By Lulu

The first Americana Bike Show which required some customization to enter was a huge success with over 70 bikes entered from all parts of Florida. The winner rode away with $1,000 in cold hard cash and I think it would have been quite difficult to judge. But the judges picked a sharp looking black 2015 Road Glide bagger with some of the most beautiful etched chrome I have ever seen. The bike was put together by the owner, Eddie Cardenas from Deltona and J. T. from Defiant Motorsports in Deland with aftermarket parts. The tires were from Dirtbaggers in Long Beach, California, but the main ingredient that set this bike apart from the rest of the pack was the chrome engraving done by his friend Miguel Chavez in Downey, California. The handlebars and crash bars were custom made by Factory 47 at 1 ½ in. diameter instead of the normal 1 ¼ in, to allow for extra space for the etching. I am sure Eddie went home one happy camper and some went home a bit disappointed. Eddie started a car and motorcycle club in 2014 Traditions based in Deltona. It is always tough when there is only one big winner, but 2020 will be another year and we hope everyone will get their bikes ready for next year’s show!

By Lulu

Early June at OB’s in Deland the first Americana Bike Show brought in over a thousand people to their huge venue. Well over 70 bikes entered to win the coveted Best in Show prize of $1000 cash and full-page feature in our magazine. I wouldn’t have wanted to be a judge with so many types of bikes, all of which were potential winners in their categories, it was nearly impossible to narrow it down. There were incredible paint jobs and customization with bikes coming from as far as Ft. Myers. Derek Ames had a beautifully painted Eddie Trotta bike I thought could have easily walked away with first place. But in the end, the Best of Show went to a 2015 Road Glide with an incredible amount of etching on every piece of chrome out of Deltona owned by Eddie Cardenas who also took Best Chrome…it was beautiful. The People’s Choice award presented by Thunder Roads Florida went to a trike fashioned to be a fire breathing dragon owned by Jerry Moskowiz.

Along with great music all day and the bike show, OB’s also put on a bikini contest which gave all plenty of photo ops for the day! Allison Richmond of Deland walked away with first prize winnings! Hot day in June, hot bikes, hot chics and did I mention one hot cock? They had chicken shit bingo which is a rooster in a cage with people rooting on their numbered square hoping the cock would do #2 on their square to be a big winner!!! I guess that is as rural American as you can get…although I did hear, in some communities, they do it with cows on a shuffleboard. The rest of the winners are listed below. Hopefully the spelling is accurate as it was hard to make out some of the handwriting on the entry forms.

Lighting: Michael Wyatt Harley Road Glide Special 2017
Chrome: Eddie Cardenas Road Glide 2015
Bagger/Dresser: Richard Cockabur Indian Chief Bagger 2018
Paint: Richard Cockabur Indian Chief Bagger 2018
Rat Bike: Dante Hailing Diesel bike 2015
Sport/Street: David McCreight Victory Vegas 2008
Chopper: Stig Nyrud Kotic Kustom 2006
Japanese: Roger Ryle Yamaha VMax 1990
Evolution: Hiram McCarty Mid 80’s Twin Evo
3-Wheel Trike: William Schippers Indian Trike Custom 2016
Pan/Shovel/Knucklehead: Frank Girod Fl Panhead 1960
People’s Choice: Jerry Moskowitz Dragon Trikes Bond 2018
Best in Show: Eddie Cardenas Road Glide 2015

A special thanks to Rue & Ziffra, P. A. for their continued support of motorcycling, Bill Grotto and Twisted Tea for being so involved in the biking world, SR Perrott for sending out the giveaways and the Miller Lite girls, WHOG Radio for filling this place up and Deland Motorsports. A special thank you also to One Sexy Biker Chick for sponsoring the bikini contest! Radio ads work!! Get your bikes ready for next year’s event and let’s make this party the place to be in late spring every year!

By Lulu

This wasn’t my first ride from Daytona to D.C. for the Ride for Freedom and I hope to God it won’t be my last. I have been lucky enough to visit with the Vet’s three times and of all the motorcycle events across the U.S. that I have experienced, I tell anyone who will listen…it is the best! I had heard that this was to be the last due to the increased financial burden of the event, so I wanted to make sure T. J. had a chance to experience it. We rode with Reggie Lord who took me on my first ride up with Rolling Thunder Chapter 8 from Port Orange and his friend Gary Dellaneve. The trip up was uneventful although quite hot. The event itself was worth every sweltering mile spent on the highway. We attended the Gold Star Mother’s Walk of the Wall the first night. As the mothers who have lost a child walk the wall dressed in white, a torch they carry illuminates the names chiseled into the granite. A very touching and inspirational way to sear into our memory that each name is someone’s child.

I was worried this event may not have the interest after so many years, that the Vietnam Vet’s were getting too old to make the trip and maybe that was why it no longer was a necessity to have the ride anymore. My voice may not matter to those making the call to end this event, but I will tell you what I witnessed. Parents with their children on the ride. Vietnam Vets on the sidewalks in wheelchairs still attending although not on motorcycles. I saw young twenty and thirty-year-old men and women proudly wearing Rolling Thunder vests. The Run is led by Rolling Thunder Inc. National, NJ, followed by the Gold Star Mothers either on their own bikes or riding with Chapter members. What moved me the most was a seventy-year-old mother dressed in white who after leading the hundreds of thousands of bikes rushed to the sidewalk to watch the bikers who rode to honor those lost and still missing. It was 100 degrees hot! She was not young. I tried to tell her there was a tent with refreshments for her, but she said “No, I must watch this. My husband and I lost our son last year in the current conflict. My 70-year old husband, took a motorcycle class and bought a bike to be here in memory of our son.” And she stood there taking a video until she couldn’t stand any longer, then she sat on the curb and watched each bike…hours of bikes ride in 3 and 4 abreast. No one can tell me this isn’t important! No one can tell me the cost is too high.

They have never charged a dime to run on this ride as it is a Memorial Ride. I have heard rumors that Trump has offered to help keep this event alive. God bless him. Walt Sides 1st Sgt retired and founder of Rolling Thunder Washington, DC Inc. is also one of the original four that started the Run in 1988. Sides who also hosts Thunder Alley, the official vendor site for the event hinted that this may not be the last Run. The first Run was the idea of Ran Manzo a Corporal in the Marines, and brought together with the help of Sides, John Holland an Army Sergeant Major, and Ted Sempley Sergeant. They wanted to call attention to the POW/MIAs and started this event with that purpose. The first run in 1988 had 2500 riders. Over the years the event had grown to over 900,000 riders and spectators. The ride from the Pentagon to the Vietnam Wall is only six miles and with as many as four bikes riding abreast it takes about four and a half hours to complete. Bob Schmitt, one of the early organizers predicted “it will sound like Rolling Thunder coming across that bridge” little did he know the sound of the storm would be more than four hours long! Rolling Thunder was also the name of an intense American bombing campaign in 1965 in North Vietnam that resulted in many American pilots being taken as POWs. So, the history of this event…the healing this parade creates, the honor given to those who have served has been a huge gift that the original organizers, the volunteers and the people who have ridden or witnessed on the sidelines know well. I asked one of the Gold Star moms, “Isn’t it painful to be here”? Her answer was quick and crisp. “No, it helps with my pain I have felt since I answered that door and heard the news of my son’s death.”

So, may I say thank you to the sponsors, particularly Humana for sponsoring Thunder Alley, Bayer, GUM and Dr. Scholl for being there to give samples for the riders, to Walt, Ray, Ted and John and all who have helped them with their dream, and to each motorcycle that participated over the years to make that Thunder roll through the streets of D. C. to remind us of the great cost of freedom. And may the Thunder continue so that those who have not had the chance to witness this great tribute have a chance to make the ride.

By Lulu

Wow time flies! Four years ago, Joe, Jimbo and Bob opened the doors to the hottest gentleman’s club anywhere. Grandview Live is located just behind Razzles. I tell my friends who say, “I don’t go to strip clubs”, this isn’t your father’s strip club. It is one of the most sophisticated nightclubs in our three-county area. The lighting, bars, furniture and talent of the girls makes your evening special and entertaining. There are as many women as men having cocktails and enjoying the show. No nudity on stage is permitted. They are athletes doing things that professional gymnasts would find challenging. If you haven’t been to Grandview Live, check out their 3rd Annual Pole Dancing Competition which is every Wednesday around 9pm through October 16th. If have been taking classes for fitness or fun…be brave come enter, each week is a new chance to qualify for the finals.

By Raven

​One of Patricia Trantham’s passions which she was preparing before her death, was an event with Phil Hueneke (of the Tiki Island Tap House).  She wanted a shindig to celebrate her 30 years of Leather Slinging at the Pecan Park Flea Market. ​
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All LEATHER LADY friends, her dearest customers and those she considered FAMILY (pretty much everyone she ever met); helped make that happen June 1st, 2019 with ​Patty’s 30th Anniversary Ride and Event, and all proceeds went to BACA Seven Bridges Chapter to assist in their mission to protect and serve children at risk of abuse right here in Jacksonville.​
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Patty’s favorite blues & rock band HIGHWAY JONES, her loyal loving ladies the Chrome Divas Jacksonville Chapter, and everyone who knew and loved her, made Patty’s wish a huge success! ​

By Lulu

A lot has been happening over the past month so I must apologize that a couple articles that normally would have been in an issue before now, that you may have been looking for, still are not here. I misplaced a thumb drive for the Hero’s Ride, and we have not located those pictures yet. I also was to do a feature on the winner of Ricky Bongo’s Sportster Show and I just was given the contact info for the owner of the bike thanks to Brent, so that will be in the September issue. I also have an article submitted on the horrible accident in New Hampshire and a ride in their honor of those 7 Marines which will be in next month’s issue. Not to use it as an excuse but T. J. and I were in a motorcycle accident coming back from the Rolling Thunder ride Memorial Day Weekend and it has been a struggle with a boot on my foot, doctor appointments and just having the aggravation of not being able to get things done in a normal fashion.

On that note, if you make a trip on two wheels to Savannah, Georgia for a fun getaway…DO NOT RIDE your motorcycle on River Street. The cobblestone is treacherous. Two of the entryways to that riverfront district have motorcycle warnings, but the one we chose did not and it is a one-way street with no escape hatch. Before it was over, we spent the night in the local ER and not the beautiful riverfront Marriott that we had our belongings tucked away in. NOT FUN! T. J. is an experienced cross-country rider. He is an excellent safe rider. But we were no match for that cobblestone stretch of treachery or the 3 to 4-inch solid metal track of an old trolley system that caught us and dumped us on the pavement. Thankfully it is a state that requires a helmet that saved our noggins.

So please look for the articles next month that I haven’t gotten to, keep hydrated and dress for the slide not the ride, and don’t forget your sunscreen!

By Lulu

People who are in business for themselves and are successful have several traits in common, and Hector Coll has them all. Honest, personable, self-motivated, attention to detail, and the ability to deliver what you promise in a timely manner! I met Hector several years ago on a charity event. He generously had donated items and I was introduced to him and liked him instantly. Originally from Puerto Rico he joined the US Army and was in the infantry at first then became a paratrooper. He was in the service for seven years doing tours in Korea, Germany and Panama. After the Army he became a commercial fisherman and ended up in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey. Eventually he started a Coll Construction specializing in tile and framing, which his son took over when he headed to Florida for his fourth career in motorcycles. He likes the saying “you aren’t working if you are doing what you love”.

As a 14-year-old boy in Puerto Rico he bought his first dirt bike with money made doing yard work. His first street bike was a Yamaha 400 Daytona Special. Buddies and neighbors helped him tinker on bikes and when he was in New Jersey he would spend time at a friend’s business Unique Cycles where he says he learned a lot. When he realized he was working on all his friend’s bikes to get them ready for the yearly trip to Laconia he would threaten, “I am going to MMI so I can charge you!” And in 2010 he did just that. His son took over the construction business, he packed up and moved to Orlando to get certified in what he loved. He knew no one in Florida and other than his trips to Bike Week really knew little about Florida other than “you could ride all year and that living was cheaper than New Jersey”. Upon graduation he was offered a gig at a Harley dealer, but you had to start out doing oil changes and tires. He wanted more of a challenge, so he opened a shop called Mobile Motorcycle Technician on Orange Blossom Trail. His next step was to open a shop on Ronald Reagan in Longwood and shared it with a scooter shop. It was named Independent Motorcycle & Scooter Repair. He supplemented that by working with the Florida Safety Council from 6a-3p, then off to work in the shop 3p until as long as it took to get the repair work done. After 3 years he and the scooter shop split and he also left the Florida Safety Council to focus on his business.

In March of 2019 he had outgrown the small shop and moved to 747 Fleet Financial Ct. in Longwood. A huge shop with a spotless office is where Independent Motorcycle Repair calls home and the place is packed with work in progress. He already has the Longwood Police Department as his client. Charging $85/hour with a $45 minimum his rates are fair. He does a 3-hole oil change for $65 (primary, transmission and engine). They service all makes and models and carry tires too.

Hector rides with The Lonesome Losers, loves fishing and boating on Lake Monroe and his pet project, as if he doesn’t have too much to do already, is his 1986 32 ft. Wellcraft. He and Debbi like date night at the VFW. Charities that he loves to support are the Paralyzed Veteran’s Golf Tournament as well as being a Shriner’s Zoo sponsor. His shop gives a discount to all first responders and veterans. His personal stable of bikes include a 99 Road Glide, 74 Sportster and a 79 KZ 750.

Hector is fortunate to have Justin Budke, a nice young man and fellow MMI graduate, working with him for the past two years. So, life is good for Hector. If you need repair work in the Longwood/Sanford area be sure to give Hector a call at 407-618-9725.

By Lulu

Under majestic oaks nestled on the banks of Lake Eustis in Ferran Park is a beautiful old amphitheater. The City of Eustis puts on a three-day music festival with free bike parking, vendors including food vendors, a car show and this year also had the Lake County Championship Wrestling Knockout. The music lineup featured Quiet Riot and a huge crowd enjoyed their songs which included hits such as “Come on Feel the Noise”. This wasn’t a cover band it was the REAL DEAL! A local favorite Crashrocket opened for them. The event’s sponsors this year included Budweiser, Advent Health, Bay Pharmacy, Duke Energy, Daily Commercial, Crazy Gator, Lake Eustis Area Chamber of Commerce, Lake County, FL Real Florida, Real Close and the city of Eustis. If you haven’t ridden “The Loop” around Lake Eustis and visited this quaint area put it on your list of rides during Leesburg Bike Fest in 2020!