Tim's blog

My Sturgis hangover is finally over. I’ve caught up on my sleep, begun to eat real food again, and re-trained myself to postpone the first beer until 5:00 PM.

Our newest pinstriping book is nearly finished, all we need is a little help from our friends (and Artie’s friends).

What’s left in this void is work, pure and simple. Job number one is to finish the Pro Pinstripe book, a series of start-to-finish pinstriping sequences done with a lot of help from East Coast Artie and a group of his talented friends. At this point we have all the photos picked and laid out, but we’re waiting for Artie and his talented friends to get it in gear and write some captions to fill those little boxes below each photo. Anything they write is so much better than my own lame descriptions of what’s going on or why they guy used red instead of blue…. But of course there’s the wait.

Here we have Nubs of OCC fame, striping an electric guitar – just one of the sequences found in our new Pro Pinstripe book.

And between and betwixt all this Pinstriping work is the topic that’s really at the top of my list – The Sturgis Book. So far I’ve inventoried my photos, sent copies to various people like the crew from the Broken Spoke, and tried to cajole the staff from the Spoke and the Chip into putting our book on their web sites.

Ernie (he who had to stay after school one night in Sturgis) and I go back and forth with ideas for the book, and Scooter (master photographer) is on The Salt, so I can’t get all his photos yet.

The idea is to send the Pro Pinstriping book, and the Sturgis 70th Anniversary book, to the printer at the same time. All in the name of saving a buck or maybe three. The deadline looms. Christmas is indeed just around the corner. Damn, I’d better get to work.

The Sturgis 70th and Pro Pinstripe books are joined at the hip like Siamese twins, both gotta go to the printer at the same time.

I’ve said it a hundred times, the best thing about traveling isn’t the things you see, it’s the people you meet while you’re looking for all those things. Anyone who doubts the veracity of what I say need only go to Sturgis in August.

Bean’re
When it comes to the interesting folks I met this year, Kevin Bean’re would have to rate at the top. I met Kevin at Cincinnati this year, but it wasn’t until Sturgis that I had a chance to really get to know him.

If you’ve ever wondered what it’s really like to chuck the whole deal, the house payments, the car, the job and all the rest, just check with Bean’re. When I asked if he had a permanent address, he explained: “I have a post office box in Tennessee, before that I lived in Miami and before that I lived in the Virgin Islands for awhile. A real residence is just a base, a place for my stuff. But due to economy I have no stuff so I don’t need a base.”

Underneath the wild and crazy exterior is a very thoughtful and talented man. Clean and Sober for twenty-two years, Bean’re is a skilled carpenter. When funds get short he finds a job, often building and designing additions to some very nice houses. Once his part of the project is over, Kevin collects his money and hits the road again. The frequent travel gives Bean’re an opportunity to visit rallies like Sturgis, where this year he found a semi tractor with an empty sleeper compartment – his housing for the week.

We ended our little impromptu interview with a discussion of freedom and what it really means. Bean’re bought up Jack Nicholson’s little epistle on freedom from the movie Easy Rider, “they’re not afraid of you, they’re afraid of what you represent…..” (you can find the movie clip by plugging “Jack Nicholson, Easy Rider, freedom” into Google.)

Kevin Bean’re: biker, carpenter and traveler extraordinaire.

Colleen Swartz
Colleen is another free spirit, one with a bit of a split personality. When home in Milwaukee she spends her time photographing models, often in pin-up attire. But when it comes time for Sturgis or Daytona, she leaves the studio behind and packs her cameras in the RV. This year she spent much of her time at the Broken Spoke campground as the official photographer.

I convinced Colleen to sit on the back of my Bagger for a few hours one morning so we could take some in-the-wind pics. First we did a loop through Main Street, followed by a freeway run to Spearfish, and a ride down Spearfish Canyon as far as Bridal Veil Falls.

Colleen on her mighty Honda ready to tear up the track at Sturgis Dragway.

The photos from that morning are spectacular, and my own photos from the week in Sturgis aren’t bad either. The joy of the trip, however was meeting Colleen and Bean’re and Scooter’s brother Buck and the cute bar maid from the Firehouse and a dozen more.

I’m thinking the road to heaven must look a lot like the road through Spearfish Canyon, thanks Colleen.

My mornings in “Sturgis” stared with coffee, either outside the motel room or at the small café/beer garden set atop the hill overlooking the Iron Horse Motel in Whitewood. Each day the three of us went through the options and decided how many events we could cover, and who was going to do the actual work. Usually we would end the day with another staff meeting, only this time with adult beverages, at the Chip or the ‘Spoke.

On Tuesday we all attended the Michael Lichter opening at the Chip, then took in the excellent double-bill concert that followed. I was ready for a rather boring concert with Bob Dylan, I mean I’ve been listening to Dylan songs for over 40 years, how exciting could it be? Turns out it could be, and was, pretty damned exciting. Though I didn’t have the correct media pass, I managed to wiggle my way into the space reserved for the sound guys, set dead center back from the stage. It wasn’t exactly a front row seat, but the sound was awesome, and because we all stood on a concrete slab I could shoot above the heads of the thousands of people separating me from the stage.

Old songs sung new – Dylan is the man and he’s still got it going on all these years later.

Dylan managed to take the same old songs we’ve been listening to for all these years, and twist them until they sounded fresh and clean. Kid Rock, concert number two, put on his typical high-energy, over the top, performance, complete with shooting flames and music that ran the range from rock ‘n roll, to rap, and country.

In fact, the music available all week might be the second or third best thing about Sturgis. A partial list would include .38 Special, Dave Mason, Black Oak Arkansas, Credence Clearwater, Motley Crue, Ozzy, and the Doobie Brothers.

The crowds this year were definitely up when compared to the last few years. When I did a little shopping downtown near the end of the week, all the vendors reported good sales and big crowds all week. The bars were full of people and the whole place had that buzz of bikers having fun.

Rock ‘n roll with pyrotechnics, Kid Rock at his best.

Every year when I arrive in Sturgis I think to myself, “wow, I’ve got a whole week to ride, visit with friends, work, and play.” And then somehow the space/time continuum is compressed and suddenly in what seems only a day or two, I realize that it’s almost time to head home.

I can only say that the three fools working on the Sturgis 70th Anniversary book had a great time. We took more photos than can possibly be used, and collected enough information to fill three books.

Ernie, the non-biker of our little threesome, was a complete convert by the end of the week. When we assembled on Friday evening, he was sporting a sleeveless black biker shirt and a new tattoo. And I think he’s shopping for a Softail. Unfortunately, he also had an encounter with one of South Dakota’s finest on his way back to the motel.

I ask you: “Who has more fun than bikers.”

Like life, Sturgis is a mix of good and bad, happy and sad. The highs, whether induced through the simple pleasure of riding with friends, or with help from chemicals, are high indeed. But to quote Bean’r (more later), “if you take any risks in your life, you’re going to have highs, and lows. The only way to eliminate them is to live a totally safe and boring life.” In other words, if you’re going to ride a motorcycle you’d best be ready for the ups - and the downs.

Ernie went home with a new piece of body art, and a little love note from the state highway patrol.