J.C. 'Pappy' Hoel founded the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in 1938. It's the world's most successful motorcycle rally, drawing 500,000+ annually to remote South Dakota.
The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally is rolling through South Dakota for the 84th time this week. Credit local Indian Motorcycle dealer J.C. 'Pappy' Hoel for fathering what's now the world's premier celebration of motorcycles and an American way of life. The 10-day festival annually attracts more than 500,000 motorcycle enthusiasts from across the United States, and beyond, to a remote corner of one of the nation’s most sparsely populated states.
There was only one problem. Freon was invented in 1928. By the late 1930s, refrigerators were finding their way into every American home. Hoel's ice business hit a deep freeze. The biker icon took a detour, pursued his passion and brought an Indian Motorcycle franchise to Sturgis in 1936. He formed the Jackpine Gypsies Motorcycle Club, chartered in 1937. The following year, he and the Gypsies hosted the first rally.
Many returned to the rally in Sturgis to see the man they dubbed Pappy — often with friends and with a check in hand. Brotherhood of motorcycling J.C. 'Pappy' Hoel died on Feb. 1, 1989. He was 84 years old. He’s buried today at Bear Butte Cemetery in Sturgis, the city where he was born and which he made famous around the world. He and Pearl Hoel were charter members of the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum and Hall of Fame, founded in 2001.
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