By MARY ANN GIORDANO

STURGIS, S.D. — Vrrrooooom. Vrroom, vroom, vroom.

Here at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, the annual gathering of all things leather, Harley and free as the wind across an open plain, Senator John McCain came to ask for the votes of America’s bikers.

“It will be a good day on election day if there are a lot of bikes parked outside polling places,” Mr. McCain said, at a tribute to veterans and those who serve in the military held in the midst of the ongoing party that locals says consumes this part of the country for several weeks.

It took more than an hour by bus to get to Sturgis from Rapid City. You get there by navigating flat and winding roads until suddenly an oasis of trailers, bikes and people emerges. A small, crowded village, mostly made up of shaggy haired men, waited for the Straight Talk Express bus and the presumed Republican nominee’s arrival.

Oh, and as some in the crowd pointed out, after they paid their respects to Mr. McCain, they would be hanging around for a concert with Kellie Pickler and Kid Rock.

The rally has been known for its wilder days but it, like its devotees, is getting on in years. This was the 68th Sturgis and the atmosphere was suitably respectful (give or take a few naughty signs, T-shirts and encounters). The men, most commonly dressed in black shirts, jeans and boots, doffed their caps and head scarves at key moments during the pre-McCain program honoring veterans.

And when the senator was finally introduced, they vroomed those engines, tepidly at first and then, with Mr. McCain’s encouragement, in a roar of approval.

Mr. McCain’s message was a jumble of policy declarations and sharp slaps at his Democratic rival, Senator Barack Obama of Illinois. Mr. McCain noted that Mr. Obama had drawn tens of thousands to a speech in Berlin last month.

“I’ll take the roar of 150 Harleys any day. Any day,” he said, to more roars.

“This is my first time here,” he continued, “but I recognize that sound. It’s the sound of freedom.”

He repeated his call, made earlier in the day, for Congress to return to Washington and work out a package to address the high cost of fuel. “Anyone sick of paying $4, 4 bucks,” meaning gasoline, he asked. Its noxious smell filled the air as some of the bikers near the stage revved their engines.

“Tell them to get to work,” Mr. McCain said, referring to Congress. “When I am president I’m not going to let them go on vacation” – presumably at least until they have dealt with the energy problem. He then criticized Mr. Obama for opposing offshore drilling and for his failure to support nuclear power (Mr. Obama has said he would support both under certain circumstances).

Mr. McCain also reiterated his commitment to seeing the Iraq war through in honor of those who have died there these last five years. “We will not have their deaths be in vain, we will win this war,” Mr. McCain said.

And then he was done. Thousands of miles by air and bus to tip his hat to bikers, veterans and those he said “provide the men and women who serve our military.”

The crowd applauded, then waited patiently as the senator, his wife, Cindy, and his daughter, Meghan, left the stage. Kid Rock was up next.