Sturgis Rally, A Brief History

Filed in archive Motorcycle , News , Shows/Events on March 13, 2007

If you've ever been around motorcycles or bikers, you're probably familiar with Sturgis. The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally is held annually in Sturgis, South Dakota. The first meeting was in the summer of 1938, and has been there every year except during WWII because of gasoline rationing.

The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally was founded by Jackpine Gypsies motorcycle club and was created to promote racing and stunts by motorcycles. In the beginning there were very few spectators, and just a few racers over a 2 day event.

Even with the low number of visitors the first year, it was considered a great success, and an even larger event was planned for the following year. By the 1960's, the number of visitors grew to around 1,000 covering a 5 day long event.

From the 1980's on, The Sturgis Rally took off. Sporting some 25,000 to 30,000 visitors in the early 80's it became clear that the Sturgis Rally was becoming a widespread and lasting success. By 1989, numbers exceeded 100,000 visitors. Over the last couple of years there have been over half a million visitors each year, with the peak of 633,000 in 2000, (the 60th event)

It is estimated that 95% of the town of Sturgis, South Dakota's revenue comes from the rally during a two-week period. The rally is held during the first or second week in August.