Category: Motorcycling (Harley Davidson)

What did it actually cost to attend the 83rd Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, and have a great time?

I saw a video of a YouTube douche nozzle say he budgets $10K for his Sturgis journey. He may indeed budget $10k for his visit, but that’s totally insane. Dale and I had a wonderful time, and combined and came no where near spending $10k on this adventure.

Instead of riding there, we trailed the bikes to South Dakota. Several reasons. Tires. The tires on our bikes would have been slightly out of shape once there, due to the extended Interstate riding. In order to enjoy the twisty roads of the Black Hills, nice rounded motorcycle tires are preferred. A second reason is fatigue. 1800 miles on a motorcycle in 2 ½ days is tough. I don’t care how tough you think you are, 750 miles per day on a bike is very tiring. The most I’ve ever ridden is 650 miles in a day, that was 15 years ago, and I was totally exhausted at the end of the day. We didn’t want to arrive wasted from the journey there. We wanted to maximize our enjoyment while there.

Diesel Fuel for a 3800 mile round-trip. $1350.00. We split the cost of fuel for a total of $675.00

Hotels (to and from, plus while there) $1620.00. We were in the Black Hills for 5 days/nights. We had accommodations at the Best Western (highly rated) in Hill City, SD. Less than a one hour ride into Downtown Sturgis, and just minutes from Custer State Park, Crazy Horse, and Mount Rushmore.
We split to cost of accommodations for $810.00.

We stopped at several H-D Dealerships along the way, and in the Black Hills. Yeah, bought several T-shirts! As I was in-line paying for my purchase at the dealership near St Louis, I made the comment to one guy in-line, that if H-D were to print their logo on a dried dog turd, we’d lineup, and buy it. He laughed, and agreed. Those shirts and caps purchased along the way, and the shirts and caps purchased in Sturgis came in around $450.00. This of course was not a required expense, but if you’re gonna make this journey, plan of spending some $$ on non-essentials.

Fuel for bike while in Sturgis. $100.00

Food/Drink. I’m fairly conservative with food and drink. Ate breakfast at the hotels each morning at no additional charge. I allocated $50.00 per day for food, drinks and tips Some days were less, some were more. We were on the road, or at Sturgis for 9 days. $450.00

Entrance fees to parks and such. $60.00. Badlands, Custer State Park, Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse, etc.

My total cost, $2545. So what did I get for $2545.00? Spent time in Deadwood (Saloon No. 10!), Hill City, Lead, and of course Sturgis. Road ALL of the top rated roads in the Black Hills and beyond. Did The Badlands loop, rode the Wildlife Loop at Custer State Park. Visited Mount Rushmore. Visited the Crazy Horse Memorial. Visited The Full Throttle Saloon several times. A note about the Full Throttle Saloon. I had a MUCH BETTER time than anticipated. Michael Ballard has created a gem.

Sure one can spend more or less, depending on the activities you plan to take part in. However for less than $3000.00 you can have a blast! I did!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!