Running like a Klock

The road leading from Stillwater, Minnesota to Sturgis, south Dakota leads right past Mitchell, home of the not-to-be missed Corn Palace, one reasonably good strip club (don’t ask) and a certain motorcycle shop run by some guy named Klock.

Though my typical habit is to hit the road very early on the Friday before Sturgis and blast straight to Sturgis, this year I slowed things down a bit and left on Thursday afternoon. The one-day-early departure meant I could spend Thursday evening at the annual Klock Werks per-Sturgis party.

Not only has Brian Klock’s business grown by leaps and bounds over the years, so has his annual pre-Sturgis party.

When I arrived about 7:00 PM the place was jumping. This little party has grown from eight guys and one twelve pack of beer in the parking lot, to at least a couple of hundred bikers and enthusiasts and one very large cooler full to the brim with cold cans of various libations. The best part of course is meeting old friends and making a few new ones. And when I ran out of friends to talk with I perused the parking lot checking out the tasty two wheelers.

The tasty treats in the parking lot included this very nice Sporty – a first time build by a local high school student who did all the work, including the paint!

The old friends included the infamous Bean’re, star of stage and screen, as well as Matt from Carl’s, along with Brian and Krew, including some relative old timers like Joe and Mr. Cheeseman. For new friends I can now count Bob, “gun Bob” who works for the firearms manufacturer Cobra. Bob just happened to be in Mitchell to see one of their vendors and became pretty stoked when he learned that Mitchell is not only the home of Brian Klock, but that his business trip coincided with the annual party.

Yes, it was a great party, and no, we didn’t stay up all night raising hell.
From here on in I think the Klock Werks party will be part of my annual Sturgis trip.

Joe Mielke, part of the Klock Werks krew and a huge Johnny Cash fan, mimics Johnny’s pose in that famous photo.