Part of the agreement is Harley-Davidson Motor Co. building a permanent Plaza in a currently vacant lot at the intersection of Main and Second streets, not far from the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum and Hall Of Fame. To be completed for the upcoming Sturgis Rally, the Plaza will be used for year-round events, from concerts, to demonstrations, to weddings. To add some Harley authentic and historic value to this Plaza, construction will use some bricks taken from the Milwaukee headquarters at Juneau Avenue and from the Harley museum. These bricks will be transported to Sturgis on Harley motorcycles.
Under the leadership of Mayor Mark Carstensen, the intention of the City of Sturgis is to produce a viable plan to capitalize on tourism before and after the 6-day rally. For sure the Plaza will help the city of Sturgis capitalize on the notoriety of the rally with tourists visiting the area. Neither the city nor the company disclosed the terms of the agreement, but it is easy to bet that other projects are or will be included in it. No doubt that Harley-Davidson Motor Co. wished to have an official claim on the rally before another brand with strong historic ties to the rally does it. The agreement has an initial term and priority renewal options reserved to Harley-Davidson running through 2090. It also prevents motorcycle manufacturers like Indian (also with very strong ties to the rally) and Victory Motorcycles from such deals with the city of Sturgis.
During a news conference at the company’s headquarters, Harley-Davidson announced the planned agreement, which has an initial term and renewals running through 2090. To unveil the deal, Harley-Davidson removed a brick from the historic front entrance using a 2015 Harley-Davidson Street® 750 motorcycle. That brick, alongside one from the Harley-Davidson Museum and 73 bricks from the headquarters’ famous motorcycle-only parking area will be delivered to Sturgis on Harley-Davidson motorcycles.
financial capitalism at its finest. sucks.
One can only imagine what the reaction to this announcement over Indian way must be 😉
Indian Motorcycle missed a huge opportunity. The Sturgis Indian dealer must be upset.
The city of Sturgis sold to Harley MoCo can have negative consequences for the city and for bikers. Will see.
Harley or any other brands helping the city. Fine. One brand owning the bragging rights of being the official brand of the rally. Wrong!
You are all wrong. The reason HD is building the plaza in Sturgis is to demonstrate the logic behind the design of all Harley Davidson motorcycles. That being to haul bricks. ..Z
Agreed . Anytime any corporate entity acquires a monopoly over an event / function or even worse a Town …. its a very bad thing . And oh yeah …. that Sturgis Indian dealership in the process of expanding massively ? This can’t be good news for them at all in light of all the financial commitments they’ve already made
So . Any [ gentleman’s ] bets on the consequences of this monopolizing of Sturgis and how long it’ll take for them to take root ?
In my opinion they may as well hang a banner outside of town announcing ; ” No Other Brands Welcome ” .. or worse ; ” All Other Brands Stay Home ”
Bad move town of Sturgis . And one I’m betting y’all will be paying dearly for much sooner than later
man, that Indian corner of the ring sure has a lot of water boys
I just threw up in my mouth. BFD and whoopie f’in deal. More commercialism run a muck and one more reason not to go to this once kick ass run. They make it sound like they are building a holy shrine with the bringing of the bricks from the factory on the chosen holy steel steeds.Holy shite!
I don’t even need to comment. Everybody else is saying it.
Pardon the multiple posts but this one’s really getting my ire [ as well as satire ] up !
So whats next on the agenda ? Renaming the Event ‘The Annual Sturgis Harleyfest * Rally ‘ ? Renaming the town of Sturgis to ‘Willie G-Ville ‘? Petitioning the US government to rename the surrounding Black Hills to ‘ ‘MotorCompany Hills ‘ ?
Not that I’m blaming the MotorCo mind you . Thats what corporations do . Take over everything they can get their grubby hands on . Its the town of Sturgis itself I’m placing all the blame on
* Funny thing is i initially mistyped that as Harletfest . Which errr … might be a little closer to the truth perhaps ? 😉
F***k you Harley.
This just demonstrates how successful Indian is dominating the buzz at Sturgis since their introduction two years ago.
Clearly Harley is worried about how effectively Indian and Polaris have used an event they had begun to ignore. What will Daytona sell them? The Beach?
Those Son of Bricks. Who cares?
Sturgis is the new wishing well for HD for Milwaukee is no longer. Just a museum of the past.
The elected should know that bikers hate when a corporation is in position to control a rally and its events. Did the Mayor kept something to sell to Polaris, Triumph, Royal Enfield, BMW, Honda, etc…A 75 years long deal with Harley is crazy. As mentioned it shows how Harley fears Indian…
And if Indian did this deal instead of Harley, would the reactions be the same?
Indian owners are the biggest bunch of whiners.
CORRECTION!!!! SOME Indian riders are the biggest bunch of whiners!
its simple do what 7up did years ago
just become the un official motorcycle of sturgis
or the official motorcycle of the BLACK HILLS or WHO F-KING CARES……like it makes a difference in your whole trip or time you spend there
thank god there are still NON product NAME WHORING places like
LAMBEAU FIELD, 1265 Lombardi Avenue
What I’d like to know is exactly what both sides get out of the deal. What does the “claim” to be the official brand entail? Will they be able to lock out any other brands? Hmmm…
yawn….who really cares? ride there as we have for the last 30-50 years (our primary age group here, lol), don’t buy an official HD t-shirt, support locally owned business, and just friggin’ ride, huh?
Yes 1550tc – nice shout out to HISTORIC Lambeau Field! Soon to be (Milwaukee) season ticket holder here….
As for the naming rights deal – I’m taking PBR’s approach.
I guess other brands have motorcycles and Harley has “official” sponsorship.
Tundra, it sounds so much better than
Johnny Walker Red Label Field in Green Bay ………..or The 69 TwoCanchew Field
The Frozen Tundra :)……………….best sports facility is USA
Indian better off to rent all the walls of Sturgis until 2090 to paint its logo.
I wonder if Indian was in competition with Harley on this deal or if the city of Sturgis talked only to Harley.
Somehow I dont believe the money spent on the name tag was a priority in Polaris Corp wheel house.
Wow !
I guess H-D got tired of Indian stealing the spotlight for the last 2 years ?
Does this means Indian will have less billboard space to rent ????
LOL !!!!
Really ridiculous. People who bother to educate themselves about the history of the Sturgis rally will know and remember that Indian riders started it.
And I agree that Indian should become “official motorcycle of the Black Hills” or “official motorcycle of Deadwood” or something like that…
A HARLEY DAVIDSON WITH OVER 55 % IMPORT CHEAP PARTS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I am hoping indian Motircycle of Spirit Lake gets the naming rights to Spearfish, cheaper hotels and better riding !
I’ve always said that it was too bad Pappy Hoel didn’t live in Spearfish. A nice town compared to Sturgis .
What PBR said; it’s about the ride…this is just an another ad campaign. You can can sucked into the hype or ignore it. BTW: I ride HD and probably will till the end of my riding days; just the best riding community support I can get while travelling all over North America; that’s why.
Who cares……..I will not be around in 75 years.
Waste of money………….should have picked MUMBAI in India thats where there future is.
Maybe Indian could put in a bid to be the official brand in Daytona. Might be a good way to start off the New Year.
Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, Inc.???
Meh. Just wait until Sturgis City Council realizes that NFL teams now license their stadiums AND feilds. “Indian Motorcycles, the official motorcycle of Main St. Sturgis, home of the annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, Harley-Davidson official sponsor. For more activities and entertainment head over to Lazelle St, officially sponsored by the Victory Motorcycle Company. This message brought to you by the Sturgis City facebook page, sponsored by Amsoil.”
Is that chrome plated re-bar I see behind that Indian (cough cough) made Harley Davidson amid some demolition debris? 🙂
now I know HD is running scared, putting their name on a rally started by Indian riders. Funny scared stuff that!
Panicking? Indian must smile realizing that they bother Harley in Sturgis.
I bet wherever he is, Pappy Hoel is having a huge belly laugh over this.
Harley can be the ‘official’ whatever they want.
It won’t change the fact that the rally was started by an Indian dealer.
Break out the popcorn. This is getting good.
A good example that big corporations can buy anything with enough of your money. I wonder if the HD execs will be using the private jets to visit this year? Don’t worry, they ride in from RC and are totally “bad ass”.
The Sturgis mayor appears to be attempting to be forward thinking in an attempt to develop competition between manufacturers, motorcycle enthusiasts like the town of Sturgis are likely to benefit. How these efforts will unfold will be interesting. My hope is that Indian lets its products speak for themselves and continues to use these rally’s to introduce new models despite what seems to be a preemptive move on the part of HD. In the USA history, quality and innovation will not be suppressed.
BOBS is correct. Except that Indian won’t he the offical bike of Main St. Main St, will be renamed “Indian Motorcycle Ave.” KACHING!!!! $$$$$