One aspect of this adventure is the fact that the entire Sturgis / Black Hills area is really not all that biker friendly.
I mean, don't get me wrong, they really do appreciate the revenue and tourism dollars that Bike Week and other bikers bring to the area. But in general they want you to come, spend your money, and leave as soon as you can.
We were in the Black Hills in Sept of 08', rode all the usual areas (Needles, Custer, Spearfish, etc.......) when we rode into Sturgis a friend wanted to stop at Sturgis H-D, and while going across the parking lot he ran over a piece of metal and it cut his rear tire on his V-Rod and it went flat to the rim. We all look at each other and say "well, at least we are at the H-D dealer!"
Turns out the H-D dealer only has service during bike week, the rest of the year it's a shirt shack. Call EVERY tire store in Sturgis, asking if we brought in the rear wheel if they would take a look at it "Nope, we don't work on Motorcycle Tires". I rode to a small bike shop (I think the only one in town), and he didn't have any tire changing gear, but he said we would have no luck short of Rapid City, and not to expect help from anyone west of Rapid. We couldn't even find a Sturgis based towing company to haul the bike to Rapid. So, after a $800 bill at the H-D dealer in Rapid ($500 to tow, $300 for a tire and install, and it wasted an entire day) we were back on the road.
That trip left a bad taste in my mouth about the area. The riding is great, and in general the people are quite nice, but the business owners, at least to me, do not appreciate what they have. At one fuel stop, we all filled up, walked in the door and I didn't have cash, was going to use my debit card. I needed to pay for about $15 in fuel, and was informed that there was a $25 minimum charge for fuel on credit/debit cards. No if, ands, or buts. Several gas stations had a similar policy, or a $5 charge for using a credit card (irregardless of what you were buying). The guy at the bike shop said they only really enforce it if you weren't a local.
Sorry about the rant, but I could see the situation the fella was in with the Ignition being stuck