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South Dakota Reports First COVID-19 Case from Sturgis

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Roughly 250,000 visitors came to the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally this year (down roughly 7% from last year), despite the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic.

Making matters worse, reports from the iconic motorcycle rally described a crowded scene, where few attendees were adhering to social distancing rules or masking standards.

So, it was perhaps inevitable that we would be sharing today’s story with you, as the Rapid City Journal is reporting the first confirmed COVID-19 case from the 2020 Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.

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Sturgis Attendance Expected to Drop This Year

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If you wanted better proof that the American motorcycle industry is struggling right now, take a look at the expected attendance figures for the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, which is expecting its 77th gathering to be a bit smaller than in past years.

Some of that is to be expected, of course, after 2015 rally’s record year of 739,000 visitors; but for 2017, numbers are expected to be on par with the disappointing performance seen in 2016, which had 463,000 people in attendance.

For comparison, an average year for Sturgis sees 500,000 to 600,000 motorcyclists thronging to the Black Hills of South Dakota.

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Bikes

Here’s a Custom Ducati XDiavel by Roland Sands Design

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In the event’s 76-year history, this year marks the first time that Ducati has ever participated at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally – the Italian company hoping to showcase its Harley-Davidson alternative, the Ducati XDiavel.

Helping fuel that fire was a collaboration between Roland Sands Design and Ducati, which has given way to the creation of a one-off XDiavel with the usual RSD touches.

This means a flowing single-piece body, the addition of a 19″ front wheel, and shotgun-style exhaust are added to the already stylish XDiavel. The RSD Ducati XDiavel is then finished off with metallic flake paint job, along with the usual bits and bobs from the RSD catalog.

There is a lot of “Southern California” transmitted through RSD’s design into the Italian-born XDiavel. It makes for an interesting mixture. We’ll be curious to see how this resonates with American cruiser riders.

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Roland Sands Crashes Bike into Crowd at Sturgis

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During an event at the Buffalo Chip venue at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, masses gathered to see former-racer, bike designer, and motorcycle lifestyle brand purveyor Roland Sands. Unfortunately for all of those involved, the debut didn’t go quite as planned.

As the video after the jump shows, Roland rides his Hooligan race bike onto the stage (not the new Indian Scout FTR750, as had been reported earlier)…and then right off of it, and into the watching crowd. Right before the bike goes off the stage, you can hear someone say that the bike has no front brakes.

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Bikes

2016 Moto Guzzi MGX-21 Flying Fortress

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We fell in love with the Moto Guzzi MGX-21 prototype at last year’s EICMA show, so it is good news to hear that the Italian brand has tapped the model for the 2016 model year.

In case you didn’t know, the 2016 Moto Guzzi MGX-21 Flying Fortress is a 1,400cc bagger, that like all bikes of the brand, includes a 90° transverse V-twin engine.

The model is built around the American motorcycle lifestyle, with the idea of bombing down Route 66 with the wind on your face. We just like its wealth of carbon fiber.

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Get Ready for Sturgis Asia

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No, this is not an April Fool’s joke…but it has all the makings of one though. Long-time Sturgis rally veteran Tom Bandy must have woken up one day and thought to himself, “man how cool would it be if Sturgis wasn’t held in South Dakota, but instead it was in South Korea!” and boom, Sturgis Asia was born.

In actuality, Bandy told the Rapid City Journal that “[he] had a a dream to bring Sturgis to the rest of the world,” which is starting with a tour of South Korea. While the festival is catering heavily to locals (much of SturgisAsia’s website is in Korean), the group will also fly riders and their bikes to South Korea presumably from China and Japan.

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Bikes

Roland Sands’ RenStar

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Based on the Yamaha Road Star, Roland Sands did the business on this piano bike for the AMD World & European Championship of Custom Bike Building.

With a 110 cubic-inch motor that has been worked on by Patrick Racing, the RenStar is not only capable of being a daily rider, but also capable of blowing away any takers at traffic lights. Around a turns might be harder though, with a 240 tire on the back, but hey…it looks good right?

The folks at the biker build-off didn’t think so, but we do. Pictures after the jump.

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