It’s Bike Week!
Bike Week 2011 officially opened last Friday and this year sees the event celebrating it’s 70th birthday. Approximately 500,000 people will be making their way to Daytona Beach for the 10 day event to enjoy some great motorcycle racing, concerts, parties, and street festivals.
The Daytona Beach Bike Week rally started as the Daytona 200 race on January 24, 1937 and the first race was a 3.2 miles beach and pavement course. It was won by Ed Kretz from California riding an Indian motorcycle with an average speed of 73.34 mph.
The yearly race took a break from 1942 to 1947 due to World War II and during the years off, an unofficial event took place and was commonly known as “Bike Week.” In 1947 the official race resumed and gained in popularity as the event was then promoted by the late William France Sr., co-founder of NASCAR.
Today it’s still all about the best-looking bikes, the smell of leather, the ear-splitting pipes, Old Glory waving, tributes to veterans, the beer and the biker babes as tents and temporary stages fill up every square inch of Main Street as bikers enjoy the party leading up to the main event, the Daytona 200, which takes place on the newly repaved track on March 12.
At least 7 bike shows will take place, among them: Limpnickie Lot, Church of Chop, Pro-Am, Ol School Chopper, Sport Bike Fest, Boarwalk Ride-in & Rat’s Hole Chopper Show and Bator’s Classic Daytona Motorcycle Auction during Bike Week will include the Eddie James (estate) BMW collection.
2011 DAYTONA BIKE WEEK – BIKE SHOWS
Limpnickie Lot – Stone Edge Skate Park, 1848 S. Ridgewood Ave. South Daytona. Ride-in bike show TBA and a great place to check out a new generation of builders.
Church of Chop – Old School Rod & Bike Show at The Junkyard Saloon, DeLeon Springs – Friday, March 4th and Saturday, March 5th.
Pro-Am Bike Show – at The DeLand Bike Rally – Sunday, March 6th to Thurs., March 10th.
Ol School Chopper Show – at Willie’s Tropical Tattoo, 824 S. Yonge St., Ormond Beach –
Thursday, March 10th.
Boardwalk Ride-in Bike Show – Oceanside boardwalk at Main Street – Friday, March 11th.
– 20 classes from domestic to metric with 50 trophies.
Rat’s Hole Bike Show – Daytona Lagoon, beachside on Earl Street – Sat., March 12th.
Sport Bike Fest – Hottest Custom Contest – at Martini’s Chop House, 1815 S. Ridgewood Ave., Daytona Beach, Saturday, March 12th.
Bator’s Daytona Classic Motorcycle Auction – Thursday’s Parts & Memorabilia Auction, March 10 will include the massive BMW (estate) collection of motorcycle icon, Eddie James. Swap Meet, March 9 to 11; Classic Motorcycle Auction on Friday, March 11.
Additionally coleslaw wrestling is scheduled for Wednesday and bike blessings for next Sunday.
Bike Week isn’t just about bike and bikers though, as there will be plenty of traffic from four-wheel vehicles as people-watching is just too much fun for non-motorcyclists to miss out on. So why not take a trip over to Daytona this week? A lot of bikers make the hour trip from the vacation homes they rent so you’ll be sure to see some interesting sights!
Here’s some video:
