The 75th Sturgis Motorcycle Rally claimed its first victim on Friday night.

According to Tony Mangan, spokesman at South Dakota Department of Public Safety, 45-year-old Gregory Bullard of Fort Collins Colorado died after crashing his bike on U.S. Highway 14A, about a mile south of Lead.

The accident happened around 6 PM on Friday, July 31.

Bullard was was driving a 2005 Harley-Davidson motorcycle when he failed to negotiate a curve in the road, he flew off the Harley, went into a ditch and collided with a sign post.

Bullard was taken to Deadwood Regional Hospital where he died of his injuries. He was not wearing a helmet.

Another accident on Friday night left a biker with serious injuries after he crashed into a Meade County deputy’s patrol car on Highway 79.

According to the South Dakota Highway Patrol, 69-year-old Francis Finley of Newport, Minnesota struck the patrol vehicle after a deputy made a u-turn across the road, hitting the front wheel and fender of the bike.

That crash is still under investigation.

The 75th Annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally officially gets underway today.

Source: KOTA/ 9News

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