DAYTONA, Fla. — 500,000 bikes, I tell you, no word a lie. This is the number of bikes that have descended on Daytona for Bike Week 2008. It’s truly hard to get your head around that number of bikes all in one place. But stand on Main Street or Route A1A along the coast and try to count all of the bikes flying by in just 10 minutes. You can’t; you’re just not fast enough, and there are just too many bikes. These bikes run from sun up to sun down.
There are bikes of all shapes and sizes and riders from just about everywhere. I even saw a large contingent of bikes from Quebec. We met several people from Lancaster and the Allentown area. There were bikes from Maine and New Mexico and Texas. So far I’ve met people from North Carolina, a trucker from Ohio and a guy from Florida who was only 45 minutes away.
Everywhere you turn there are bikes and more bikes and yet more bikes. I took E.B.’s advice and tried the Iron Horse Saloon on Saturday. There were so many bikes inside the bar and more along the highway for miles. The police had all they could do with traffic control. For not only are there bikes all over, but there are also your regular car and truck drivers who must navigate around us all.
One motorist was talking to us at a red light and when the old man asked her if she would be happy when we left she laughed and said “oh no sonny we love you guys, we love your money.” I can’t even imagine how much money is being spent here this week. Between the bikers and the college kids here on spring break tons of bucks are being spent.
Although I saw bikes of every kind including some Burgmans I would have to say that the largest manufacturer represented was Harley-Davidson. Next in line would have to be the Suzuki GSX-R. These bikes were ridden mostly by the 20-somethings. The ones that were getting the most notice would have to be the assorted custom bikes.
Harley’s had people of all ages, shapes and sizes riding them. And they came in a rainbow of colors.
If you are looking for a quiet beach side retreat, this is not the week for that. It is loud. Imagine the sound of just one Harley-Davidson in your ear and magnify that by several thousand. This roar is constant all day long. The funniest things are the signs along the highway and especially across the bridges that say ‘Ride Quietly Please’ I think I’m the only one that can obey this rule!
I know it’s a man thing; one of those mysterious things that just don’t make sense is that all of the men have to rev the throttle every time they go under an underpass. These bikes are loud enough but in the underpass it’s ever so much louder!
The best thing so far has been seeing the friendly faces from Old School Motorcycle Transportation. We pulled into the warehouse facility to pick up the bikes, and they greeted me with a big “hello Scooter Girl” and had the bikes spitshined and looking like they just came out of the showroom. Now that’s great customer service. I know that I will be sad when I have to take the bike back to get on that truck to come back home.
The other face from home was the Death Row guys. Face is an exaggeration since I’ve really only seen their truck. It was good to see PA plates and a phone number with the area code 570.
Now the best thing so far this week has been the temperature. Walking on sand instead of ice has been an absolute blessing. Saturday was 70, Sunday was 85 and today was supposed to be in the 80s. You can’t beat that with a stick. I haven’t noticed anyone shoveling sand. I am hoping to bring all this sunshine home to Grey Valley when I return.
One of the largest gatherings of vendors was located at the International Speedway. You may remember this as the home of the Daytona 500, which ran a few weeks ago. Just about every bike manufacturer that I can think of was there. Several of them, Suzuki included, have test tracks so that you could demo the bike of your dreams.
Being totally immersed in this roaring culture has been fantastic so far, and the week has just started. Though it is a bit intimidating riding surrounded by bikes, it is also very exciting. Everyone should add a Bike Week on their “Bucket List” and do it before they pass into the great bike night in the sky.
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