For the two weeks or so we spend covering the week of the Sturgis motorcycle rally, we get in a lot of news about the event without speaking directly to the bikers in our stories.

Oh, we'll have the standard Hills construction avoidance story along with the "How To" and "What's Happening" kind of stories that will bring in a good share of rally goers and locals alike.

But for stories that speak directly to bikers, we have some occasional issues.

The primary problem is that journalists aren't bikers, no matter what you see in the movies or on television. The fact of the matter is, the only form of two wheel transportation journalists generally take is a) human powered or b) a Segway.

Steve Miller, the sagest of the sage in the newsroom, is the closest thing we have to a true biker. He wears leather and everything, at least during the rally.

So, in a gesture of goodwill, I offer up the best in biker stories in 2009 - thus far.

Big trouble at Bike Week

A perfect storm of controversy, growing public unease with the noise, traffic and crime big biker gatherings can bring and a slowing economy decimated Bike Week in Myrtle Beach this past year.

The controversy sparked last year when some that attended the smaller of sister bike events, a.k.a. Black Bike Week, said regulations were far tighter on their gathering than the more homogenous, bigger Bike Week.

It was bad timing for Bike Week lovers. Officials, who were already growing tired with the hassles of hosting a half million bikers, reacted with an iron fist. Instead of easing up on the smaller bike rally, they brought down tougher enforcement of helmet laws, public indecency, loudness and a whole bevy or regulations that were designed, in the words of those opposing Bike Week, to "Take Back May."

Meanwhile, the economy has put a significant crimp into vacations of all sorts this year, and attendance at all the rallies in Florida ended up being down significantly this year.

Profits plummet, jobs fall at Harley-Davidson

And speaking of the economy, few have been as hard hit by the recession as Harley-Davidson. The heart and soul of the Sturgis rally, H-D began the year by cutting about 1,000 jobs as demand for the American made bike dipped heavily.

Then, a few weeks back, the company had to lay off another 1,000 folks. Not only had demand dipped, profits at H-D had dropped nearly 91 percent in the past year.

Essentially, discretionary income for those who are most likely to buy Harleys - baby boomers who are just about to retire or have recently retired - all but dried up with the wicked fall of the stock market.

Still, local H-D officials aren't writing off this year's rally entirely. Few expect it to be booming, but they do note that Sturgis is unique and uniquely tied to the company.

Easy Rider sequel

No, I'm not joking.

It's seems highly improbable that a film in which the three main protagonists are killed off by the end of the flick will ever have a sequel. But here you are.

As noted by Eric Snider at cinematical.com, they were able to do it with the Blair Witch Project, so why not Easy Rider. Well, do you recall how good Blair Witch II was? I didn't think so.

That being said, one has to have a little curiosity for the independent film that focuses on Captain America's brother who decides to follow the same route he did in the first film. The theme, according to Snider, is that the Captain's brother and his buddy Wes Coast "embark upon an adventure that will force them to confront the past in order to make reparations with the present."

Needless to say, perhaps they shouldn't be aiming so high. But, to each his own.

I'm simply going to predict that the Easy Rider sequel - "Easy Rider: The Ride Back" - won't quite have the influence the original had over the biker culture and baby boom generation.

A shocking statistic for vets and motorcycles

If I hadn't read it in multiple locations on the Internet, I wouldn't have believed it.

In 2008, more Marines died stateside on motorcycles than were killed in Iraq or Afghanistan. Scores of servicemen nationwide were killed in off-duty motorcycle accidents, something military officials believe is a symptom of the prolonged wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

In a USA today story from May, Master Sgt. Brad Warner said that the adrenaline that sustains soldiers through combat can get them into trouble when they climb on a motorcycle.

In response, the Pentagon began requiring servicemembers who ride motorcycles to take training classes that will, hopefully, get the situation under control.

The good news for rallygoers is that although the numbers are up significantly, most of those increases have come from those riding sport bikes, not Harleys.

Gas prices rise, but it's a far cry from 2008

Traffic was down 18 percent at the 2008 Sturgis rally in comparison to the previous year, and much of the blame - right or wrong - was put on gas prices.

This year, many are predicting a still shrinking rally, but it won't be because of gas prices.

Gas prices rose a bit this past week to an average of $2.69 for a gallon of regular, nearly $1.50 per gallon less than last year.

And if you're saying to yourself that gas prices shouldn't matter all that much since motorcycles don't use much gas, remember that the modern day rallygoer is far more likely to fly or trailer their motorcycle to the Sturgis rally than ride in.