STURGIS - Bob Jessen comes to the Sturgis motorcycle rally for one reason.

To get his belt buckle.

"I look forward every year to making the trip just to get my buckle," he said. "Otherwise, I wouldn't even come to downtown Sturgis."

Jessen, who is from Mapleton, Iowa, has been buying belt buckles from Sturgis vendor Fred Lang since 1982.

Lang owns The Buckle Tree in downtown Sturgis. He has been manufacturing belt buckles for every rally since 1982.

The buckles are manufactured at his downtown business and have a different theme each year.

"I try to communicate the spirit of what the rally is for that year," Lang said.

The slogan on the buckles this year is designed after the South Dakota license plate.

Customers can register on Lang's Web site to make sure they are signed up to get a buckle every year. Jessen is customer number 406 of 5,000. He used to be 406 of 600, which is how many buckles Lang originally manufactured when he started in 1982.

Those numbers have grown during the years Lang has had his downtown Sturgis business.

Jessen is one of Lang's most loyal customers. The two forged a friendship when Jessen first visited Lang to buy a buckle in 1982.

"(I) just got hooked on it, and then Fred and I became really good friends," he said.

So Jessen decided to continue collecting for 25 more years.

His collection includes a prototype Mount Rushmore National Memorial made of silver and 24-carat gold. Only three or four are in existence, he said.

Jessen said he enjoys getting the different designs that are issued for each year's rally.

"It's unique," he said. "It's limited edition. And it's an investment."

He recently had his collection, which consists of belt buckles, knives and key fobs manufactured by Lang, valued at $25,000. Jessen said he has "everything Fred has ever made."

Back when he began making the buckles, Lang had a feeling they would be valuable, Jessen said.

"He said, 'Someday, you'll be able to sell my collection of buckles and buy a Harley,'" Jessen said.

He said that before each year's rally, The Buckle Tree sends him a personalized postcard to see if he wants to purchase that year's buckle.

The business also offers to ship him one if he misses a rally, although that has only happened a couple of times since Jessen began coming to the rally in 1976.

Lang said that keeping customers in his database helps him retain those same customers year after year.

"That repeat business keeps our business pretty steady," he said.

Lang used to sell the buckles at a number of different rallies but sticks to Sturgis these days. About the time he began manufacturing buckles, they were popular from the "Urban Cowboy" fad, he said.

He continued making them every year, including this one, which is his 26th year at the rally. Lang believes he has been successful for a simple reason.

"It's a good product at a fair price," he said.

He said there are a number of repeat customers just like Jessen.

"There are people that go all the way back to 1982 that are still buying every year," he said.

When asked if he would ever sell his collection and possibly buy that new Harley, Jessen was emphatic.

"Absolutely not," he said. "It will be in my will to my son."

Contact Ryan Woodard at 394-8412 or ryan.woodard@rapidcityjournal.com