If you happen to be in Central Florida March 4-13, you may notice there are many motorcycles on the road, actually around a half million motorcycles! So, PLEASE watch for motorcycles when driving, and always check your blind spots.
Bikers converge from all over for this 10-day event at famous Daytona Beach (and the northerners are ecstatic to be trading in their snow jackets for the sunshine this year). In recent years, the event has spread throughout the Central Florida area, not just confined to Daytona Beach, although that is the main area. Not to worry if you are planning to visit the theme parks though, the bikers typically stick to the biker-themed events.
This annual event originally started with the Daytona 200 race back in January of 1937. The festivities now include concerts, parties, motorcycle racing, contests, street festivals, and people-watching. There are sure to be interesting sights….from the bikes themselves to the people who ride them. Some of the concerts are FREE, with headliners that include Jonny Lang and The Fabulous Thunderbirds (both at Orlando Harley-Davidson), Molly Hatchet (at the Doghouse Bar & Grill) and Skid Row (at Iron Gate Saloon). Many tribute bands will be on hand as well, such as Black Water-Doobie Brothers Tribute, Seven Bridges Road- Eagles Tribute, and Houses of the Holy- Led Zeppelin tribute.
The contests will include burnouts, loud pipes, horsepower contests, as well as plenty of bikini, best buns, and wet t-shirt contests. There will be some great custom bike shows and some ‘old school’ bike shows too. Willie’s Tropical Tattoo (in Ormond Beach) will host their annual old-school bike show on Thursday the March 10th. Main Street Daytona is loaded with bars, vendors, food, and live music. Visit the famous Boot Hill Saloon, The Bank & Blues Club, Dirty Harry’s, The Full Moon Saloon and more! They all have events going on throughout the week. There will be vendors everywhere so there are plenty of shopping opportunities. And, a few swap meets going on as well, where you can find some hard-to-find parts; Fastlane Promotions has a bike show going on daily at the Volusia County Fairgrounds swap meet. Sopotnick’s Cabbage Patch Bar in Samsula will have lots of vendors and events including their famous Coleslaw Wrestling. The Iron Horse Saloon in Ormond Beach will have live music daily, as well as burn-outs in their famous burn- out pit. The Daytona International Speedway will be hosting the Daytona 200 race day on March 12th, for the first time on the new racing surface. Bruce Rossmeyer’s Destination Daytona will have plenty of live music and vendors on hand. Gilly’s Pub 44 in New Smyrna Beach (next to New Smyrna Harley-Davidson) has a full food menu, and will host wet T-shirt and bikini contests. Have fun, be safe!
Orlando Tourist Tip – check out these other helpful links: http://www.officialbikeweek.com/ and http://www.daytonabikeweekevents.com/
