GILLETTE — The staff at Deluxe Harley-Davidson, an outpost just off of U.S. Interstate 90 about 110-miles west of Sturgis, South Dakota, has ordered three times as much inventory as usual, called in a food truck and canceled vacations.
It’s all-hands-on-deck at the Gillette dealership and its sister store in Sundance, Wyoming, Harley-Davidson oases in northeastern Wyoming in preparation for their biggest customer rush of the year: The 84th Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, which kicked off Friday.
Like hungry grizzly bears awaiting spawning salmon that inevitably pass the shops heading east toward Sturgis along the asphalt river of I-90, employees of the Harley-Davidson dealerships are on high alert. They stand ready to assist any and all riders seeking parts, rain gear, oil changes or just a respite from the scorching summer sun.
“We’re geared up and ready for the rally,” said Stacey Garcia, the Gillette store’s sales manager.
Typically closed Sundays, the store remains open seven days a week for two weeks surrounding the annual 10-day bike rally, which runs through Aug. 11.
Inside the 10,000-square-foot, two-story showroom that looks like an airport terminal, the store’s black-and-white checkerboard floor has been swept spotless. The small stable of new and used Harleys have been shined to gleam. They’re parked in neat rows, front wheels tilting in unison to the left.
Clothes racks have been stocked and restocked with T-shirts featuring American flags, eagles, cowboys on kicking horses and, of course, big, bad mechanical hogs.
Fish bowls behind the sales counter are filled with poker chips that feature buffaloes, Harley-Davidson’s logos and the store’s website address, chuckdeluxe.com. They are commemorative coins riders collect from every Harley-Davidson store they pass, each different and distinct to their region.
Harley bikes for sale at Deluxe Harley-Davidson in Gillette. (Justin George, Cowboy State Daily) 
Deluxe Harley-Davidson Business Manager Bryce Cowen points to the service department that has staffed up to handle Sturgis rally customers. (Justin George, Cowboy State Daily) 
Deluxe Harley-Davidson Business Manager Bryce Cowen stands next to various versions of poker chips featuring the store. (Justin George, Cowboy State Daily) 
Deluxe Harley-Davidson’s souvenir poker chip for collectors. (Justin George, Cowboy State Daily) 
5. Deluxe-Harley Davidson in Gillette. (Justin George, Cowboy State Daily)
Mechanics On Duty
Inside the clean and orderly service station in a large bay, mechanics bustle around working on tuneups, tires or mechanical failures.
An employee named Jeff will even pick up broken-down bikes from the side of the road, within a reasonable distance, and haul them back to Gillette for repairs. Owners can watch their bikes getting fixed from behind huge glass panes, much like customers at a pizza counter.
They can also go out back to the store’s covered patio and rest at several round tables, cooled by free bottles of water from a stocked Harley-Davidson cooler. A cooling breeze from misting fans and an outdoor air conditioning unit flows through the outdoor area.
Next week, a food truck is scheduled to be parked onsite offering Hibachi-style steak, chicken, shrimp and scallops.
Dealership managers said the store has really been seeing brisk business over the past two weeks. Bikers often come out days in advance to ride the region’s legendary rolling hills and zoom up Spearfish or Vanocker canyons, ride past Devils Tower, rumble around Stockade Lake or run through Custer State Park and Wind Cave National Park.
Needles Highway, a popular route filled with switchbacks, tight curves and views of Mount Rushmore, takes more than three hours to complete, keeping riders in the area for long periods of time.
“We’ve had guys who’ve come out here all the way from North Carolina who rode out here,” said Bryce Cowen, the store’s business manager.
The Harley shops are just a few of the countless businesses in South Dakota and Wyoming that benefit from the annual rally, which brings in more than 500,000 attendees. A 2022 Texas A&M University economic study completed for the city of Sturgis showed that the event generates more than $784 million to the economy of South Dakota.
Rallygoers on average spent nearly $175 per day in the Sturgis area and more than $122 outside of it. For Deluxe Harley-Davidson, the event means everything to their bottom line.
“We’ve been waiting for this since winter,” Cowen said.
Justin George can be reached at justin@cowboystatedaily.com.
