thing to do is to remove the rear wheel and make sure that all of the fender strut bolts are not protruding into the fender well. Adjust, shorten or modify any that do. A tire will rip itself apart on any thing it can hit up in there. Reroute and wires or bundles so that they are totally clear of the area on inside top of the fender. Many a wiring harness has been ripped up when the tire hit it. Also, check the bolt that holds down your seat! Often this bolt is long enough to hit a tire when you lower the motorcycle. We always check the full travel of the wheel and make sure it cannot rub or hit anything. After you install your lowering kit or shorter shocks, make sure you set the spring load properly following the manufacturers instructions. By setting the preload to soft you may easily bottom and upset your handling. How do you lower the front of your Harley Davidson motorcycle? Most of the same decisions apply here. Riding style, weight, roads etc all are factors. Make sure that the wheel has sufficient clearance to the fender and fork legs. Check brake cable and speedometer cable routing. On fork lowering you can tune the forks reaction to bumps and braking by increasing or decreasing fork spring preload and oil viscosity and level. Progressive Suspension, White Brothers and Race Tech make some outstanding products for lowering your bike. All are top notch and high quality. Race Tech has an innovative cartridge emulator that we are very impressed with. We will follow up with an article on this product soon We caution our customers to consider all of the issues before radically lowering their suspension. We also highly suggest lowering the front and rear the same amount for most applications.       Stop Rear Belt Drive Noise on Harley Davidson Motorcycles Article taken from Pro-Street Cycles Tech Tips section

Rear belt drives on Harley Davidson motorcycles can make noise due to dust, mis-alignment, bad tensioning, and wear. Correcting these problems is an easy task that most owners can do themselves. Replacing the oily rear chain on Harley motorcycles with a clean, efficient belt drive raised Harley-Davidson motorcycles to a new level of comfort. It also reduced maintenance greatly. When adjusted properly the new rear belt systems can last 50,000 or more miles with a minimum of adjustment. One complaint we do get about them is belt noise, usually a squeaking or squealing sound caused by the belt rubbing against the inside or outside of the pulley. This noise is caused by friction and can indicate that maintenance is necessary. Since the belt is not completely enclosed, a trip down a dirt road or a ride in a rain storm can cause bits of sand and dirt to embed in the rubber belt. These bits of dirt are harder than the surfaces they are rubbing on and cause the squeal and abrasion that will eventually cause premature wear on the motorcycle belt and sprocket surfaces. The cure for this is to put the motorcycle up on a stand so the rear wheel spins freely, and wash the belt and sprocket off with a mild soap solution. I like warm water and a small bit of Dawn dish soap. Use a rag to wipe the belt off as you rotate the wheel, then rinse with clean water. Let the belt dry thoroughly, or blow the water off with compressed air. Many times this is all you need to do, but for really squeaky belts you can spray the belt lightly with Dry Silicone Spray by Krylon that you find at the hardware stores. This will quiet the squeakiest belt. One other thing to notice is that the belt should always track to the outside of the front and rear pulleys. If you roll the bike backwards it will track to the inside and sometimes squeak as well. This is normal because Harley Davidson designs a slight angle in the transmission pulley mounting to keep the belt tracking to the outside. Make sure the rear wheel is aligned correctly and that the belt tension is correct as outlined in the motorcycle service manual. I don't recommend using any type of commercial belt dressing, they are designed for friction belts, not for tooth belts like the Harley Davidson type, and because they are sticky they will cause dirt to stick to the belt. When your motorcycle belt is clean and well-adjusted you'll have a quiet and reliable drive.

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No matter what kind of riding you do, there's an AMSOIL SuperDuty Motorcycle oil Filter that's right for your bike or ATV.

AMSOIL INC. recommends the following guidlines. When using an AMSOIL SMF with conventional oil, change the filter at the manufacturer's recommendation. When using an AMSOIL SMF with AMSOIL Motor Oil, change the filter at twice the manufacturer's recommendation or six months.

More Information On SuperDuty Motorcycle and ATV Oil FiltersCheck Out The Following Related Product Pages:   Synthetic Motorcycle Motor Oils   Synthetic Shock Therapy Suspension Fluid   Series 2000 Synthetic Gear Lube   P.I. Performance Improver   Series 2000 Synthetic Racing Grease Check Out The Following Related Application Pages:   AMSOIL Motorcycle Products   AMSOIL 4-Wheel Products Email this page to a friend.

You Can Purchase AMSOIL SuperDuty Motorcycle and ATV Oil Filters Stock# Pkg/Size Wt. Lbs. Preferred Customer Price SuperDuty Motorcycle and ATV Oil Filters Group 1 SMF-104, 105, 106 1 23% off Catalog Retail Price Group 2 SMF-101, 107 1 19% off Catalog Retail Price Group 3 SMF-110, 111, 112, 131 1 22% off Catalog Retail Price Group 4 SMF-102, 103, 108, 109, 113, 120, 121, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127 1 21% off Catalog Retail Price Group 5 SMF-122, 132, 133, 134, 135 1 20% off Catalog Retail Price Group 6 SMF-103C, 132C, 133C, 134C, 135C 1 22% off Catalog Retail Price

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What Gas Should You Use in Your Harley?

There is a myth, especially with the old time Harley a rider that gets passed on like a religion. Use Sunoco gas comes the sage advice.   Here at Heavy Duty we sound like a broken record. “Don’t use Sunoco gas in you r Harley!”  It used to be the best gas before lead was banned for your Shovel or Ironhead but no more. Why not?  Well first, let’s look at some background information.  The element lead was the octane that initially solved gas explosion problems.  Octane, whatever the source substance, stops gas from exploding and regulates the rate at which it burns.  The higher the compression, the higher the octane level required to accomplish the controlled burn because compression causes heat through the extra pressure. Pressure and heat are synonymous in an engine as one leads to the other. They mean the same thing although to the uninitiated, they sound like different principles.  Uncontrolled, heat/pressure become a deadly duo, causing other types of explosions more commonly referred to as detonation and pre-ignition colloquially known as pinging and spark knock.  This sounds like a bunch of all bearings bouncing around inside the cylinders particularly when the engine is under load. It is also evident with the run-on that can occur after the ignition is turned off on a hot day.   Sportstersâ are especially susceptible to these problems.  Heat/pressure can cause the gas to ignite anywhere in the chamber. This forms a flame front travelling across the chamber. The unplanned flame front(s) collide with the legitimate one initiated by the spark plug.   Colliding flame fronts make the pinging or spark knock noises that can have devastating effects on engine longevity.  Octane assists greatly in preventing heat-induced explosions.  This is why the Harley manual gives octane rating requirements for today's V-Twins; “Use a good quality leaded or unleaded gasoline (91 pump octane or higher). Pump octane is the octane number usually shown on the gas pumps”.  Most importantly, octane allows engineers to calculate lead-time for the gas to burn in order to provide the optimal heat/pressure to drive the piston down on the power stroke at the time when most power (pressure) will be produced. The spark plug has to go off while the piston is still ascending on the compression stroke so the maximum amount of fuel has burned by the time the piston reaches top dead centre. The heat creates pressure to drive the piston down.  This is called ignition timing when the sparkplug goes off to start the burn. It changes constantly because of many factors like piston speed, engine stroke and cylinder bore.  The sparkplug doesn’t go off when the piston is at the top (TDC) of its movement because there is a lag time as the gas slowly starts to burn.  Therefore the plug must go off as the piston is rising to time the most burning to occur when it is about to go down, creating the most power.   Advancing ignition timing, when the plug fires, simply means that the sparkplug ignites the gas earlier on in the compression stroke: and retarding means the opposite igniting it later in the compression stroke when the piston is closer to TDC.  As an example, what happens if the piston moves up and down faster when you crank the throttle? Well you have to start burning the gas sooner (advance ignition timing) so it has enough time to burn.  Although an excellent octane, lead is corrosive. It eats away at your sparkplugs and exhaust system and contaminates engine oil.  Back in 1984, we were all mystified at how long Evos would run on a set of plugs.  It was pretty simple: no corrosive lead in the premium unleaded gas.  Unleaded gas allows for longer parts life and fewer oil changes.  Lead is also very dangerous to the environment and to your children's health as it can cause mental retardation.Every time a particular octane like lead is declared dangerous and a new one is used it seems that it is only a matter of time before different environmental and health problems emerge.  There are safe octane’s such as alcohol but there is no widespread use of them as of yet.   Methanol is another safe octane for your health. However, the H-D service manual advises not to use methanol-laced gasoline. Quoting the bible, “Using gasoline that has an alcohol additive, such as methanol, may cause fuel system rubber components failure and/or engine damage.”  Furthermore, “Ethanol is a mixture of 10% ethanol (Grain alcohol) and 90% unleaded gasoline. Gasoline/ethanol blends can be used in your motorcycle if the ethanol content does not exceed 10%.”  It is wise to look at the gas pump before filling your tank. If there is methanol in the gas it will be listed in bold letters.Methanol will expand, distort and destroy rubber seals over time. These seals effectiveness are severely compromised especially those inside the carburetor, between the manifold and carb and the manifold and head depending on year and model carburetor.  If you experience minor irritations in the starting of your bike and/or its running, changing brand gasoline’s may be the cure. Different brands may be formulated differently and have higher or lower concentrations of chemicals that help or hurt your bike’s tuning. Gasoline formulation also changes by region and time of year  The H-D manual sagely advises; “You may find that some gasoline blends adversely affects the starting, driveability or fuel efficiency of your bike. If you experience one or more of these problems, we recommend you try a different brand of gasoline or gasoline with a higher octane rating.”   Tell me about it………………

Modern Gas in a Hemi Engine

Combustion chamber shape and compression ratio helps determine the way a gasoline is formulated are directly inter-related.Firstly a subject that affects everything from engine design to a gasoline’s formula is emissions dictates by the government in quest of cleaner air.  Cars were (and are) under more severe EPA restrictions than motorcycles and since they dominate the vehicle market, gasoline is tailored to their needs and requirements. Motorcycles, especially those with only 2 cylinders like H-D must adapt as best they can to developing gasoline’s that are well ahead of Harley’s curve.  Automotive liquid cooled, overhead valve, sophisticated cylinder head configurations along with a myriad of multi valve designs are technologically light years ahead of the antiquated air-cooled, pushrod operated engines like HD.  The gasoline of today is designed for modern cars that are way ahead of even Twin Cam design never mind the primitive hemi-heads in use with the Shovels and Ironhead Sportstersâ. Twin Cams experience problems with gas in terms of hesitations and flat spots.  Furthermore, the more cylinders there are in an engine the easier one is able to supplement and work together with the others. With only two cylinders, supportive help between them is minimal. This makes adherence to EPA pollution emission dictates more difficult and still have a smooth running engine.  I know I rattle on about this all the time but there is no greater influence on what you ride. It is the reason for the elimination of the chain in favor of the rear belt drive, exhaust/manifold intake design, and timing chains as opposed to timing gears are a few determined by noise. Combustion chamber design, compression ratios, exhausts, elimination of carburetors in favor of EFI, water jacket engine cooling and engine management systems are a few that affect emission pollutants.  Engine combustion chamber design in a Harley has evolved from the hemi-head design of Knucks, Pans, Shovels and Ironheads to the D-Shape chambers of the Evo and finally to the bathtub shape of the Twin Cams.   Compression initially had to be lowered in later Shovels with the hemi shape chambers to cope with leaner burn system gasolines and octanes in order to reduce detonation. With improved combustion chamber designs in the Evo and better still in the Twin Cams compression ratios increased for better fuel efficiency, less emissions and better mileage.  In short, today’s gasolines are ahead of the needs of a Twin Cam, never mind the dinosaur hemi heads.  One of the most asked questions regarding older Harleys that I continuously answer for riders is why the engines make so much noise, (detonation/pre-ignition) and fouled spark plugs, (gasoline composition). Rejetting carbs and altering ignition timing away from previous factory specs to cope with an ever-changing environment can only cure so much.  Gasoline’s produced when hemis were the rage had the all-time dirtiest but very efficient octane, lead. The gas was also formulated without pollutants in mind. It was inexpensive and wasted on a grand scale.   I call it a gas designed for “rich burn systems” where the ratio of gas relative to air was very much higher than today. The massive pollutants containing combustion by-products as well as unburned and partially burned gas that spewed out the exhaust pipes was the norm for the era.  Well that era has changed dramatically to one with a different set of rules.  Those hemi-heads are not supposed to exist anymore. For the most part, they don’t in the automotive world but Pans, Knucks, Ironheads and Shovels are rebuildable for who knows how long. Another hundred years is not out of the question.  That is, of course, if they can run on the gas even 15 years from now never mind a hundred.  Lead has been mostly banned as an octane. For those of you with hemi-heads, whenever you see a pump with leaded gasoline, fill’er up for some problem free riding. Supposedly safer octanes replaced lead.   Safe octanes such as Harley unfriendly ethanol/methanol won’t work well in the V-Twin.  Harley will sooner rather than later replace current vulnerable rubber seals in the fuel tracts to accommodate these more emission friendly fuels.  Ditto with the gasoline refiners who leave too much sulphur in the gas.  Why not change? In general companies do not institute costly changes until forced to. Its all about money and corporate quarterly profits as they relate to company shareholders.   At this point, I think it is time to dispel a common myth or misconception regarding premium gasoline versus regular gasoline.  The primary difference between the two is the octane rating, although premium usually contains a wider variety of additives to prevent corrosion, preignition, etc  A lot of people think that premium will make their bike go faster or even further because of superior quality.  But the truth is that regular and premium gases produce the same energy or heat-producing ability, which is measured in BTUs (British Thermal Units).  So why use premium?  It is how the energy produced that results in more horsepower and better gas mileage.  And premium produces energy in a different way to produce more horsepower in higher-compression engines than regular.   It does this by having a higher octane rating such as that of the 91 minimum recommended by Harley. It was only a few years ago the H-D recommended 87 octane.  We at Heavy Duty only use gas from the major companies. As always, I tend to learn things the hard way.  About ten years ago there was a big scandal involving unscrupulous characters bringing toluene, benzene and other substances across the border and mixing it with gasoline that was then sold to independent gas stations.  They did this to make oodles of money since these chemicals are much cheaper than the refined gas but will still burn.  The long and short of it was that we filled our bikes at an independent retailer up the street who was buying this altered and illegal gasoline.   Two main problems evolved very quickly.   The first was that these chemicals in the gas stripped the insides of gas tanks of the sealer. The sealer clogged the petcocks, filters and carburetors. The second was that they also distorted and destroyed the rubber seals inside the carburetors and manifolds. It took us about 3 weeks to figure out what was going on and was a supreme pain in the ass fixing everyone’s bike. We did it for free but our customers were still inconvenienced.  A third environmental problem is that these added substances are carcinogenic (cancer causing).  So we only use name brand gas now because the big multinational companies are less prone to this type of corruption. I know it is not fair but better safe than sorry.  Esso, Shell Optimax Gold and Petrocan do not list ethanol or methanol compositions on their pumps. Therefore they are safe to use. They also meet Harley Davidson’s current minimum octane rating of 91.   Sunoco, oftimes will have a higher octane rating than 91. It also utilizes ethanol/methanol, which makes it unfriendly to your Harleyâ.  Sunoco is a responsible company, thinking of the environment when it utilizes safe grain octanes like ethanol/methanol.  In my opinion, it is Harley that is out of step in not using seals that withstand the rigors of grain alcohols.  Stevie, my main wrench of 25 years has to deal with the vagaries of spark plugs and gasoline when tuning bikes and solving customer complaints.  I have watched him fix many problems just by changing brand of spark plugs (always to Champion, which make H-D plugs) and putting Esso into Harleys he is fixing.  I know it sounds weird but it is extremely difficult for a two-cylinder engine with old technology to run great on today’s gas designed for more sophisticated multi-cylinder and valve engines.  He loathes Sunoco in his Harley but will run it in his car, dislikes Shell says Petro-Canada is okay and has a love affair with Esso.  I put his likes and dislikes down to different additives in the gas.   All of this is current thinking. The refiners may change compositions tomorrow, which will change Stevies, likes and dislikes upside down.  What do I use? I will use Sunoco or a methanol based gas in a pinch. One tank or a partial tank is no big deal as it takes more than one to screw things up. I listen to Stevie since he knows more than me and I try to put Esso in when convenient.  So, always look on the gas pump to see if 10% or more environmentally friendly ethanol/methanol is mixed in and use the highest-octane possible, preferably 91 or greater.  

Donny Petersen

Heavy Duty Cycles Toronto

www.heavydutycycles.com

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Find a nice place for your bike to spend the winter. Avoid wind, dripping water, damp and mustyplaces, and vermin.


Completely wash the bike and dry the bike. Wax the bike and polish all the shiny bits.


Clean and lube the chain.


Fill the tires with air to their max load spec - see sidewalls.


Add a fuel stabilizer. Add the amount recommended on the bottle in the tank and fill the tankcompletely with gasoline.


Change the oil and filter. Synthetic oils have a big advantage for winter storage. If youdrained out normal oil and replaced it with synthetic, you have to start the motor and run it for a minute to get the syntheticoil pumped all throughout the motor.


Remove the air filter, start the engine and spray the specified amount of EngineFogging Oil into the airbox. This will coat the inside of the engine to prevent condensation and rust.


If you have carburetors, turn off your fuel and drain your float bowls. If you have fuelinjection, start the bike and run it for a minute to get the fuel lines filled with stabilized gas.


Spray Pledge furniture wax on any chrome, or polished or raw aluminum.


Clean and treat all leather with saddle soap and a good leather oil.


Treat plastics and vinyl with Armorall. Armorall your tires and hydraulic hoses too.Alternatively, use a silicon spray like Tire Black.


Put some motor oil all over the front fork tubes. Bounce the bike up and down to work the frontsuspension


Add distilled water your battery as required. Hook up a trickle charger every four weeks or geta "Battery Tender" and leave it on 24/7. Consider removing your battery from the bike and storing it indoors.


Check your radiator level, add aluminum safe antifreeze as necessary.


Put the bike on its center stand.


Use plastic wrap and rubber bands to seal the outlets of the mufflers. Also seal the engine airintake, if you can get to it.


Use a good breathable motorcycle cover to keep the dust off. An old sheet works great.


Before you start the bike again, remember to remove the plastic wrap from the exhaust pipes andairbox inlets, and wipe the Pledge wax off the exhaust pipes. If your memory is as bad as mine, you might tape a note to yourselfover the ignition keyhole

 SUPER POWER FOR THE KING

Stroking the King
Words: Kirk Herbert

Nothing to do with the more obscure sexual habits of a certain Mr Presley but a description of a total performance upgrade for Harley-Davidson's Road King.

Why a Road King, you might ask? Surely there must be more likely candidates for this conversion.

Well yes, there is. Take the FXDX, for instance: light, agile, adjustable suspension and nice soft compound tyres, and having already carried out this conversion on an FXDX I found it to be extremely rapid in every sense of the word. Fun is the word I would use to describe that incarnation, but to qualify that statement I would say it was fun in the say way that borrowing a highly tuned race bike for the afternoon would be. Yes, it was a blast with the front wheel in the air and the rear wheel spinning as you changed into third gear, but I'm not sure I could live with that sort of urgency in everyday riding situations.

So needing to find a likely candidate that can harness all the power this conversion unleashes, a bike that can convert all that extra torque into all day useable power, the FLHR is the natural choice: a stable, well-balanced bike capable of translating what your right hand is doing into a language your rear tyre can understand.

Lets look at the hardware needed to carry out this conversion.

Firstly, and most importantly, is the stroked crankshaft. Stroked in this context effectively means a greater distance between the small end centre and the crank pin, giving you extra leverage. Think of it as sliding a tube over the end of a spanner to remove a seized nut, it's all about more turning force.

The increased length in this case is 3/8 of an inch taking overall dimensions to 4 3/8 of an inch, this combined with the 3 7/8 pistons and 1550 barrels give us an overall capacity of 103cui (1.7 litres?!?), and compression ratio is up to 10:1.

In layman's terms we have a deeper breathing motor, with a greater turning force.

The old adage goes "There ain't no substitute for cubes" and it still rings true, this lift in capacity allows the engine to do more work at less rpm, giving a less hurried, lazy feel to the riding experience.

To compliment this increase in torque, new camshafts are added, and the 258 lift Screamin' Eagle cams offer greater lift and added duration (effectively lifting the valve further off its seat for longer), giving the engine more punch throughout the rev range and, more importantly, holds on to the power for longer: useful in those situations where you find yourself halfway through overtaking something when another something comes the other way. That's the time you don't want to fall off the end of the power curve: the uprated cams will keep you pulling all the way to the redline.

The revised Screamin' Eagle cylinder heads have redesigned, flow-tested port shapes to speed up the flow of mixture, and the bath tub combustion chamber is to retained to ensure good burn rates, and an even flame front.

Induction is the next area to look out and in my opinion there is only one carb to consider: the flat slide Mikuni. This carb has been around in different guises for years and is always the first choice for people looking for instant response and good driveability. Back in the old days, the complaint most levelled at the Mikuni was its perceived heavy throttle action, but not any more, a roller bearing now ensures that the action is smooth and surprisingly light. This carb stands alone in offering a bolt on solution to people who need a little more urgency than the stock 40mm CV can offer.

Don't get me wrong the stock carb is a very capable unit when correctly jetted and is adequate for most applications but it will never match the flat slide for instant response. Open the throttle on your CV carb and while you wait for the vacuum to lift the slide and the fuel to be delivered, the guy with the flat slide has already gone, quicker than John Leslie leaving the "This Morning" studios.

The 45mm Mikuni was the carb of choice on this conversion, as the 42mm variant was found to be lacking when faced with the demands of the stroked motor.

There are other components that complete the package: heavy duty studs, uprated ignition module and coil, roller rocker arms, and a free breathing exhaust and air filter.

So what it like to ride?

Well the first thing that hits you is wave after wave of pure torque, a 65% increase in torque is always going to feel good. Open the throttle anywhere in the rev range and you are rewarded with a surplus of power, and this is why the conversion suits the Road King so well: a planted, stable motorcycle that carries its weight low is what's required to ensure that the most is made of the power available. Two-up, loaded with a fortnight's luggage, tickets for the Euro-Tunnel safely in pocket, there is no better bike for barrelling across Europe.

This combination of tuning parts also puts to bed the fallacy that tuned bikes are hard to live with, this FLHR is just as happy in city centre traffic as it is on the open road, no matter what the provocation, the bike refuses to get hot under the collar and behaves impeccably throughout.
The increases in horsepower is less important but still relevant. Up from 65hp to a shade over 100 is a healthy increase and is felt in all situations, and anything Japanese or Italian will be in for a shock up to around 60mph. While they are trying to get the power down in the traffic light grand prix, you will be away and changing into second.

So there you have it: a conversion that has enough power and torque to keep every type of rider happy, and which comes with the peace of mind that only a manufacturer of Harley's status can give. Cost? Well in this final specification, around £4,500 but you could get around 80% of the power for closer to £3k. The beauty of this set-up is that you can chose the components that match your riding-style and your wallet and build on them.

So what are you waiting for, the power is out there!

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50th 60th 61st 62nd 63rd 64th Description 1990 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 Estimated Attendance 400,000 633,000 400,000 450,000 502,000 514,951 Tons of Garbage Hauled 408.88 769.55 558.75 499.28 706.77 705.87 Marriage Licenses Issued 179 197 108 110 100 133 Vendor Licenses Issued - Sturgis 243 943 880 806 848 863 Vendor Licenses Issued - Meade Co. 307 187 145 136 165 222 Rally Related Deaths - SD per SD Highway Patrol & Meade Co. Sheriffs Office 11 10 6 8 6 4 Parking Tickets - Sturgis Police Dept.   359 184 179 209 221 Felony Drug Arrests - Sturgis Police Dept.   56 9 8 8 16 Misdemeanor Drug Arrests - Sturgis Police Dept.   307 92 111 84 97 Arrests for Non-Traffic Violations - Sturgis Police Dept.   264 193 250 230 248 Traffic Violations - Sturgis Police Dept.   500 132 149 172 145 Jailed - Meade Co. Sheriff   111 126 140 374 405 Calls for Service - Meade Co. Sheriff   1150 1989 1119 1228 1441 Hospital Emergency Room Visits   390 275 292 334 340 Taxable Sales / Temporary Vendors 3 mil 14.3 mil 11.6 mil 13.1 mil 14.8 mil 16 mil SD State Sales Tax Collected 177,000 573,000 466,599 522,473 594,812 640,523 Sturgis City Sales Tax Collected 59,000 286,000 232,891 259,106 279,790 303,894 SD Dept of Tourism Tax Collected 0 143,000 116,013 129,856 147,766 158,979 *Sales Tax collection up 8% from 2003 236,000 1,002,000 815,503 911,435 1,022,368 1,103,396 FAQ’S & Other Information   Facts About Sturgis:              Population- 6,442 Industries-  Tourism, Ranching, VA Medical Center,Gun/Ammunition Manufacturing                                                 Elevation- 3239 feet                                                   Q:        How are the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally dates determined? A:        In 1938, when the idea of the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally first came to the minds of Pappy Hoel and the founding Jackpine Gypsie members, it was determined that the Rally would take place the first week after the first full weekend in August. This decision was made due to conflicting events and activities taking place in other surrounding communities and to accommodate the National Racing Circuit Schedule. ( The 1st Rally was held on August 14, 1938. )   Q:        Are helmets required in South Dakota or neighboring states? A:        See helmets.html   Q:        How does a city the size of Sturgis organize and accommodate an event such as the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally? A:        Sturgis, population of 6,400, is able to host the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally through a combination of Factors, foremost of which is cooperation. The event planning is a year-round process facilitated by the City of Sturgis Rally Department.  The City Department Heads have extensive experience in planning the necessary objectives in areas such as sanitation and public safety. Sturgis also relies on state and local government agencies and civic organizations to provide aid and assistance to make the Rally a success. The real impetus behind the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally is the citizens of Sturgis, who welcome the huge influx of visitors each August.   Q:        How is the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally attendance figures determined? A:        Rally attendance figures are, at best, an estimate based on traffic counts taken throughout the week at the entrances to Sturgis and other Black Hills communities. Using these figures, along with general observations, we arrive at an estimated attendance number.   Q:        Where is the road construction in South Dakota and near Sturgis for 2004? A:        Click Here for the South Dakota Department of Transportation website.     Q:        Where can I get tickets for the concert events during the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally? A:        There are many different events hosted by different private entities. See the Official Sturgis Motorcycle Rally Events Schedule for concert and racing information. You will need to contact the organization hosting the event to acquire tickets. Most will have ticket sales at the event itself. There are also many local bars that provide concerts and entertainment free of charge at their businesses. Below is a informational listing of the entities that typically have concerts requiring ticket purchases. ~ Buffalo Chip Campground~ 3 miles east of Sturgis on Hwy. 34 1.605.892.4101 ~Rushmore Plaza Civic Center~ 444 Mt. Rushmore Rd. Rapid City, SD 57701 1.800.GOT.MINE   Q:        How do I get married during the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally ? A:        You must go to the Register of Deeds Office located in the Meade County Courthouse at 1425 Sherman Street, Sturgis and obtain a marriage license. Both applicants must be present and show (1) form of identification each. There is no waiting period and same day marriages are legal. The marriage license is good for (20) days. You must locate and reserve your own Justice of the Peace or Clergymen to perform the marriage ceremony. Below is an informal listing of private legally licensed individuals that can perform marriage ceremonies. ~Mayor Mark T. Zeigler~ 1.605.347.4422 ~Brother Jon Swan~ 1.605.347.1926 ~Cliff Linn~ 1.605.720.3142 ~Dale Jones/ Dee Clark~ 1.605.347.3459 ~Amy Varland~ 1.605.343.4062 ~Robin Gulledge~ 1.605.717.0272 (Ordain Minister)

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