Why Do I Keep Coming HERE!
Photographs: Joseph Ellis and Levi Christiansen Art: Gene Bunger Words: Joseph Ellis and Levi Christiansen
Since 1938, the quiet town of Sturgis, South Dakota, has undergone an extraordinary transformation each August, swelling from a modest population of just seven thousand to an astonishing influx of over half a million visitors.What began as a small gathering of motorcycle enthusiasts has evolved into the legendary Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, a pilgrimage for riders from every corner of the globe who converge to celebrate the roaring engines, leather-clad camaraderie, and enduring spirit of motorcycle culture.
But the rally today stands at a crossroads, a charged collision of past and present. The grizzled veterans—those social outcasts, outlaws, and rebels who once defined the event's rugged heart—now find themselves at odds with a younger generation that approaches the rally as something closer to performative nostalgia. For many of these newcomers, the outlaw aesthetic has morphed into a kind of cosplay, commodifying the grit and defiance of a bygone era into Instagram-ready fashion statements.
As the rally’s attendance balloons with every passing year, outside influences have crept in, reshaping its raw, unfiltered core. The reach of the internet and the omnipresence of social media have made Sturgis a spectacle for the masses, attracting the scrutiny of regulators and local authorities who seek to impose a veneer of respectability on the chaos. The explicit sexuality, defiant behavior, and unapologetic grit that once defined the rally are increasingly sanitized to suit modern sensibilities. Yet, in this push toward palatability, many argue the event loses the very essence that made it an outlaw icon in the first place. The irony is sharp: the rally, born as a rejection of conformity, now finds itself contorting to fit within the expectations of a world that never fully understood it.
In this tension lies the rally’s greatest challenge: to honor its rebellious roots while navigating the pressures of a modern era that both covets and misunderstands its legacy. For the true believers—the ones who see motorcycles not as a fashion statement but as a way of life—the spirit of Sturgis remains. But whether that spirit can endure in the face of encroaching commodification and regulation remains an open road yet to be traveled.
“Nice
Trailer
You
Pussy”
