Issue #251 Finally Daytona
Written by John Molony   
Thursday, 07 May 2009
As you’ll read in this issue’s lead feature “Texas Style,” Honda introduced its chopper-style Fury in Daytona Beach. Being there for the press event meant making only my second trip ever to that city in Florida during its infamous and long-running Bike Week, where I was excited to finally get a look at the action.

Bike Week is a must on many calendars and I have friends who have been attending for as long as they can remember and swear by it as one of the most enjoyable motorcycle events. The first time I visited several years ago wasn’t the best example of Bike Week. It was cold and raining, (pouring actually) and the infield at Daytona International Speedway was flooded to a point where the heats had to be delayed and the 200-miler actually postponed till Monday. The apparel of choice for that day in 2003 was rainslickers and Sou’westers rather than tank tops and bikinis. It looked better this year as the sun was shining and the air warm as we left the Orlando airport for the Beach.

Traffic into Daytona Beach was practically gridlocked. As non-official proof that this was a “wild” event the infamous Girls Gone Wild bus was trolling Atlantic Boulevard with a lone occupant waving out of a tiny portal. The local paper reported that the questionable bus was in town looking for the wildest—read raunchiest—bars in town. The bus was undoubtedly being pursued slowly though traffic by more lawyers with subpoenas than there were occupants of the bus.  Perhaps the bus, and the lawyers, were just warming up as the last weekend of Bike Week overlaps the first week of Spring Break.

What struck me most about being on the road with so many other riders was the civility the vast majority show toward their fellow rider and other traffic in general. I’ve done Los Angeles’s Love Ride where you roll in the company of 30,000 other riders and it’s a free-for-all on the freeway. You have to be aware of who is beside you, behind you and ahead of you as within seconds they could be and often are, somewhere else. 

Around Daytona, for miles in all directions, there were riders enjoying the sunshine and the roads. While looking for a road to take some photos we ventured away from town to ever smaller rural roads, but even those had many riders enjoying the scenery. The pace was almost always relaxed and casual. In town it was accepted that being stuck in traffic is all part of the event and no reason to get hot under the collar.

There were other surprises, such as the variety of bikes. No matter the manufacturer, there would be a sample or 50 present. It really is all encompassing. I was surprised to see so many Can-Am Spyders on the streets of Daytona. Perhaps because even amid extreme bikes, Gold Wing trikes and sportbikes, nothing on the road looks like a Spyder, so they do have a tendency to jump out at you.

Florida does not have a mandatory helmet law for riders over the age of 21, though individuals must carry at least $10,000 in medical insurance (which might be enough to buy a few Band-Aids and have someone check your temperature). Perhaps about half the riders had their helmets on, which probably reflects opinions of the helmet subject. What really made me cringe were girls perched on the back of sportbikes wearing shorts and no helmets. But that’s probably the dad in me coming out.

One of my favourite stories was in the paper and expressed a little of the character that makes Daytona so colourful. A woman in a bar had been arrested for touching her breasts through her shirt in a suggestive manner. Which is enough to get you arrested in Daytona (hmmm, isn’t there also bikini coleslaw wrestling?) The arresting officer was slapped by another woman coming to the defence of her fondling friend and soon the confrontation was joined by two male companions all of whom were eventually arrested. The incident mostly amounted to some shoving and ample use of expletives.  I can’t think that the charges could have been too severe considering the original nature of the offence which likely falls in line with the right to bare arms ... and torsos.

What really made the story good is if the woman had been 30 years younger she could have chased down that Girls Gone Wild bus.
Comments (0)add comment

Write comment
You must be logged in to a comment. Please register if you do not have an account yet.

busy
 
< Prev   Next >
[ Back ]
Copyright Canadian Biker Magazine 2009 - Website Development Baratta Design
Google Analytics Alternative