The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally is an icon in the world of motorcycle rallies.
The Sturgis rally had its humble beginnings back in 1938, just before the start of World War II and 2021 marks the 81st running of what most riders simply referred to as - ‘Sturgis!’
The first Sturgis Rally held in 1938 was called the “Black Hills Classic” and featured a single motorcycle race with a meager nine riders and was exclusive to Indian brand motorcycles. In 2018 the rally will celebrate it’s 78th running which is only bested by two other US motorcycle rallies - Myrtle Beach Bike Week & Laconia Motorcycle Week … see below chart.
Note: all the major US Motorcycle Rallies have had periods where the rally was postponed; usually due to US participation in major wars and note, due to COVID, some rallies had canceled or significantly reduced rally size in 2020.
The Size of the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally
If ‘Size Matters,’ then the Sturgis Rally is for You! In the approximate 70 years since the rally’s inception, the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally has grown tremendously in terms of the number of rally participants and the overall magnitude of the rally and all of it’s activities and events. This rapid growth has led to the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally becoming the undisputed king of US motorcycle rallies when judged by maximum attendance totals. Below shows a rundown of eight of the US’s largest motorcycle rallies and their reported highest attendance figures.
Note: Attendance figures for US motorcycle rallies are particularly tricky to determine because there simply is no established standard to calculating the attendance figures. Totals sometimes focus on riders only, yet others include riders & passengers, & still others count overall attendees to include folks who simply “walked in off the street.” So I had to look at a variety of sources, take averages of different figures, and sometimes I had to ignore some sources because they seemed shaky … I tried my best but it was not an exact science.
Spotlight on the Sturgis Rally Host City - Sturgis, South Dakota
The town of Sturgis, South Dakota, was established in 1878 and named after the civil war general – Samuel D Sturgis and has a population of ~ 7,000 residents. The town is situated in western South Dakota near some world class areas to visit such as Mount Rushmore, the Crazy Horse Memorial, the beautiful Black Hills area as well as and some of the greatest motorcycle roads in the USA!
Many cities/towns that host major motorcycle rallies see their populations dramatically increase during the rally days. Nowhere is this more dramatic than in Sturgis, SD where their population surges an incredible 10,246 percent!
Sturgis Motorcycle Rally Events
In the approximate 70 years since the rally’s inception, the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally has grown tremendously in terms of the number of rally participants and the overall magnitude of the rally and all of it’s activities and events. This rapid growth has led to the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally becoming the undisputed king of US motorcycle rallies when judged by maximum attendance totals. Below shows a rundown of eight of the US’s largest motorcycle rallies and their reported highest attendance figures.
Motorcycle Riding Possibilities Near the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally
One of the key reasons the Sturgis rally has flourished over the years has been because of its incredible offering of local motorcycle riders that many attendees look forward to as much, if not more, than attending the rally itself. The rally is hosted in the beautiful southwestern corner of South Dakota often referred to as Black Hills country, which offers truly world class scenic motorcycle rides, and heading West you can go over to Wyoming and take in Devil's Tower area riding, or go East and ride through the striking "Badlands" area as well. All three are fantastic riding hotspots and should not be passed up during your visit. We've put together three guides that provide you an overview of the best motorcycle rides near Sturgis by breaking up those rides into the three key regions - 1) Black Hill, 2) Devil's Tower, 3) the Badlands. You can visit these guides by clicking on the images below.
