Laura Klock was named grand marshal of the 83rd Sturgis Motorcycle Rally by the city of Sturgis on Tuesday.
According to a news release, Klock is known in motorcycling circles for setting land speed records on the Bonneville Salt Flats. She was the pilot of the first “world’s fastest bagger,” a modified Harley-Davidson Road Glide that was featured on Discovery Channel’s Biker Build-Off series.
Klock and her daughters, Erika and Karlee, are the first mother-daughter-daughter trio in land speed racing history to set records at the same time on the Bonneville Salt Flats. Their story is told in the documentary “Klocked: Women with Horsepower.”
President and founder of the South Dakota nonprofit, Helping With Horsepower, Klock most recently completed her Bike Rebuild program with students from Mitchell Technical College which will be auctioned at Mecum Auction Las Vegas on Saturday. Funds from the sale of the motorcycle will benefit both Helping With Horsepower and the Sturgis Rally Endowment Fund.
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The Helping With Horsepower Bike Rebuild Program is dear to Klock, she said. The Abbott House in Mitchell was the first location. The program had a significant financial impact of nearly $500,000.
Klock is a member of the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum Hall of Fame, taught the Basic Rider Course for the State of South Dakota for 10 years, and she is a founding member of the Biker Belles, which will celebrate 15 years as an organization in 2023.
Klock said she was honored and humbled to be asked to be grand marshal. The first time she came to the rally was in 1996 with her dad who got married at the event.
“I was hooked after seeing all the different bikes and all the different kinds of people that come here and the rides you can do, the music. As a small-town Wisconsin girl, it opened a world of ideas for me! It’s been a tradition in our family ever since,” she said.
