The New EIC Gives A Glimpse Of The Other Side

Sturgis was a very different rally this time around. I thought I’d share with Cycle Source some of those events attended on behalf of TORQUE. Source Media wants to give Cycle Source readers a preview of the content they can find in the sister publication TORQUE Magazine’s second issue.

As many of you may already know, the burgeoning performance scene has grown more popular over the last ten-year period. Starting with the FXR Show at the Buffalo Chip on the first Sunday of the event, we had a preview of which bikes would be featured throughout the other shows during the rest of the week. If you are into FXRs (even a smidge), I’d say you won’t find a better group of humans to hang with for a few hours. ever roll off an assembly line.

Monday’s performance show (again at the Buffalo Chip) was hosted by a new promoter this year, John O’Brien from Hardcore Cycles. If that name sounds familiar, it should. John is the associate editor of TORQUE and my co-host weekly on TORQUE Performance Television. John had some killer machines, and the winner received a titled FXR frame for the grand prize. Tuesday was the Lil Evil Performance Show hosted by TORQUE Magazine, and we had 50 entrants on hand. Killer trophies were built by Justin Page (@mymachinist), and we had a total of 10 classes. The weather was killer, too, as most

guests found their way into the pool for the balance of the show. Next year the official TORQUE pool party will coincide with the show festivities. Class winners will be featured in the second issue of TORQUE.

Wednesday will forever be reserved in my calendar for the Perewitz Paint Show. Jody and her father Dave Perewitz are legends, and their show, hosted at the Iron Horse, is a who’s who when it comes to the absolute best paint jobs in Sturgis. I also needed to make sure that our [TORQUE] presence was felt at the V-Twin Visionary show too. Jeff G Holt is the one most credit with the “pop up” show model, and his shows are well attended and well put together. The V-TWIN Visionary appears to have the support of Harley-Davidson for the foreseeable future, so we absolutely intend to see the latest and greatest represented at the upcoming VTV shows.

Thursday is an easy one. In previous years, Thursday was the day we packed up and got ready to head home in the morning. This year I spent the morning riding from Spearfish to Sturgis with the Hamsters. I never realized just how many guys were in the Hamsters. They raised over $500,000 in less than four hours while we were there for the local non-profit Lifescapes. The ride was police escorted and went relatively fast (or so it seemed). We were at the Iron Horse Saloon in no time flat. The remainder of the afternoon was much-needed pool time and then the Black Hills Boogie, Cycle Source’s 1970’s themed disco party. The High Seas Rally was there to honor some lucky couple with a complimentary cabin. The couple that won had to dance their way into the grand prize.

Friday, we were out! See ya! We were headed back to Florida an extra day early. All was good until about 12 hours in, we hit a snag. The coach had neither air conditioning nor enough battery power to get to Florida with no working generator! Long story short, we never remember the times, nothing ever happened, but we always remember everything went wrong! If you’d like more indepth coverage on the performance scene, then make sure you grab a copy of Torque or, better yet, sign up for a subscription!