2010 Daytona Bike Week Day 2 Report

The break of Day 2 at Bike Week threatened to be as grey as the first. The persistent chill and overhead clouds continued to hang over the Daytona Beach area like an unexpected in-law overstaying their welcome. But soon the sun broke through the gloom of the morning and the colors of the Florida coastline came to life. The scene itself, without a doubt, is scaled down in comparison to year’s prior, but streets around Daytona are starting to come to life with the sound of more motorcycles and I definitely was bumping into more shoulders on the sidewalks of Main St. last night as the crowds thicken.

With the sun shining down on the white sand, we headed to the beach to shoot some footage of the Arlen Ness Victory Vision against the background of the Atlantic. In my years of covering Bike Week, I had yet to take advantage of the opportunity to take a leisurely ride down the beach. We drop onto the fine sand at the Dunlawton Bridge entrance and pay the $5 toll to ride along the shoreline. It was well worth a single Benjamin Franklin.

The sand closer to the strips of hotels is softly packed and the big bike feels like it’s riding on the steel grate of a bridge, so I pick a line closer to the water where the sand is harder. A pair of brown pelicans are sitting in a tide pool as I ride by and cruise under the trusses of a wooden pier that goes out to Crabby Joe’s Deck & Grill. I can’t believe I’m getting to ride on the beach without the cops chasing me. Stopping to shoot photos, the sun warms my face under my Bell half-shell. I’m sitting on the cush saddle of the Victory staring at the ocean with the tranquil sound of the waves in the background, the green and blue hues of the Atlantic clear against the lightly tan sand with a beautiful bike beneath me and I think to myself how lucky I am. I don’t know of many other places where you can ride without hassle on the beach, pull over, throw a blanket down next to your bike and just enjoy the scenery in peace. A nirvana moment? Almost.

As much as I’d like to stay there all day, the Harley-Davidson Ride In Custom Bike Show was taking place over at one of its new locations on Beach St. across from the Bruce Rossmeyer H-D. After a 40-minute video and photography session, I go to start up the bike but all I get is a quick spark followed by the familiar sound of a fading battery. Seems like our camera crew turned on the lights for photography purposes and after sitting just long enough to sap most of its spark, it’s not turning over. We’re about a mile away from our hotel with a behemoth cruiser and three guys staring dumbfounded at one another. Time to jump start on the sand. We don’t have much choice so we make three runs in different gears to see if we can get it to crank. We get close in second gear on the third try, but pushing that much bulk in sand has us huffing and puffing quick. On the fourth go round, we do our best Steve Holcomb and USA 1 impersonation and get that bike rolling. We run hard, two of us, video man Eric and I pushing down low on the saddlebags while our photog Justin dumps the clutch, rolls on the throttle and shoots off, sending me rolling in the sand as Eric walks over me and spills too, a scene straight out of the Three Stooges. An old couple walking by is shaking their heads and laughing at us but we got her started and got the hell off the beach.

Harley-Davidson’s tent is packed by the time we get there. It’s almost time for the awards ceremony and the winners and their bikes have assembled in front of the makeshift stage. Willie G. and Bill Davidson are there to present the trophies, but the start of the show is a few minutes from starting so we sneak over to ask them how their new two-pronged arrangement is working for them this year. Previously Harley called the Ocean Center home, but opted to set up at Beach St. and the Speedway this year. Bill is upbeat about the move and says it was giving The Motor Company great exposure and that they were very pleased with the positive feedback they had been receiving so far. Harley-Davidson’s President, Keith Wandell, is also there and I catch him looking at me out of the corner of his eye when I snap off a couple quick photos. He must have a built-in media radar and sensed that I was a journalist because by the time I could scribble a couple of questions down that I wanted to ask him, he was gone. Which is a good disappearing act, because Wandell is a tall guy who stood above most of the crowd, but we couldn’t find him anywhere.

The show had plenty of great bikes competing in various classes, from Antiques to Sportsters to customized V-Rods. One competitor came as far away as Bad Nauheim, Germany to compete in the show. The bike had a swooping rear fender, custom chin fairing, custom chrome heads, covers, floorboards and swingarm on a distinctive red bike called Moulin Rouge. It was cool to see a Euro-spin on an American classic. The bike took honors in the Pro Custom Open class, deservedly so, and was one of many mentionable customized Harley-Davidson Motorcycles.

Harley has bumped up the ante this year with three new Special Edition awards with the Willie G. Award being the most coveted. The trophy is stunning, a statuesque crystal spire pointing skyward with shiny chrome panels down its sides to engrave the names of the winner on it. The recipient of the award will have their name engraved on the trophy where it will be displayed in the Harley-Davidson Museum for all to see. Though winners don’t get to take this trophy home with them, the $500 cash prize that goes along with it is a nice consolation.

The other two new Special Edition categories include a Best Use of Genuine H-D Accessories award and a prize for Most Dramatic Audio System, judged by cranking up the volume and letting those subwoofers stuffed in saddlebags boom. Each winner gets $200 cash to go along with it, and as much as I wanted to listen to the competition, we had to blaze to get the Victory Vision back to Volusia so the next wave of motojournalists could enjoy it. I will post the winners after Harley’s Matt King sends me the list. Hint, hint, Matt.

Evening time saw us heading back to Main St. to hook up with some members of our marketing crew who are in town for the IMS at the Ocean Center. It was funny to see the wide-eyed expressions on the faces of Main St. virgins trying to take in the revelry around them - the crush of people on the sidewalks, music spilling out of every venue, the smells of grilled meat mingled with the aroma of spilled beer and the constant rumble of bikes of every imaginable make rolling by. It can be an assault on the senses, an assault I embrace and enjoy. We run into the Jordan Bro’s from the night before and I get the pleasure of reading the first article I wrote to them. They had no idea the story they had had with me the night before was the thrust of my first Bike Week article. After I read it to them, I could tell it touched a chord in them and they couldn’t wait to tell their old man. They thanked me profusely, but I was the one who was thankful to them for sharing their story with me. Something tells me I’ve found some new life-long friends. And making new friends and seeing old ones is one of the best parts of Bike Week. Until tomorrow. Adieu.