Every August, the highways to South Dakota begin to thunder as hordes of bikers pour into the Black Hills.
What began in 1938 with the Jackpine Gypsies Motorcycle Club has grown into one of the most famous motorcycle gatherings in the world.
Some have made the trip for decades. Others are rolling into the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally for the first time.
Greg Griswold remembers the first time he approached Sturgis from Gillette on Interstate 90.
"Holy shit, we're going to Sturgis," he remembers thinking.
At home, he drives a truck in the oil field. His wife, Toni, works as an assistant manager at an apartment complex. Between them, they have four children and eight grandchildren.
"We're very much the all-American family," he said.
But when they leave for Sturgis, something changes.
"It's an absolute getaway from everything that is life,” he said.
The New Guy
Amid all that freedom are a few unwritten rules, and one false move can get you punched in the face — or worse, a full-out ass-kicking.
A 20-something-year-old stone mason from Sheridan who goes by Grout is heading to Sturgis for the first time for the 86th annual rally, which began Friday and runs through Aug. 16.
Newly single, Grout — aka Sean Severs — said he's especially looking forward to "the party." He said this while packing up his tent for the campgrounds.
This year, he's riding alongside a Sheridan biker known as Coach, a Sturgis veteran tasked with showing the first-timer the ropes.
For Grout, the draw is the "vibe" — meeting people, seeing new places, and being surrounded by thousands of people that share his love of chrome.
But every first-timer eventually learns there is more to Sturgis than showing up and having a good time.
The Sage
Bob Pruitt has spent 45 years in the saddle and has made the trip to Sturgis more than half a dozen times.
They call him Pretty Bobbie.
The modern-day mountain man stands over 6 feet tall, and is bald and broad-shouldered, with enormous paws, a scraggly gray-and-white beard and piercing blue eyes.
His voice is heavy, each word landing like a hammer on a nail.
Yet somehow, standing next to him, you feel safer.
Maybe that's because Pretty Bobbie has been around long enough to know where the trouble is — and how to stay out of it.
His advice for anyone headed to Sturgis is simple: Have fun, pay attention, and understand the unwritten rules before you accidentally break one.
The first is perhaps the easiest.
Rule No. 1: Hands Off
A motorcycle is not a park bench.
Don't sit on one.
Don't lean against one.
Don't climb aboard for a photograph.
Pretty Bobbie's advice is concise: "You want to touch a motorcycle, get your own."
Griswold understands why.
Sturgis can offer everything from battered old Harleys coaxed across several states to meticulous customs that cost staggering amounts of money and craftsmanship.
"Their bike is what they live for," he said of some riders.
Admire it, then keep walking.
Rule No. 2: Don't Play Biker
Sturgis is not the place to cosplay as an outlaw biker.
Griswold said an easy way to attract the wrong kind of attention is to show up wearing motorcycle-club insignia you haven't earned.
The sleeveless vest is commonly called a "cut," he said. Patches can identify a club, chapter or territory, including the curved "bottom rocker."
"A good way (to get your ass kicked) is show up with a cut that is flashing the wrong bottom rocker," Griswold said about the arched patches across the back of vests that usually indicates what territory a rider is from.
An experienced club member may recognize that an outsider simply doesn't know better, "but don't bet on it."
For a prospect, as in someone who wants to join some of the more notorious clubs, “he’s trying to prove to the club that he’s willing to go the extra mile for the club.”
In a low, ominous voice, Griswold elaborates.
"The 1% badge is only for those who have actually done the deed, and we’re talking — we’re talking death,” he said. "They’ve taken a life.”
Pretty Bobbie gets a kiss from his “old lady” beside their motorcycles. (Bob Pruitt) 
Motorcycles crowd the streets during the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. (Greg Griswold) 
Bikers and motorcycles pack downtown Sturgis during the annual rally. (Greg Griswold) 
“You want to touch a motorcycle, get your own,” Pretty Bobbie warns. (Greg Griswold)
Rule No. 3: Know When To Shut Up
Pretty Bobbie said problems at the Sturgis rally begin the same way they do everywhere else.
Alcohol.
"Most people get bound up because they drink too much," he said.
Then people start talking trash, getting overly friendly or asking questions of people who clearly don't want to answer them.
"The way to run afoul on a biker is messing with his bike, mess with his old lady, start talking shit or asking too many questions," he said.
Want to make friends? “Nod to them,” he said. "If they nod back, yeah, you'd probably be all right talking to them. If they don't nod back, leave them alone. They don't want to be messed with.
"Basic awareness goes a long way."
Rule No. 4: Leave The Old Lady Alone
A surefire way to get your ass kicked at Sturgis is by "messing with someone's old lady,” Pretty Bobbie continued.
The term itself might sound less than flattering to an outsider.
In biker culture, Pretty Bobbie said calling a woman “old lady” is "the utmost term of respect."
"If you hear a guy say, 'This is my wife,' he loves her," Pruitt said. "You got a guy say, 'Yeah, this is my old lady,' he'll kill for her."
Problems often begin when the drinks start flowing and guys start getting a little too friendly.
"Chummy chummy," as Pretty Bobbie puts it.
Asked about his wife, the hard biker softened immediately.
"I'd set the world on fire for her," he said. "She's everything to me."
And who says romance is dead?
Rule No. 5: Watch The Road
Whether it's your first ride to Sturgis or your 40th, the goal is the same: Don't make it your last.
By Saturday during the 2025 rally, the South Dakota Highway Patrol had already recorded 58 injury crashes and four fatal crashes in the western part of the state. There were also 103 DUI arrests by that point.
Griswold said riders communicate constantly, even among strangers. They use formations and signals to warn each other about trouble ahead.
Last year, he and Toni were riding on Interstate 90 when another rider warned them about debris in the road.
Someone had apparently lost a comforter. It blew across the highway and directly into Griswold's path.
"All I told her was, 'Hang on,'" he said.
They hit it, but the warning had at least given him time to prepare, and they kept right on cruising.
"There's a lot of respect among the guys that are out there riding together, even if they don't know each other," Griswold said.
Rule No. 6: Have A Good Time
For all the warnings, Griswold said this may be the most important rule. People having a good time are less likely to have conflict with others and get their asses kicked.
Sturgis is supposed to be fun and there's no single right way to do it.
"Everybody is there ultimately to have a good time," Griswold said. "The good time can be rough and rowdy. It can be as mellow as you want it, and everything in between. It just depends on what you want to do."
"Just have the road open in front of me," he said, "and just be able to go anywhere I want, whenever I want, with just what's packed on the bike."
For Ucross biker John "Bear" Stanebrook, it's the wind in his face and the freedom — and he hopes everyone else finds their own version of that fun. That's the beauty of Sturgis.
You can make it whatever you want.
Just mind your p's and q's.
Kolby Fedore can be reached at kolby@cowboystatedaily.com.
