March 12, 2017 – Daytona Bike Week

          When one is traveling around the country on a motorcycle and just happens to pass through Daytona Florida on the first day of Bike Week, one of the largest motorcycle gatherings in the world, it is somewhat of an obligation to stop for a few days, which is exactly what I did after visiting Daytona State College.  Influencing the decision was the discovery that the fields across the highway from Daytona Speedway are turned into low cost impromptu campgrounds for the event.  So I figured this would be an excellent opportunity to get a feel for the local motorcycle culture.  As I write this I am sitting in a not too densely populated field of tents surrounded by confederate flags and lots of Harley Davidson motorcycles.             I should note here, I am not exactly blending in.  With the number of bikes attending the event being in the 1000’s and the vast majority of those being Harley Davidsons, with associated Harley Davison riders.  I believe at last count the number of BMW motorcycle sightings was… a … 8…  It’s not that I have not been unwelcomed or made to feel uncomfortable; the Idea of turning an entire town over to motorcycles for a week is awesome.  It’s just kind of like going to a Disney Princess party dressed as Harry Potter.  People know why your there but your not exactly where you belong.  For example I spent the day perusing what was billed as the worlds largest Motorcycle Swap meet, and it was large, taking the better part of the day to examine, but for all my eagle eyed scanning of, what any reasonable spouse would see as piles of junk, I still could not find one European bike part.  This event is firmly ensconced in Harley Country.

            As a distant cultural relative, I have made some observations:  Bike Week has many events associated with it in the areas in and around Daytona.  Free concerts and Bike washes, the Speedway grounds are turned over to motorcycle vendors and manufacturers who offer test rides of the newest models  (sadly, not on the track itself, and again no participation from the Bavarian manufacturers).  You can stop at any street corner or gas station and entertain yourself by just watching bikes ride past all day.   But the focus of the event is at Daytona Beach where they close off Main Street to all non-motorcycle traffic.  Bikers line their parked bikes along both sides of the street and then just watch all the other bikes go up and down looking for parking.  Kind of like the old Cake Walk dances, where dancers form parallel lines to encourage the couples dancing down the center.  The Bars in this area of are all set to overflow with outdoor stages and beer gardens set up on every block.  Clearly this is a big boon to the economy as there are signs welcoming bikers everywhere, and every store appears to be tailored to the needs of the Harley Biker culture (how many leather vests, patches, bandanas, and commemorative T-shirts does one biker really need?).              Oddly the thing missing from this festival is the act of motorcycling itself.  Located in a flat area of the country without a lot a twisty roads in the area, it would appear in order to have a successful Harley oriented event the focus needs to be on not riding, or rather stopping, shopping, drinking, and looking at other peoples bikes in the stationary position.  At other motorcycling events I’ve enjoyed there are poker runs, contests, or awards for craftsmanship or skill.  None of that getting in the way here, this appears to be a see and be seen type of event. 

In fact, if Florida would only adopt California’s motorcycle lane splitting laws the whole week could be shortened to three days as much of the actual time is spent sitting behind cars in traffic.  But I guess that would defeat the purpose, and speed up the riding part…

Still it’s kind of cool to devote an entire week here to motorcycling.  I know I’m not cool enough to hang with the Sons of Anarchy crowd (besides adopting that look means you have to act too cool to talk with anyone anyways) if I could only figure out on what block the V twin engineering nerds are parking their bikes I think I might have an in…