BLACK HILLS HARLEY-DAVIDSON: THE ROAD GOES ON FOREVER, AND THE RALLY NEVER ENDS

I pulled into Black Hills Harley-Davidson on a warm August afternoon with the sound of engines echoing off the hills and the air humming with the energy of thousands of riders and enthusiasts.

It was the 85th anniversary of the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, and the dealership’s massive 40-acre site at Exit 55 had become one of the epicenters of the entire event.

Everywhere I looked there were bikes, vendors, and people who had traveled across the country, and in some cases across the world, just to be in the Black Hills for this week.

For motorcyclists, this is Heaven. Period.

The landscape, the rally, and the sheer concentration of motorcycle culture are unmatched, and at the heart of it all sits Black Hills Harley-Davidson.

The Black Hills themselves are part of the magic. Riders talk about this place the way pilgrims talk about holy ground. The curves of Spearfish Canyon, the silhouette of Mount Rushmore, the wildlife in Custer State Park, and the sweep of the open road toward the Badlands combine to create a rider’s dream.

For one week every August, the region becomes the center of the motorcycling universe. That’s the gravity of Sturgis and why Black Hills Harley-Davidson carries so much weight. For many riders, it’s the gateway into the entire experience.

During the rally the dealership transforms into what’s known as the Rally at Exit 55.

Over 100 vendors set up across the property, creating a temporary city built for Harley riders. The lot was filled with tents, displays, and product demos, and yet nothing about it felt chaotic.

The flow of people was constant but natural, as if the space had been designed to move thousands of visitors without friction.

I walked through the crowd watching staff greet customers, direct traffic, and keep everything running smoothly, and I kept coming back to the same impression: they were swamped, but they were smiling. Professional, energized, and genuinely happy to be there, they made what should feel overwhelming look effortless.

That was true not just in the showroom and out in the lot, but behind the scenes in service, where the workload spikes to incredible levels.

Mike Maloney, the dealership’s Operations and Rally Manager, told me the service department alone handles more than 300 repair and maintenance requests per day during Rally Week. And still, the techs keep their cool, keep the work flowing, and get riders back on the road.

While it’s a giant party for everyone else, for the dealership, Rally Week is a marathon of sales, service, and operations, and the staff attacks it with a mix of intensity and enthusiasm that sets the tone for the entire site.

The vendor list reflected the dealership’s selectivity and the relationships they’ve built over the years. Saddlemen, Vance & Hines, Rockford Fosgate, Legends Suspension, and many others were on display. Rockford Fosgate even chose Black Hills Harley-Davidson to launch new product lines, including audio systems designed for Harley-Davidson’s Skyline OS motorcycles.

For Mike, these partnerships are intentional.

“We have the premium brand Harley-Davidson,” he says. “That’s the flag we fly. And we have the premium dealership that is Black Hills Harley-Davidson. And because it’s worth protecting, we're very careful about the vendors we work with. We focus on long-term relationships instead of flash in the-pan pop-up relationships.”

That attention to quality is part of what makes the Rally at Exit 55 such a draw. Vendors know that being on this lot during the Sturgis Rally puts them in front of the right kind of rider.

Al Rieman, the dealership’s General Manager, put it plainly: “There is no better place to be a motorcycle vendor on Earth than in this parking lot for this rally.”

And he would know. Al bought into the dealership in 2000 and has seen the event grow from a handful of tents into what it is today.

By 2002 the business had moved to its current location in Rapid City, and each year since, the Rally at Exit 55 has grown in scale and reputation.

Today, Rally Week accounts for just under half of the dealership’s annual revenue. The numbers are staggering, but what's more impressive is how consistently they deliver.

Al credits that consistency to a simple philosophy. “We have an underlying drive. An unofficial motto that says: ‘whatever it takes.’ When you have that small of a window to do that much of your business, you get it done and make it happen.”

In 2000, that motto was tested when a tornado tore through and destroyed the dealership’s tent in Sturgis. “I went to bed at 10:30 and got a call at 11:30,” Al says. “A tornado had taken out the tent. We reopened at noon the next day. No tent, no electronics, no inventory. We had no choice but to fix it. And we did.”

It’s a story of grit and persistence, and it has become part of the dealership’s identity. That attitude has carried through every year since, shaping how the team approaches the rally and how they carry themselves under pressure.

The rally's demands are enormous. On a typical off-season day, Black Hills Harley-Davidson employs about seventy people across its three stores. During Rally Week, that number balloons to more than five hundred, not including corporate support. The logistics of managing that many employees, along with the vendors and the tens of thousands of visitors moving through the site, are daunting.

Yet from the outside, what you see is confidence. Staff members take cues from leaders like Al and Mike, who set the tone through preparation and poise.

“The staff sees how confident Mike is, and they feel that,” Al says. “We trust the staff and they trust us. We keep them motivated and feeling good, and they do wonders for us.”

That trust is a recurring theme at Black Hills Harley-Davidson. It’s evident in how they treat vendors, in how they manage customers, and in how they navigate big transitions.

In 2023, Black Hills Harley-Davidson was bought by Sonic Automotive, one of the biggest auto retailers in the country. On paper, that sounds like the kind of move that could change a place. In practice, Al says it hasn’t touched what makes this dealership special. Most of the changes have been behind the curtain, in places like HR, accounting, things like that. The rally, the riders, and the day-to-day feel of the place haven’t changed.

For Al and his team, the deal was about opportunity.

“At the time we believed it was going to be the best opportunity for us and the employees here,” he says. “And it’s turned out to be true. I’ve never had a day where I thought, ‘maybe this wasn’t the right thing to do.’”

What the partnership has done is give the team a little more horsepower when it comes to running smoother. Al talks about spending time looking at where things can bottleneck and making sure they don’t. Pricing has also been brought closer to MSRP, which gives customers peace of mind that they’re getting a fair shake. But through all of it, the focus hasn’t shifted. The staff is still here for the riders, the vendors, and the community that makes the rally what it is.

That focus is essential because the rally is about more than sales. It's about supporting riders and giving them a place to gather.

Mike put it best: “You do so much business in two weeks. But even if we stripped it out, we're still an incredible dealership. We still sell. Don't forget about us when the rally's over. We gotta support the rider at this event.”

That balance between scale and intimacy is difficult to strike, but at Black Hills Harley-Davidson it feels natural. Part of that comes from the dealership’s role in the region. They’re western South Dakota’s only full-service Harley-Davidson dealership, and they’re known for having the largest selection of Harley-Davidson motorcycles, motorcycle parts, accessories, and MotorClothes in the Midwest.

Their presence extends beyond Rally Week, but during that week they become something larger than themselves.

Walking the grounds, I felt that larger presence everywhere. Riders explored suspension setups at the Legends booth, tested audio systems at Rockford Fosgate, or sprawled in the shade comparing gear. The rhythm of the place was steady and rumbling.

It was commerce and community woven together, all set against the backdrop of the Black Hills.

The dealership stood at the center, orchestrating it all with precision.

That orchestration is what impressed me most. From the outside, it looks like a party. From the inside, it's a carefully managed operation that requires months of preparation and the coordination of hundreds of people. Al and Mike made it clear that none of it happens by accident, and that every decision from vendor placement to crowd flow to staffing is intentional.

And yet, for the thousands of riders who pass through, the experience feels effortless. The smoother it looks, the harder the team has worked behind the scenes to make it that way.

Only later did I realize just how successful this rally had been for the dealership. There had been murmurs during the week about it being a record-setting year, but no one was talking numbers while the crowds were still pouring through. When the dust settled, the rumors proved true. Between Black Hills Harley-Davidson and their new sister store, Sturgis Harley-Davidson, more than 1,100 motorcycles were sold during Rally Week. It was the biggest sales week in the dealership’s history, a milestone that underscored just how powerful the Rally at Exit 55 has become.

By the time I left, the sun had come out from behind lingering rain clouds and began dropping behind the hills.

I thought about what makes this place so special. The landscape is part of it, no doubt. Sturgis is heaven for bikers, and the Black Hills are as close to perfect riding country as you can get.

But what sets Black Hills Harley-Davidson apart is how they’ve taken that natural backdrop and built something lasting on top of it. They’ve turned Rally Week into not just a sales opportunity, but a cultural anchor point. They’ve made Exit 55 a destination in itself, and a place riders look forward to visiting year after year.

If you find yourself in Sturgis, South Dakota, take a trip out to the Black Hills and swing by Black Hills Harley-Davidson at 2820 Harley Drive in Rapid City. On- or off-season, you’ll see what I mean.