This may not be the place...but for the Sturgis vets whats your take...

Me and some buddies are riding to Sturgis '14. None of us have been before. I hear traffic is bad if you stay east of town, its a fight to actually get west of town where most of the good riding is...

for us we wanna ride/sight see during the day and hit night spots at night, probably taking advantage of "Da Bus"....

Seems the westside is most advantageous to do this...thoughts?

 

Never stayed on the west side, I stayed at the Buffalo Chip. Yes, getting out to the west to the good riding is a major event. Just getting into Sturgis might take you a 1/2 hour, nevermind actually getting through town. Didn't bother me too much, but I had to shut my bike off a few times cause it was getting real hot idling in the heat and not moving.

 

We stayed 6 miles west of town but others in the group were 3 blocks away from Main St. on Douglas. We rode into and out of town multiple times each day with no real problems. Traffic didn't start picking up until about 10am but by that time we were already in town, had eaten breakfast and headed out to ride.

Just don't take the main roads coming into town and you can creep along pretty good. We would get off at Junction, take one of of the first streets to the right, go down a couple of blocks, hang a left and get to Douglas. Lots of cars parked on the side streets so you have to take it slow, but at least you keep moving.

 

One year we were by the Vet cemetery off the freeway and the next we stayed out at Shade Valley east of the Chip and all the other major attractions. Hands down the spot by the freeway was the easiest to get around. There are back roads to get around to town but no real shortcut out to the Chip unless you take the gravel road through from the cemetery exit. We tent camped both years, stayed at Suzie's encampment by the freeway which is actually east of town. Nothing fancy but good for the price of $20.00 a night. They have good showers, a small cafe, coffee was always on early, laundry machines available.

 

If you choose to stay at the "Chip" or another campground east of Sturgis, the "bus" is definitely the best way to get into town.
Between the traffic and the cops, it's not a nice ride, and then you have the added risk that comes with alcohol.

When I first started going to Sturgis, I stayed at a little campground right in town but things have really changed (me too) so camping is a last resort for me.

The last time I went, we stayed in a motel in Hill City (south of Sturgis) but that's about an hour ride and my riding buddy about froze his "cahones" off before we made it home. This area is very close to Mt Rushmore and the Crazy Horse memorials and there's a lot of restaurants/bars close by.

To the west of Sturgis, is Spearfish, a nice little college town.
Lot's of motels, restaurants, etc.
Good location to get to Sturgis through the Canyon or to head west to the Devil's Tower and other scenic areas.

 

I stayed at the Lamphere Ranch across the street from Full Throttle Saloon last year and had no issues. Sure, traffic can get crazy lat morning through early evening but we had already left the campground blew right through downtown Sturgis and headed out to wherever the destination was that day.

Nice thing was if you wanted to jump on the bus which ran about every 10 minutes you could go to FTS and get hammered and not worry about your bike or getting bagged by the 50 cops hanging around the exits.

I'll be staying at the Lamphere Ranch again this year and when I want a free titty show or some real craziness I can walk next door to the Glencoe Campground.

 

I also stay at Lamphere, getting thru town is easy enough. If I want to go west,I just cut south off Lazelle on Nellie up to either Douglas or Sherman, stay on either till 4th st then go north back out to Lazelle. If I want to go East on 90 I'll take Nellie to Douglas to Fulton to Harmon to Junction.
Go to Google maps and zoom in on Sturgis you can see for yourself how easy it is to get around.

 

as others have said, east side CAN be a hassle. stayed at the iron horse a couple years ago, nice quiet campground less loud and cramped than some of the big ones, Chip, etc...
was not too bad over all, the traffic moves fairly well from the east into town and back out, gets congested sometimes, But over all, it is not bad.
in town can be worse. four way stops on every corner. tons of people walking in front of you.
just stay calm and take your time, it is not like you HAVE to be anywhere at a certain time.
also Da bus is awesome for getting to and from town at night when you want to drink or want to avoid the police, which are everywhere as well, but as long as your not screwing around trying to attract them, they leave you alone.
they (police) normally hang out and make sure no one gets too out of hand.
if you are falling down drunk, or doing burnouts and or speeding they will probably have a talk with you and give you a nice ticket.
Also saw tons of people with ape hangers pulled over last year, cannot be higher than your shoulders so they get alot of cash from over-height apes.
must have been the cash cow last year.

 

Been there many times and for ease of getting out of town you cannot beat the west side. If you stay on the east side you can take 79 north to 212 and then head west.

 

those that recommend using Sherman to Nellie must not know about the new "key placed" stop signs that take even longer than going right down Lazelle st....they added then 2 years ago and really f-d things up....