A World Record!
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TONight’s CONCERT LINE-UP OF SKID ROW EE 7 8 SWEET FRIDAY CYANIDE FR AUG. 7, 2015 ® STURGIS RIDER DAILY Fri 8/7 Sat 8/8 Sun 8/9 A WORLD RecORD! Doug Danger flies into history he undisputed DON’t Miss king of stunt Bob Hansen Award Recipients men? Sure, cer- Page 4 tain names might come to Rat’s Hole Winners mind at that phrase. But since Tyesterday, at 6:03 PM, the only Page 5 name people are mention- 5 Minutes with Michael Lichter ing is Doug Danger. Because that was the time on the clock Page 3 when Danger jumped 22 cars aboard Evel Knievel’s XR-750 Harley-Davidson, a stunt EAGLE 75 Knievel once attempted but Page 12 failed to complete. The feat took place in the amphitheater at the Sturgis STURGIS BUFFALo Chip’s Buffalo Chip as part of the Evel Knievel Thrill Show. Dan- WOLFMAN JACK STAGE ger, who has been performing motorcycle jumps for decades, TONIGHT was inspired by Knievel when he was young and got to know 7 PM ..................SWEET CYANIDE him later in life. Danger 8:30 PM .....................SKID ROW regarded this stunt not as way to best his hero but as a favor, 10:30 PM ...............DEF LEPPARD completing a task for a friend. Danger is fully cognizant of TOMORROW the potential peril of his cho- sen profession and he’s real- 7 PM ............................ NICNOS istic; he knows firsthand the flip side of a successful jump. 8:30 PM ............... ADELITAS WAY But he felt solid and confident 10:30 PM ..........................WAR Continued on Page 2 PAGE 2 STURGIS RIDER DAILY FRIDAY, AUG. 7, 2015 TODAy’S ITINERARY • 11:00 am – Explore the Oddities of the Evel Knievel® Thrill Show: Evel’s WORLD RECORD authentic leathers, bikes, helmets The crowd cheers as Doug Danger cruises onto the ramp in an attempt to jump 22 cars Thursday. and X-rays: only here, only now. Get the inspiration behind Doug Danger’s jump. • 1:30 pm – Down Some Dollar Dogs & Drafts: Head down to Woody’s Watering Hole in the amphitheater and enjoy one of the best food and drink bargains of the Rally. • 3:00 pm – Get an Appointment at Tattoo Café: Reserve a time to be inked up by some of the best artists in the industry. You can finally get that heart with “Mom” on it. Staff pick • 4:30 PM NITRO NATIONAL PRO HILL CLIMB An elated Danger pumps his fist after his victory flight. Continued from Page 1 going into this jump and it showed. He cleared the 22 cars with feet to spare and though he came down hard with a slight bobble, he recovered and stopped safely. “Something like this only comes together due to teamwork, and I have a great team, he said. “The Chip’s team really stepped up, too. Every- one knows that the greatest things happen at the I’ve hit a few bumps on my bike over the years, Chip.” but nothing compared to the competitors in Doug’s wife, Maria, was visibly relieved once the Nitro National Hill Climb; these guys are the jump was over. When a TV news reporter incredible. They shoot 250-horsepower bikes asked if she was proud of him today, she replied, straight up a friggin’ cliff. I get queasy just “I was proud of him yesterday!” looking over the edge from the top. Don Beers Added the Daredevil, “I can’t believe I made told me how ‘easy’ it is to shoot up the cliffs that jump! I’m gonna be high for a year!” and fly over the top when you stroke the horses just right. Nope. Not me. I’ll watch as these real-world champions make it happen. Victory is sweet! Danger grins from ear to ear after completing his world record jump Thursday. – Rod Woodruff, Buffalo Chip President • 7:00 pm – Keep Your Appointment: Return to Tattoo Café and get inked! • 7:30 pm – Take a Rip Down the Zip Line: Get an extra rush while Sweet Cyanide rocks the main stage. • 8:30 pm –Ninety Non-Stop Minutes of Metal Mayhem with Skid Row: You are locked, cocked and ready to rock. • 10:30 pm – Be Blessed by Def Leppard’s Hallowed Sounds of Rock: Def Leppard is blasting out the Rock Danger stands before Evel Knievel’s recently of Ages. restored Mack truck rig, Big Red. FRIDAY, AUG. 7, 2015 STURGIS RIDER DAILY PAGE 3 5 MINUTES WITH MICHAEL LICHTER One of the hardest working people in motor- cycling, Photographer Michael Lichter has been recording our shared history for over 35 years. SRD: Did you plan to be a photographer? Michael Lichter: I started photographing at 13 but had no intention of becoming a commercial photographer. I was shooting for myself and exhib- iting some when a housemate who was a writer saw my pictures of Cheyenne Frontier Days. He sent them to a magazine with his story and one of them ended up on the cover two weeks later. I thought, “Wow! This looks great, it feels good and I get a check!” SRD: How did you first start riding? ML: I rode on friends’ mini bikes, the kind of you won’t get paid for them. thing any kid would go nuts over. I remember being 14 and going to see the film Easy Rider. Later, SRD: And yet you’ve made lifelong friends in motor- my housemate had a 1947 Knuck chopper with a cycling. 24-over front end. It was light and fast and I just ML: I turned 60 in July so more of my life has flipped when I rode it. So I bought a Honda 450, it been involved with motorcycles than hasn’t. Many was purple and I wish I had that bike now; I’d café it. of the people I have photographed have become A little later I got a used Shovel at Frisco Chop- friends; I see them on a regular basis, we have time pers, a ‘71 FX that was mildly chopped. I rode it to talk when I’m shooting their bikes. And I’m pho- back from SF—and I still have it. Billy Lane redid tographing something important that comes from it for me. their heart. I’ve shot more than 60 of Arlen Ness’s bikes. I’ve met as many characters as I‘ve taken pic- SRD: How’d you first get your gig with Easy Rider tures—and I’ve taken thousands. magazine? ML: I met someone from Easy Rider at my first SRD: So you know the legendary custom builders for Sturgis in 1979. He told me to send some images but sure. What about the next gen builders? when they only printed 3 of the 10 I was insulted! ML: They’re keeping custom bike building alive So I didn’t send any more. When I saw them again and it’s important for the industry to embrace these they told me how lucky I was to have had the prior guys. What’s cool now is how the bad economy has 3 printed. I was naïve and just didn’t know how it opened up custom platforms, with Honda 450s and worked! So I sent more and within two months I 750s coming back. These are the most exciting times had my first assignment. ever for custom motorcycles. SRD: Did you earn a living with regular assign- SRD: The Motorcycles As Art exhibit held at the ments from ER? Buffalo Chip has become a hallmark event at the Stur- ML: No! I did corporate commercial photog- gis Rally. How did it begin? raphy for years. My corporate clients didn’t know ML: I had a show of my photos in Dublin in about my motorcycle work. One day some corpo- 1981 that was boycotted by the league of decency in rate clients saw the shot of Puppy standing on his Ireland! I took that as a feather in my cap! But I got bike riding by Bear Butte and they built a campaign disillusioned and stepped back from the art world. around it. That was the beginning of my commercial So in 2000 I had a show of my images at Apex Gal- work in motorcycling until the business all melted lery in Rapid City with a few bikes as well. I loved together, and now I do nothing outside of motor- the feel of it and had another show at the Journey cycles. Museum in 2001. The next year I added other artists and started naming the shows. SRD: What would you tell someone who wants to be a motorcycle photographer? SRD: And this year’s show is Naked Truth? ML: It’s not a way to make a living. You have to ML: Yes. The quality in this show is incredible; it’s love it for yourself and want to spend your time this good enough for Museum of Modern Art’s design way, because you’ll work way too many hours and area! PAGE 4 STURGIS RIDER DAILY FRIDAY, AUG. 7, 2015 20155 VET BOBS HEXHIBITANSEN DISTINGUI VALORSHED P SERVICEERSONI AWARDFIEDS Each year the Buffalo Chip honors military per- sonnel for their courage, sacrifices and patriotism. Thomas Bob Hansen award recipients emulate the distinc- Drao tive service of the award’s namesake, a man whose Dzieran robust life could be described as a hinge of history. Past recipients include Senator John McCain, Colonel Steve Ritchie, newsman Bob Woodruff, Retired Navy SEAL Tyrone Woods and Former Navy SEAL Glen Doherty.