#ThrowbackThursday: Full Throttle Saloon

Welcome to the first of many posts (I hope) in a new series I’ve conjured up for my blog, Throwback Thursday. It seems we return from many, many a weekend trip or long vacation and we dive right back into life, with no time to reflect on or share our experiences. My objective here is to break it down into smaller moments of time I can jump back to and share with my readers, rather than sitting down to write a book about our entire trip or experience. Every Thursday, I’ll choose a specific memory to summarize and share, even it’s just a photo and a few words. I hope you find this format a quick, easy enjoyable read.

Full Throttle Saloon, Sturgis South Dakota

If you’re not familiar, the Full Throttle Saloon is a huge biker bar in Sturgis, that comes to life every rally week in August with bikers from all over the world. This is the new Throttle. Sadly, the original bar burned to the ground on September 8, 2015. I recapped our visits to the original bar, which you can read about here.

The owners rebuilt in a new, larger location, however, and the party goes on. We visited the new Throttle in 2018 and just this past August, so I wanted to share some before and after pics to show how things have progressed.

Here is the new bar when we visited in 2018.

2020, with our bikes in the foreground. The front signage was removed, but a HUGE sign was installed on the southern facing wall for all the traffic coming up north on Highway 79.

This is the stage in 2018. Brand new asphalt and temporary banners.

This is 2020, looking a bit more permanent, and the spools are just perfect to hold your drink as you gather for a concert.

The bridge in 2018. It had just recently arrived from the old location.

In 2020, it was back up on cement pillars, but I don’t know if it will ever open to be walked on again. You can see the twisted steel guardrails that survived the fire. Bill and I stood on that bridge, in the old location before the fire. It breaks my heart to see this, but here is the bridge in 2011, at the original location on Highway 34. We were standing on the bridge on the other side, watching people zipline across.

Original Full Throttle Saloon on Highway 34, August 2011.

In 2018 the shops were being built along the sides and the whole place is beginning to look like the original Throttle, with commercial signs and buses standing on end.

In 2020, the buildings are looking more finished and you can see there is A LOT more room in front of the stage, with tables and chairs scattered throughout. I can’t believe it’s been five years since the horrible fire that wiped out years and years of hard work and irreplaceable artifacts. But I remember what a gorgeous, sunny day this was this past August and I hope everyone involved in the rebirth shares in the joy the that Full Throttle lives on. <3