UPDATE:
Had a great trip and time. Trip to Sturgis w/toy hauler went perfect although there was a stiff wind for part of the trip but the Equalizer hitch performed perfectly as experienced zero sway. The wind did take a bit of a toll on fuel mileage however.
The time in the Black Hills was wonderful as had perfect weather with day time temps in the mid 70's brushing into the low 80's a bit. A quick shower passed thru Sturgis early evening Friday before leaving Saturday AM. Nights were perfect with a slight breeze and temps dipping into the mid 50's for perfect sleeping weather. There was zero need to run the A/C although did fire up one Honda 2000i generator to run lights & charge cell phones but didn't quite use one tank of fuel.
Highway Patrol presence was very noticable along the interstate highway near Sturgis and noticed a number of vehicles getting stopped .. but not one was a motorcycle.
There were far fewer vendors this year (77th Annual) and a much smaller number of attendees than last year (76th Annual) which was guessing about 40% fewer than for the 75th anniversary annual event. It will probably be a week or so before actual estimated attendance numbers are released.
However, thousands of motorcycles of every make/model and year and so highly customized units ... some beautiful, some ugly and some just 'unique' and the same for the people, many of which were not riders but just came to see. Met one nice group from Norway but folks there from all over including a fellow from Russia but difficult to understand.
The Black Hills is beautiful, as always. And the ride thru the hills was very enjoyable ~ a nice change from all the straight highways normally driven.
A great trip and zero issues of any kind so most enjoyable.
