“Stories From the Road: Sturgis 2006” has everything you’d expect from a documentary/travelogue about the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally … except for bare breasts. It’s got beautiful motorcycles, attractive women in various states of dress, and bikers. Granted, if it weren’t for the women you would think you were watching something about the world’s largest Leather Daddy gathering, but these guys ain’t interested in that sort of thing. No, this is all about the bikes and the babes.
If Sturgis is something that interests you, you really can’t go wrong here. You get the history of the town and its surrounding areas, the history of the rally, and plenty of talk from all the people affected by it (with the exception of townspeople). Police are interviewed, bikers are interviewed, and so are bike customizers (who have some interesting things to say). They all have different takes on the rally, but they all love it.
If anyone thinks this is just one big drunken burnout contest, they would be partially right, but there are also plenty of fundraisers going on, and the amount of tax dollars raised during these seven to ten days is nothing short of impressive. What’s also impressive is the arrest rate. It’s not as high as one would think, and unless violent crimes have been glossed over by the filmmakers, there weren’t many of those, either… at least in 2006.
Motorcycle enthusiasts and armchair sociologists are going to find this to be an interesting viewing experience. The rest of the world won’t be nearly as captivated by it. My suggestion for any future installments is to skip the history and just cover that year’s events. And this time leave the breasts in.
