The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • Page 354

A18 SUNDAY, AUGUST 25, 1996 LOS ANGELES TIMES BIKERS: Urban Professionals Among Motorcycle Crowd devil from Bon Secour, clears two 38 -foot trucks on a Harley. John Kay and Steppenwolf play "Born to Be Wild." auto arid bike One was killed by carbon-monOxidc poisoning in a tent. There weVc 113 traffic accidents, which injurpd 78 people. Officers issued 1,060 traffic tickets and 2,143 warnings. They arrested 202 people for drunk driving and 73 others for using or possessing illegal drugs.

This year, no gang members are stabbed. No one is shot. The police do hot kill anybody. Only one person dies in traffic. Overall, lations are down.

Part of the reason might be crowd size. Back in 1990, at least 275,000 bikers came to Sturgis. Some people claimed there were as many as 400,000. This year. Police Chief Jim Bush estimates 250,000.

That is still enough to cause plenty of trouble. Bush attributes part of his good fortune to planning. And the rest? Dammit, Snake, it must be the RUBs. Times researchers Janet Lundblad and Paul Singleton contributed to this story. When the Angels got to Spear-fish, S.D., about 20 miles west of Sturgis, they ran stoplights and took over the AH Star Traveler's Inn.

Again, they posted guards. A state trooper tried to issue a traffic ticket. There was a confrontation. Spearfish has 14 police officers. In minutes, 50 lawmen surfaced, including a full complement of state and federal agents.

Police Chief Paul Hansen and Lawrence County Sheriff Rick Mowell talked to the Angel leadership. "We told them we wanted them to act like law-abiding citizens," Hansen says, "and if we had a traffic stop to make, we were going to make it. "They said that they did not have any problem with us doing traffic stops, and that they were Just having fun. "We had very little problems after that." Now there are even fewer problems in Sturgis. Besides the An gels, the Bandidos are here, and so are the Sons of Silence.

But this town is sacred, and there is a truce. The police, along with extra officers hired each year from out of state, arrest a few gang members for drug and gun violations. But for assault, they arrest more married couples. Six years ago, on the 50th anniversary of the Black Hills Motor Classic, members of a gang called the Outlaws wounded two of the Sons of Silence with their knives in front of Gunner's lounge, and the Sons of Silence wounded an Outlaw with a gun. That same year a 200-pound biker from Australia, delirious with drugs, knocked down a resident's door and held a 2-foot knife under his nose.

Then the biker ran through the streets, smashing cars and motorcycles, until the police finally cornered him. He charged them with the knife, and they killed him. Nine people died that year in On their way to Sturgis, the Hells Angels took over the Iron Horse Inn, a hotel at Steamboat Springs, and posted armed guards outside. Inside, two of the Angels were shot, police say, apparently for violating gang rules. One was treated at a Steamboat Springs hospital for a wounded hand.

The other was airlifted to Denver with wounds in his chest, an arm and a leg. Both lived. The police, reinforced by 140 lawmen from out of town, negotiated with the Angels' leadership for more than an hour before they were allowed to enter the hotel. By then, all evidence, including bedding and drywall with bullet holes, had been removed. storefronts.

One biker carries a flag and a "Burn This, A Behind him is a biker with a T-shirt that "Genuine White Boy." Near the middle of the parade, in front of the First Western Bank, a Christian biker shouts repentance. He holds a Bible. A brothet holds a wooden cross. Another holds a sign that "Jesus Saves." At the curb is a bike with a rack. In the ruck are pamphlets.

A sign says; "Take One." On a side street, between two trees, hangs a banner. On it is 8:36 and Revelations 11 1 I. Next to the banner is a tent. Inside are Christian bikers. For anyone who stops in, they will sharpen a knife.

Free. The Serenity Building offers an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting every four hours. Ed says 13,000 to 20,000 recovering drunks come to Sturgis each year. Outside are bikers wearing colors that Assn. of Recovering Motorcyclists (ARM).

They have no-beer and no-drug emblems on their jackets. One has a "No heroin. No crank. No booze. No speed.

No chains. Clean 20 years. Ask me how." Bikers compete in a pro-am race, a hill climb and a slow race, with a trophy for the rider who takes longest to finish without touching his boots to the ground. They toss water balloons over a goal post and attempt to catch them on the other side. Their of ladies ride sissy past a weenie dangling from a string and try to take a bite.

A tall lady in shorts and leather pasties kisses a cop. Hulk Ilogan wrestles. Bubba Blackwell, a dare Continued from A17 money by getting on the lists and then selling their slots. "It's not about riding motorcycles," one T-shirt says. "It's a fashion show." Another saysi "Bikers for a poodle-free Sturgis." Hey, Snake! Look at this onci "Die yuppie scum." Half a dozen Hells Angels gather at the east end of Main Street, outside a bar called Gunner's.

They stand silently among motorcycles parked on the yellow line. Tension grows. Bikes roll past. The procession does not stop. The biggest looks 7 feet tall.

He has a stone face. His shirt is red and white. His vest is black. On the back is his emblem- a cracked skull with wings. It CALIFORNIA.

He carries a ball-peen hammer. It is in his back pocket. Its handle sticks straight up. At the end, he has applied some friction a nonslip grip. One of his brothers has three knives.

They are on his belt. His colors AUSTRALIA. Another's colors CHICAGO. He crosses the parade to the sidewalk. He steps over to a vendor and picks up a knife.

It is as wide as a bowie knife and as long as a bayonet. It costs $15. He fits the handle com-fortably into his hand. Then he eyes it carefully. He frowns and puts it down.

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