Have you ever seen a long-running automotive event, something that markets on how historic it is, and wondered what it would be like to visit the very first occurrence? Zack Courts and Ari Henning over at RevZilla certainly have, because the pair decided to road trip from Utah to the Sturgis motorcycle rally — the first-ever Sturgis motorcycle rally, back in 1938. The pair rode only on roads that existed in 1938, ate only foods that existed in 1938, stayed only in hotels that existed in 1938 (and slept on the ground in wool blankets and waxed cotton bedrolls otherwise), and did it all on 1938 motorcycles.
The bikes, a 1938 Harley-Davidson Flathead and a 1938 Indian Chief, date from before we’d figured out the whole “standardized controls” thing. Both bikes put the clutch under the rider’s left foot, and leave shifting for the hands — the right hand, in the case of Zack’s Indian, because its throttle is on the left grip. They’re complicated to start, a pain to maintain, and even more frustrating when they break. Which, of course, they do.
It’s kind of wild how well Zack Courts pulls off that mustache
Ari’s Harley even managed to break in spectacular fashion, snapping a valve spring and bending a valve. The team had to briefly return to the modern era for that one, taking full advantage of cell phones and the crew’s support van to source parts as well as Googling solutions for how to swap the busted parts out. It’s the only time the CTXP pair spend in 2025, and it’s a reminder of how much more difficult a trip like this would have been in 1938.
Kick up your feet, pop YouTube into full screen in your cubicle, and let Zack and Ari usher you into the weekend with the sound of roaring, 87-year-old V-twin engines. Watch the two sleep on the ground, cook with vintage camp stoves, and light up like kids at Christmas when they pass a restaurant old enough to allow them to order a burger. Sometimes, it’s the little things.
