Sturgis Bike Week is the mother of all motorcycle meets. Held every August in Sturgis, S.D., for the past 59 years the event now attracts almost 450,000 riders from all over the world (see www.Sturgis.com). True enthusiasts ride their bikes from their hometowns to the rally and take great pleasure ridiculing those who don't.
However, given the time that would involve — three to four days to ride the 1,800-plus miles from the East Coast to Sturgis, staying the entire week of the rally, then making the return trip — most bikers who've done it the hard way at least once trailer or ship their bikes after that, because vacation time is so precious.
Every summer, my son Brendan and I take a major motorcycle tour. We earned our spurs two years ago by riding from Connecticut to Sturgis and back, taking four days on either side of the actual event. Last year we trailered our bikes and by driving straight through managed to reduce the travel time on each end of the rally to 36 hours.
A stateside trip is always a treat, since you get to do some things that you can't on the islands. For me, two of those things are high-speed highway travel and riding on trains. I love pumping my "American Iron" (as in Harley Davidson motorcycle) at about 5 miles over the legal limit — and out West, that can be 90 mph!
This year, we heard about a rail ride that would include hauling the motorcycles on the same train as the passengers, so we jumped at the opportunity to travel in style and comfort.
The event director for the second-largest and oldest (76 years) motorcycle meet, Laconia Motorcycle Week (Daytona Bike Week is third, and 58), Charlie St. Clair, came up with the idea of coordinating an Amtrak train trip from Boston to Minot, S.D. — the closest train stop to Sturgis, about 420 miles away. St. Clair is credited with reviving the Laconia event from a rowdy weekend gathering to a week-long meet featuring races, the introduction of new models from manufacturers and a trade show of products from after-market suppliers.
St. Clair recruited such corporate sponsors as Pepsi Cola and Amtrak. Because he travels all over the country to promote Laconia bike week, he discovered Amtrak's "Package Express" service and how economical it was to travel on the train and haul his huge display and goods along, rather than ship the materials via an air carrier or even UPS.
"I traveled 22,000 miles in less than five months at half the cost,"he says. "Package Express is Amtrak's best-kept secret!" Next, he convinced Amtrak to become a sponsor of Laconia Motorcycle Bike Week, arguing that the passenger/baggage service would be a boon to cyclists and bring business to the railroad.
As a customer, St. Clair was vocal about his needs, and when the Amtrak Advisory Board was formed, he was invited to become one of the 27 members. There is no direct correlation between his being on the board and the startup of the trip from Boston to Minot, he said, although it helped to know the right people to approach.
He gave credit for sharing his vision of train travel for motorcyclists and their bikes to Amtrak's Ed Ellis, head of Package Express; Al Edlestein, Inter-city Package Express vice president; and Camille Thomas, mail and express product manager. Thomas was the main contact between Amtrak and the bikers, making the bookings and answering questions people had about the new adventure. No matter how many times the same question was asked, she answered with a smile, and she always answered voice mail.
In Chicago, she met the group to assure a smooth transition from The Lake Shore Limited arriving from Boston and The Empire Builder departing Chicago for Minot. When she learned that we had not gotten dinner because our train was late leaving Albany, she arranged a complementary dinner out-bound from Chicago.
Any new undertaking is bound to have snafus, and we had our share. In the next installment of the Island Bikers' Log, we'll report on the train trip itself. Then we'll give an overview of motorcycle meets we've attended, including American Iron Magazine's FLASH drag races and Main Street attractions such as the famed Broken Spoke Saloon and a stops to see the wares of some of the thousands of vendors offering everything from bikes to bikinis.
Frank McLaughlin studied broadcast journalism in high school, the Army and college. He was a CBS flying traffic reporter before he moved to St.Thomas, where he worked at WSTA Radio and WBNB-TV. In the '70s he formed the first of several real estate companies which he has since sold to management personnel. One of his hobbies is motorcycle touring with his son Brendan, owner of Appraisal Associates and of Mad Dog Cycles, an importer of custom after-market cycle equipment on St. Thomas. Between them, they own nine motorcycles, four of them Harley Davidsons.
