Well everyone, in about one more week Daytona Beach will host bike week 2009. I live in Orlando, which is about 60 miles away from Daytona. I think last year there was over 600,000 bikers there. This year it’s hard to say how many will be there the way the economy is. It might be a little less busy, but not by much.
I think bikers who really like bike week in Daytona will find the money to go. I’ve been there a few times myself. So just what kind of bikes and bikers can you find there? Every kind you can think of. It’s not just die hard bikers that live on the road, although there will be plenty of them. You also get the more family type of biker.
There will be plenty of $70,000 touring motorcycles with sidecars with mom and the kid. Doctors, office guys and so on will be there with their bikes. Many make it a family event. There are plenty of things to see for the whole family. Of course there’s just as many events you want to go by yourself, like the ladies oil wrestling and wet t shirt contest! 😉
Bike week in Daytona Beach last from Feb. 27th till March 8th. Most of the hotels will be full, as will all the campgrounds. Many come to Orlando and stay at hotels here, then drive the bike out to Daytona each day on I-4. It takes about 40 minutes to get from Orlando to Daytona Beach. If there’s a wreck, it can take 2 hours!
There are several large Harley Davidson dealers in Daytona as well as Orlando. They will have events and really be trying to sell everything from leather coffee holders to new motorcycles. Everywhere around will be roadside booths selling bike week t shirts and everything you can think of dealing with biking.
As always main street in Daytona Beach will be the center for many booths and shops selling leather jackets, vest, boots and so on. You can find anything you ever wanted to buy for motorcycles there. I’m not going to have one, even though I sell leather jackets. I would need too many in stock to make a booth worthwhile.
Plus I never can find anyone to help me, and I sure as hell am not going to be the only one tending my booth all day long there! No, I like selling my leather online where there is no rush or crowds. There also will be custom bike displays, those are always fun to watch. The custom paint jobs and bikes you find at bike week is reason enough to go.
There will be many events on the outskirts of Daytona also. Everyone tries to make a buck off the bikers, all the way to Orlando. I already see more bikers on the road around here, the early arrivals. I’m going to go at least one day and take lots of pictures. I want to make a picture gallery in here about bike week.
BUT, I’m not going to take my bike! Why not? Because, along with all the real bikers and family type of bikers you get lots of young hot heads trying to show off. There are always dozens of little accidents that never make the newspaper. Only the deaths are newsworthy, and yes there always are a few fatal bike accidents.
So I’m not going to have my bike wreaked by some punk who loses control of his bike and rams into me. Then there would be another fatality of bike week, and I don’t mean me! 😉 I have all year to enjoy riding in Florida, I don’t need to get packed into everyone on bike week. I’m going to drive my van up and go over the north side bridge to the beach.
Then I’ll drive south a ways and stop a few miles from main street. From there I’ll walk and take all my pictures. It gets very, very packed with bikers on route 1 and A1A, all stop and go traffic. So I’ll take my time and walk. If you’ve never been to bike week I highly recommend going at least once. It’s quite a sight to see motorcycles as far as you can see.
The sound is cool too, non stop pipes. That’s where my 90% deafness comes in handy, lol! It’s a sound you’ll never forget, once your ears stop ringing. I hope to see you there if you go. For lots more information about bike week check out the official bike week website here. It tells you everything that is going on. Have fun and drive safe!