MNO Blog – Motorcycles, News, Opinions

Leesburg Bikefest 2008 your best bet for Florida fun in the sun. Today is the final day of the 12th annual Florida motorcycle event, but there are still big things happening today in Leesburg.

The Rats Hole Custom Bike show winds down the three day event with the “metric madness” contest held today and there are still plenty of concerts, motorcycle demos and stunt shows scheduled for this afternoon. If you did not make it out to Leesburg this year, make plans to visit next year when the Bikefest will be held April 24-26 2009. The Rat’s Hole bike show holds what is known as the largest 3 day show in the country each year in Leesburg, Florida.

We were present to see the custom motorcycle show and of course the famous ratmate contest. Ten beautiful women on stage competing for the title of miss ratmate is always a big crowd pleaser.

 The motorcycle show was huge as always, but this Vietnam Veterans Tribute Bike was one of my favorites. The detail and use of actual military gear showed the great amount of planning that went into building this bike.

Guilty Customs had a booth set up that proudly displayed one of their bikes as a former Leesburg Bikefest Rats Hole winner. The downtown area remained crowded from just after 9 am until after 11 pm with music, food and fun. There is always plenty to do and see and with four stages set up, the free concerts never stop.

Even with the current gas price on the rise, it did not seem to have any effect on the amount of visitors to this annual Florida motorcycle event. Downtown and Main Street was filled with the sound of motorcycles and music, while the smell of food vendors made me want to try all the grilled sandwiches available. Leesburg allows their biker guests to walk the streets of the fest with beer and other alcoholic beverages, which adds to the welcomed atmosphere there. I had a frozen rum runner that was filled way above the rim and priced reasonably at only 6 bucks.

While walking around the area, I ran into an interesting display of custom motorcycles built by Logic Motor Company. Now, you may not recognize this brand name right off, but maybe this next picture will tell you more.

Yea, it is that Insurance company that has a reptile in their commercials, Geico Powersports custom motorcycles are built by another face you will recognize from the Geico motorcycle insurance ads.

 Busy man, but I got a quick opportunity to meet Rick “Big Rick” Hoffman, motorcycle builder and company spokesman for GEICO Motorcycle Insurance. Cindi and I had a great time in Leesburg and I strongly suggest that you make it out for this event next year.

Technorati Tags: motorcycle news, events, Leesburg, Florida, Bike Shows, custom motorcycles, biker event

Biketoberfest Bands and Bars October 18-21:

Joe Santana and Motley Jackson can be seen at Boot Hill Saloon ( both locations), Thunder Gulch and Cabbage Patch Bar Check the band schedule here.

Rebel Son will be appearing at the Boot Hill both locations.

Iron Horse Saloon has no schedule posted, so just drop in and see what is happening! Be sure to check out the California Hell Riders on the Wall of Death while you are there.

Broken Spoke Saloon featured artist concert, see Bret Michaels ( Poison front man) on October 20th

Blackfoot will be performing live at the White Eagle Lounge in Korona on October 19

The Battlegrounds presents “The Monsters of Mock” mega tribute rock and roll band show! Two shows the 19^th and 20^th 3pm to 9pm 5 monster rock tribute bands will hit the stage sounding and looking like the real bands. Highway to Hell (AC/DC) Stones Throw (Rolling Stones) Physical Graffiti (Led Zeppelin) ZZ Not (ZZ Top) and Fleetwood Max (Fleetwood Mac) with two show dates this is one concert series you won’t want to miss.

Women’s Coleslaw Wrestling on Saturday 12:00 noon at The Cabbage Patch Bar Samsula, Florida. Cabbage Patch has added streaming video on the bar web site.

Pudding Wrestling at the No Name Saloon on Friday 10:00 am with other contest and live music during the weekend.

Saturday October 20^th drop on by the Daytona Lagoon water park to see some the finest looking custom motorcycles in the world at the Rat’s Hole Custom Bike Show.

This entertainment list is not a complete listing of all the things to do during Biketoberfest, but I have put together some of the top places to listen to free live concerts and have fun. Of course, all events are subject to change and it is suggested that you check the web site links provided or call ahead to verify. This list may also be updated from time to time before my departure for Daytona late tomorrow, Friday. Check back for  more information.

Technorati Tags: biketoberfest, biketober, motorcycle events, bike shows, motorcycles, Daytona Beach, Florida, Ormond Beach, blog, concerts, live music, entertainment

Santa Ana, Calif – (October 9, 2007) – Riding the wave of success following last year’s show series, Denis Manning, designer and builder of the BUB “#7” Streamliner, the world’s fastest motorcycle, and owner of BUB Enterprises, will once again participate in the Cycle World International Motorcycle Shows® Presented by Toyota 13-city tour with an expanded display area to feature even more record-breaking motorcycles. After participating in the 2006-2007 show series, BUB Enterprises, designer and manufacturer of aftermarket exhaust pipes for motorcycles and ATVs, saw their Web site hits jump substantially, increasing steadily from 1.78 million in October, during the first show in Phoenix, to 4.7 million in March, immediately following the final show in Atlanta.

The company also saw a 50 to 80 percent sales increase over the same period during the previous year when they were not a part of the series. “Our increase in sales and Web site visitors are certainly an indicator that the Cycle World International Motorcycle Shows contributed to BUB Enterprises’ steady growth last year,” said Denis Manning. “Both figures saw dramatic increases during the series, so we are thrilled to return to the shows this year with an expanded showcase.

The motorcycle show series puts us in front of hundreds of thousands of our core customers throughout the country making it the ideal spot to showcase our latest collection.” This year’s History of Speed display will not only showcase the current speed record holder, the BUB “#7” Streamliner, but also four other world-record breaking motorcycles. These landmark motorcycles will amaze crowds with their astonishing historical speed records, dating back to 1937 and reaching more than 350 mph. For the 15th consecutive year, Cycle World, the world’s most popular motorcycle magazine, is the title sponsor for the series and leading manufacturer Toyota will return for the tenth year as presenting sponsor. The Cycle World International Motorcycle Shows® presented by Toyota is the world’s largest motorcycle show series. For more information on upcoming tour dates, call 800/331-5706 or visit motorcycleshows.com.

Technorati Tags: motorcycle shows, cycle world, motorcycle blog, customs, california

Leesburg Bikefest  April 27-29 in Leesburg, Florida will feature a three day Rat’s Hole custom motorcycle show and rock band Quiet Riot Saturday night on the main stage. Announced on the Rat’s Hole web site the Leesburg bike show will be open all three days of the Florida motorcycle event.

Friday April 27th the Rat’s Hole will open with the Leesburg biker showcase. Saturday the 28th will be the Leesburg Bikefest 07 custom motorcycle show and will include a Ratmate contest. Sunday is metric madness day.

The show will focus on metric bikes and get ready to witness the awesome street bike stunts performed by Teem Xtreem.

Leesburg, Florida really does welcome bikers and Main Street is for motorcycles only! Bring comfortable walking shoes though, because once you are parked you will be on foot the rest of the day and into the night as the party continues.

Quiet Riot will be on the main stage Saturday night. Other bands listed to perform during the three days of Bikefest include Confederate Railroad and the Monsters of the Morning just to list a few of the promised 40 concerts on 7 stages. All Free!

Leesburg Bikefest one Florida motorcycle event that you do not want to miss! More information can be found on the official Bikefest web site.

The amount of entertainment crammed into the 3 day motorcycle event includes concerts, 300+ vendors, Hawaiian Tropic/Ms Bikefest bikini contest, Ratmate contest. Biker games, Teem Xtreem stunt show, safety demonstrations and more.

Leesburg Bikefest Hotel Accommodations

Technorati Tags: biker events, florida, leesburg, motorcycle news, motorcycle shows, rats hole

Staying at home in my bed after tent camping for 6 nights made it hard to get out of the sack early Saturday morning to return to Daytona Beach for the Rat’s Hole custom bike show, but I did. The annual Florida motorcycle event was not extremely busy the first few days, in fact up until Wednesday the bike week scene seemed tamed. Putting aside the nightly party that was happening on our end of the campgrounds, but that is another story all together.

As promised, the weather for the first Saturday was cold and wet and the cold did not give way to warmer temperatures until Monday. The good thing was that out of the 10 days of bike week we only seen rain one day. We postponed our Daytona Loop photo shoot until Sunday due to the in climate weather on Saturday.

It is hard to wrap up nine days of bike week into one article, so I am not going to try. I am still in the process, but closed to finished, of sorting out the pictures that we took during our visit. The final Saturday of bike week was wild and crowded. Running late coming from Melbourne and getting caught in the Daytona Speedway traffic did not help. It took nearly an hour to get from the International Speedway Blvd. Exit of I-95 to the Daytona Lagoon were the Rat’s Hole bike show was being held.

For the first time, the Rat’s Hole featured a V8 Chopper build-off! The bikes and the main stage were set up in the Tidal Wave Pool that normally holds 500,000 gallons of water. The water was gone for the event…. wonder where they put 500,000 gallons of water while the bike show was set up? Any way, the show was held under blue skies and there was plenty to keep our cameras busy. I will do more on the Rat’s Hole later.

Heading down SR A1A to Main Street later in the afternoon to check out the happenings, we found that Main Street was wall to wall. Where there were not bikes, there were people and no room left for either. For the final Saturday of bike week 2007, Main Street took on the look of the bike week of days gone by. It was almost a feeling of “let’s see how far we can take this” pushing the red line on what would get by. It was a good thing and a good feeling to see people having fun, real fun. None of this”I am shocked at all this” looks. For Pete’s sake, if you want family atmosphere head over to Orlando. It is probably too late for the city to revive the entire event back to Daytona Beach, but it looks like they may get a day of the old days.

There were just as many people the entire time of Bike Week, with the exceptions of a lot of Floridians riding in for the day, it is just that they are more spread out now. US 1 has become the new Main Street and a lot of the traffic has been pulled to the North with the opening of Destination Daytona along with other anchor industry leaders like Corbin. New biker bars, custom chopper and motorcycle dealers and tattoo shops are popping up all around the Ormond Beach area. I will get to all this later on as well.

So, I am back from Daytona and will try to get as much information about what happened at the event posted in the next day or so. Keep an eye out for them.

Technorati Tags: motorcycle news, bike week, daytona beach, florida, motorcycle events, bike shows

I finally found a decent article, with pictures, of the NYC Bike Show that was held in New York this past weekend. This is one show that I plan to make it to, one day. The place looks packed in the pictures and it was estimated that around 80,000 visitors toured the show at the Javitz Center. Matt Hotch, Dave Perowitz, Billy Lane and my friend The Ice Cream Man From Hell were just a few of the notable people of the industry that made appearance during the weekend.

Head on over to BikerPics.Org to view the pictures and read more about the New York Motorcycle Show.

Technorati Tags: new york, motorcycle show, bike show, biker blog, motorcycle news, billy lane, matt hotch, daveperowitz, ice cream man from hell, nyc

During Bike Week there are a lot of things to do and see. If you are planning your trip to bike week, be sure to put the Wall of Death presented by the Hell Riders on your list of things to see! They will be at the Ironhorse Saloon in Ormond Beach during bike week 2007.

There is more than one “wall of death” motordrome motorcycle show, but the hell riders are a family committed to make each ride on the wall a thrill to watch. Don Daniels II (shown above) follows after his father, who owned and rode the wall before him. Don has been thrilling audiences for over 10 years riding on the wall.

Sandra Daniels (pictured above) is heading into her 8th year as a wall of death hell rider and loves the sport that she has committed to. Sandra has a page at myspace.com check it out to learn more about the hell riders wall of death. Sandra and Doni got married in July of 2004.

Brothers Don and Ian Daniels continue to keep the wall of death alive and are some of the best motordrome riders around. Sandra is really inspiring to watch when she rides, she has a smile on her face the entire time. If you love motorcycles and you want to see one of the top motorcycle thrill shows, then be sure to catch the Hell Riders on the Wall of Death during Bike Week 2007 and tell them that Mike Odom sent you.

The Hell Riders also perform on the Wall of Death during Biketoberfest in Daytona Beach.

Bike Week Hotels

More Wall of Death pictures

Technorati Tags: stunt show, motorcycle stunts, motordrome, motorcycle news, thrill show, bike week, biketoberfest