Fire it up! The party dubbed the 18th annual Biketoberfest in Daytona Beach fires up on October 14th and runs through October 17th.
The sun is setting on the 2010 rally season. Riders are trying to remember where they put their trickle chargers for the upcoming winter months. But there’s still one bastion of biker revelry still on the slate. Biketoberfest 2010 kicks off this week as an estimated 100,000 motorcyclists are either on their way to Volusia County or are wishing they were. Biketoberfest gives many riders one more reason to pack the saddlebags and hit the open road for the sunny skies of central Florida. It’s 82-degrees in Daytona Beach today. What’s the weather look like outside your window?
Many riders say they prefer the smaller crowds of Biketoberfest over the melee better known as
Bike Week. Anybody who’s done the biker crawl up International Speedway Blvd. or the A1A around Main Street can relate. Granted, Biketoberfest might not have the insane amount of motorcycle racing the March rally does, but there’s still plenty of fun to be had. Let’s take a look at what’s going on this week.
One of our favorite bike shows, the
Rat’s Hole Custom Show, is going down Saturday, October 16. Ted Smith, MC Radical Randy and crew conduct one of the finest shows around. This year there will be 22 classes of custom
Playboy Playmates and exotic custom motorcycles. Must be time for another Rat's Hole Custom Bike Show.
motorcycles competing, ranging from extreme radicals to rat bikes. The always lovely Rat’s Mates will be on hand for photo ops. And the show will be back in the thick of the action at Daytona Lagoon Water Park after holding its Bike Week contest at Bruce Rossmeyer’s Destination Daytona.
Another one of our Bike Week favorites, Willie’s Tropical Tattoo, is also having a bike show. Willie’s was crazy fun in the spring and we’re confident his fall throw-down will be just as wild. Chopper Time 2010 will have 15 trophy classes and a pin-up contest with cash prizes. The party starts at 10 a.m. on Thursday, October 14, and registration runs until 2 p.m. Bikes will be judged by the likes of the Horse Back Street Choppers, Trailer Trash Choppers, Cochise Chops and Sucker Punch Sallys. Roadside Marty will be doing his thing as emcee of the event while the Fubars will provide the tunes. BBQ will be cooking , beers are only $2 and Willie’s crew will be at the ready with tattoo guns in hand. Willie’s is located at 825 S. Yonge Street in Ormond Beach.
Here's a peek at what to expect at Willie's Tropical Tattoo Bike Show.
Further out in Ormond Beach is Jay Allen’s ever-popular Broken Spoke Saloon. There’s never a dull night at the Broken Spoke. Live music will spill out of the venue every evening as Jay’s got a long list of killer tribute bands like Hells Bells (AC/DC covers), Edge of Forever (Lynyrd Skynyrd) and Houses of the Holy (Led Zeppelin) ready to rock the house. Limpnickie Night is Thursday featuring the Miss Limpnickie contest, smoke will fill the air Friday night when the Baker Burnouts take place, while S&S Cycle will try to up the ante on Baker with its own Smokeout on Saturday. Loud pipes contests will be going on daily (this ain’t California) while the smokin’ hot Broken Spoke bartenders, who are always entertaining in their own right, will be pouring the libations.
There won’t be the Daytona 200 going on at Daytona International Speedway (DIS), but that doesn’t mean Biketoberfest attendees won’t be able to witness a little bit of history. The Speedway’s entire 2.5-mile oval
Rock & Roll and motorcycles, a match made in biker heaven.
track, including the skid pad and pit road, is being repaved right now. It is only the second time in DIS history that the entire oval has undergone a repaving project of this scale. DIS is actually offering a special tram-tour of the project for $15. The target date for the completion is January 1, 2011.
Outside of the Speedway, several manufacturers, including Boss Hoss, Kawasaki, Yamaha and Spyder will be conducting demo rides. All of the OEM’s have been busy debuting their 2011 models and this is a great opportunity to see and ride many of them for the first time. Volusia Motorsports in New Smyrna Beach is the local
Victory Motorcycles dealer and is inviting everybody to stop by and have a look at bikes like the 2011 Cross Country. Bruce Rossmeyer’s Destination Daytona and Daytona
Harley-Davidson will also be displaying 2011 models like the Road Glide Ultra.
Destination Daytona will also have its own mini-rally going on. The “World’s Largest Harley-Davidson Dealer” claims to have more vendors than anywhere else during Biketoberfest. If you’ve never been there, you’ve got to check it out.
There's always fun to be had at the Broken Spoke Saloon, especially on Baker Burnout night.
Destination Daytona is full of retail shops, restaurants, bars and a hotel on-premise. Hell, they’ve even got their own tattoo parlor. Live bands will be playing daily, grub will be grillin’ and there’s usually a celebrity bike builder or two to be found.
And though Biketoberfest may not be known for its musical lineup, there will be plenty of live shows to entertain the throngs. On October 16, the Jam for America Concert featuring Gretchen Wilson, John Anderson, Bucky Covington, Chris Cagle and The DearJane Girls will be going on at City Island Park in downtown Daytona Beach. Gates open at 2 p.m. Meanwhile, at the Edgewater Ranch, Jamfest 2010 is scheduled for the same day. Uncle Kracker, Tracy Lawrence, Wade Williams, Anthony Wild and the Suspects, Mandy Brooke and Crashrocket are all scheduled to
Beer girls with big smiles. Belly up, boys.
perform. And Main Street staples like the Boot Hill Saloon and Dirty Harry’s always have the best local and regional bands around to rock the crowds.
Two days and counting. There’s still time to make a mad dash for Daytona Beach for the 18th annual Biketoberfest. Forecast for tomorrow says it’s going to be 86-degrees. What’s it looking like outside your window, again?
