Destination: Bike Week

By Geoffrey Kula
Published: April 10, 2009
Last Updated On: March 10, 2011

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Adventure

After a trip to THE event for motorcycling enthusiasts, one road warrior tells what Daytona Bike Week is all about.

Daytona Bike Week is as much about people watching as it is about bike ogling and hitting Florida's back roads. From Captain's Tavern River Front Grill on one end to the Cruisin' Café at the other, bikers migrate to this motorcycle mecca to see and be seen.

During my trip to the 2006 event (Bike Week #65), there was still a dominating Harley presence. But you'll see everything from 50cc step-through scooters to behemoths capable of producing 600 horses parading down Main Street.

Off the main thoroughfare, every parking lot becomes a place to pull over and bench race or discuss the details of each mod. At night, hotel guests bring chairs outside and watch the world roll by from their impromptu front porches.


Off the Main Drag

Over the years, Bike Week has expanded beyond downtown Daytona as the crowds have grown to today's numbers. After all, when a bar advertises parking for 5,000 motorcycles, you know they're expecting a few people to show up. Bikers flock to Captain's Tavern River Front Grill in New Smyrna Beach or the Broken Spoke and Iron Horse Saloon in Ormond Beach and beyond, to one of the many gathering places in the general vicinity that feature live music, cold drinks and a bike show or other contest.

One of the most recent additions to the scene is area H-D titan Bruce Rossmeyer's one-year-old Destination Daytona megaplex in Ormond Beach, a residential/retail development that includes apartments, condos and the world's largest Harley-Davidson store. Thousands strolled through Rossmeyer's shop (which offered everything from custom bikes to hot sauce and Lotto tickets) and the adjacent vendor bazaar, as well as through the Easyrider's "Best of the Best" custom build display.

Meanwhile, across the street, Discovery Channel superstars Orange County Choppers showcased some of its creations, including those built for Trim Spa, NASA and the New York Fire Deparment 9/11 Tribute Bike. Live music filled the air and stunt riders challenged the "Wall of Death." Thrill-seekers who wanted their own adrenaline rush could be catapulted into the stratosphere aboard "The Slingshot" or ride a mechanical bull.

The high-pitched whine of the in-line engines screaming around the track is a world away from the thunderous belching rumbles of Daytona's main streets and back roads.

Days at the Races

At the Daytona International Speedway, I watched daredevils lean into hairpin turns on 20+ year-old mounts in the AHRMA Vintage Road Races. Between matches, ye olde bikes sit idle while mechanics tinker to give themselves the split-second advantage needed to cross the finish line first. The high-pitched whine of the in-line engines screaming around the track is a world away from the thunderous belching rumbles of Daytona's main streets and back roads.

In addition to the races, the biggest attraction at the Speedway was test-riding bikes. Most major manufacturers offer a selection for demos, and rosters usually fill by late morning. I nabbed two Honda sportbikes and a sport tourer; although I own a cruiser, one of the crotch rockets was a blast, but I'm not sure Big Red is trumping BMW in the luxury touring market.

I caught practice runs for the AMA Dirt Track Series one afternoon at the Daytona Beach Municipal Stadium, and since the Daytona Supercross and the 65th Daytona 200 were broadcast live on the Speed Channel, anyone who couldn't be in the stands could watch from any area restaurant with a TV.


Special Events

V-Twin's 13th Annual Biker's Ball to honor industry luminaries and raise money for the Boys and Girls Club of Broward County was held at the Hilton, which hosted silent and live auctions and the awards ceremony, and had several '06 Harleys on display throughout the lobby which, as the event drew nearer, became a veritable "Who's Who" of custom builders.

Looking to see the work of the superbuilders of tomorrow, I attended Saturday's "World Famous Rat's Hole show," featuring creative minds from the U.S., Canada, Germany and Italy. One Canadian designed an outhouse-themed bike - complete with a working shower! - while others employed drastically raked front ends, exotic upholstery, dynamic paint jobs, suicide shifts, split gas tanks, multiple engines and unlikely sheet metal geometry (or any combination of the preceding) to woo voters. However, it was the "Rat Class' bike - bikes that look like they've been dredged from years spent underneath a garbage pile - with a hornet's nest in the gas tank that drew the most bewildered stares.