A couple of my riding friends had never been to Bike Week at Daytona and since it was the 70th year for the event it seemed a good idea to encourage them to give it a whirl.
So, last Wednesday #8 was loaded and ready to head out for its first real road trip since coming to my garage.
The destination that day was Savannah to visit family and take care of some business. Skies were mostly clear and temps started out chilly that morning but became quite nice as we motored across South Carolina on back roads.
Monday I headed on to Deland to meet my riding buddies who had elected to trailer their bikes down. It was another nice day, but getting around Jacksonville and having to use I 95 for part of the way was not as enjoyable. Blue skies and mild temps greeted us and we were quickly in a "Florida" mood.
Our hosts in Deland are riders and they took us out the next day to see what was going on.........Plenty of bikes out, for sure!
A ride on back roads took us to "Destination Daytona" at the big HD dealership in Ormond Beach. There were tons of vendors and of course the custom bikes were in abundance. Here are just a few of my faves....
The detail and style are incredible.
Phattt!!!!
How would you like to putt around on one of these? I have seen white walls but never "white tires"
They had a raffle going to win this '32 Ford truck AND the bike in the back....
Mighty tasty, indeed!
Later that afternoon, we headed over to the "Cabbage Patch" to hopefully see some Cole Slaw Wrestling.
The activity here sort of reminded me of the scene at Wiers Beach at the Laconia Rally in New Hampshire. Music, vendors, custom bikes on display, etc. Just no lake nearby. If you have ever been there, you know what I'm talking about.
#8 met it's long lost cousin......
It told the little thumper "Son, you may be small and surprisingly quick but you will only be half the bike I am" .
Well, we were out of luck. The cole slaw wrestling was scheduled for the next evening. We did see another neat custom. It was for the Toys For Tots ride put on by the USMC. Supercharged...the thing lowered to the ground with air shocks. No kickstand required.
They called it "Gunny". I wonder why?
Since we are a bunch of old coots and not into the bar scene, we went back to the house to hang out and cook some goodies on the grill that evening. The next day we went out into the countryside and up through the Ocala National Forest. Of course the roads are a bit on the straight side, but the riding and the scenery was pleasant. The orange trees are blooming and the scent of the orange blossoms was almost intoxicating. One moment you would be riding past orange groves and the next you would be passing a cattle ranch with long horns in the pasture. There were loads of people out riding around the countryside. Lunch was at this place on the St. Johns River.
If you were tired of riding and still wanted to do something that kept the wind in your face, you could take a 'gator watching trip on one of these.....
We finally wound up at the Speedway to see what was on display there.
There was some qualifying activity going on inside, but we did not have the time to take a look nor want to spend the $ to get in.
Things have changed since I was there in '02. Most of the vendors have moved out to the Destination Daytona site. You can still get demo rides on many of the bikes and this afternoon there was little waiting. Again, we passed as nothing available really moved us.
Finally! We made it to the beach and got to see the ocean.
More "shrimp on the barbie" and hanging out was a nice finish to another day of beautiful weather and interesting riding.
I readily accepted a space on one of the trailers to come back home since my bum was tired from the 850 miles of riding the last week and rain was predicted for the trip home.
If you have never been to Bike Week Daytona, put it on your "Bucket List".
Thanks for coming along for the ride.
Driller
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