Sturgis ministry shines light of Christ into massive Harley rally

Sturgis,which brings up to a half-million people to the Black Hills for a week of motorcycle competitions –- a far bigger crowd than virtually any sporting event in the world. This year's rally began Aug. 6 and runs through Aug. 12.
The rumbling procession of big bad Harleys and Harley wannabes entering one end of Main Street can be deafening, drowning out most conversations. At the other end of Main, volunteers at the Dakota Baptist Convention's evangelism booth call out to people walking by, offering them a chance to win the gleaming black 2007 Harley Dyna Glide parked on the sidewalk.
What do they have to do to get a free ticket? Give up three minutes of their time and listen to a person give his or her Christian testimony. In the first four days of Sturgis this year, 2,643 people listened to a three-minute Gospel presentation at Dakota's evangelism booth. Of those, 404 made professions of faith.

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News briefs

The New Mexico Law Enforcement Torch Run will host its first ever Bike Rally for Special Olympics New Mexico on Aug. 11 in Albuquerque. More than 500 “wild hogs” throughout New Mexico will ride from the Thunderbird Harley Davidson located at 5000 Alameda Blvd. NE at 11 a.m., arriving at the Sky City Casino in Acoma, New Mexico at 12:30 p.m.

Registration will take place at the Thunderbird Harley Davidson from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Saturday. The cost to participate in the Bike Rally is $20. All proceeds will go to benefit SONM athlete competitions, programs and sports equipment. A portion of the dollars raised will also go to support the six SONM athletes competing in 2007 World Summer Games in Shanghai, China.

For more information, or to pre-register, visit www.sonm.org.
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Bikes of the future safer, high-tech

Now, motorcycle manufacturers, including tradition-oriented Harley-Davidson, are making bikes with such high-tech amenities as fuel injection, antilock braking systems and a host of electronic gizmos that automatically adjust brakes, fuel delivery and suspension to changing conditions on the road and in the environment.

Harley is showing off its new antilock braking system with emergency-stop demonstrations in the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center parking lot. It is also touting a new isolated drive system aimed at smoothing out vibrations and a new electronically-controlled throttle to better match its cruise control.

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Rally toll rises to three after Nemo Road accident

A third motorcyclist has been killed in a Black Hills area highway accident since the start of the Sturgis motorcycle rally.



About 9:15 a.m. Thursday, a man riding a Harley-Davidson lost control of the bike on Nemo Road about four miles west of Norris Peak Road, and the motorcycle went off the road into the south ditch.

The man is not being identified until relatives are notified, according to the South Dakota Highway Patrol.
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Trike makes rally easier for quadriplegic

Davidson and Rick Bradley have known each other since junior high school in Olathe, Kan., where they still live. Michelle is a nurse. The Bradleys and other family and friends keep Davidson out of a nursing home.

The Bradleys decided to take Davidson to Sturgis. They even strapped him onto the back of their Harley-Davidson Ultra Classic for a ride through Spearfish Canyon.

This is not the ideal way to ride with a quadriplegic, so the next year Rick Bradley built his friend a trailer. They've been to Sturgis every year since.

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Longhorn Harley-Davidson Dealership Relocates to New Building in Grand Prairie, Texas

Bob Moore Construction has built the new 38,000 Longhorn Harley-Davidson dealership in Grand Prairie, Texas. Bob Moore Construction was the design / build contractor for the new Longhorn Harley-Davidson dealership.
The architect was Avant Design Group, Inc. The building’s interior is finished in a rustic Texas design, with stone, wood and chemically-distressed corrugated metal accents and Lone Star décor throughout the building.

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1965 Harley-Davidson FLH Electra Glide: Rat Revival

Ten years from now, someone checking out a neighborhood yard sale will reach down and grab this issue of HOT BIKE from a stack of old magazines and flip through the bike features. Chances are, they'll look closely at each of the custom motorcycles gracing these pages and get a good laugh at how dated some of them look.
Unlike the radical customs of today, many of which aren't produced from a platform manufactured by Harley-Davidson, the builders of yesterday's radical bikes depended on their ability to locate an old Harley as a donor.
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Rally officials say attendance - and crime - down at rally

Sturgis motorcycle rally officials said Tuesday that both attendance and crime at this year's rally are down from previous years so far.


Meade County Sheriff Ron Merwin said there was a slight increase in accidents Monday night, but there was nothing inconsistent with previous years.

Sturgis Police Chief Jim Bush said crime in all categories is down so far this year, and the categories with the most instances are misdemeanor drug charges and parking violations.
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Officers search for stolen Harley soldier willed to 9-year-old son

Before he shipped out in June for his second tour of combat duty in Iraq, 29-year-old John Massey made one thing clear: If he didn’t make it back home, his 2004 Harley-Davidson Fat Boy motorcycle went to his 9-year-old son, Joseph.

Skinner said before he could go to the storage building where the bike was kept, an employee of his discovered it missing, along with Skinner’s four-wheeler.Thinking that someone in Massey’s family may have come to pick up the motorcycle for him, Skinner said he called a close friend of Massey’s and she broke down crying.

Massey’s commanding officer, Ross E. Brashcars, told the family in a letter, “John served as the scout truck gunner for ‘Cold Steel 66.’ Charlie Battery, 2d Battalion. He volunteered to deploy with my unit offering the skills that he had honed in his previous deployment to Iraq with the 39th Infantry.

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Shigematsu, Brancaccio Eagerly Await Return of All-Harley Drag Racing to Thunder Valley

When the S & S Thunder in the Valley Nationals presented by Smith Brothers Harley-Davidson roars into Bristol Dragway Aug. 10-12, fans will have the opportunity to catch a heated championship bout.
Shigematsu took home top honors at last year’s Thunder in the Valley Nationals, and a repeat performance may provide him a big enough boost to place him atop the leader board when the dust settles in Bristol.
His desire to win proves that the thrill of victory transcends all cultures and language barriers.
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