By Kim Chalmers

Well, we survived 30 days in the Keys. It’s sad leaving, not only because we’ve had such a great time and think of things we will miss, like incredible sunsets and live music everywhere. But, it also marks the end of tank tops and flip flop season for us.

It’s 80 degrees and sunny as we head to Northwest Florida where it’s currently in the 50s.

Fantasy Fest 2025 theme was Bedtime Stories & Magical Monsters, but this year’s events were anything but a snooze fest.

Although, not technically part of Fantasy Fest, one of our Favorite Events is Tats for Tatas at Tattoos & Scars Saloon. This was their 4th year. It’s an awesome event that just gets better.

The heart of Fantasy Fest goes much deeper than the amazing costumes and body paint. The 10-day event raises hundreds of thousands of dollars for charity and is a huge boost for the local economy.

From the Zombie Bike Ride to the homemade bikini contest, street parades and pool parties, there was so much to do, day and night, we had to pace ourselves. Key West, especially Fantasy Fest, is a “Marathon,” not a sprint.

Highlights were 2 of our kids coming to visit with us. We spent an afternoon hanging out with living legend, Dave Wegman, and then there was a moment at Willie T’s when the musician played our national anthem and everyone in the bar stood up, took off their hats and Duval Street literally stood still. In 10+ years visiting the Keys, this was by far, my favorite moment.

People say Key West is known for their motto “One Human Family” and it’s definitely true. In Key West, it doesn’t matter where you’re from, how you got there, how much money you have (or don’t), the color of your skin, your political views, who you love or how you worship, everyone cares about each other.

Key West has the Best Vibes and the Happiest of Happy Hours, including drink and food specials, followed by the most Amazing Sunsets.

We were so excited to see so many of our friends and Thunder Roads Florida fans. You made our day!

There is a magnetism in Key West that draws us and each year, we tend to stay a little longer. Harpoon Harrys is my favorite for Breakfast and Bloody Mary. Martins has excellent food and happy hour specials along with great views of Duval Street. The Boat House also has fantastic food and Happy Hour Specials along with Spectacular Sunsets. Mo’s Creole and El Saboney’s are hidden gems that you don’t want to miss.

We put almost 200 miles on our bikes on this 2 by 4 island, but I rarely passed the Green Parrot without stopping for a Root Beer Barrel Shot and sound check at 5:30pm.

This was our first year being able to watch the Offshore Racing World Championship which was phenomenal.

The worst moment was watching a moped get hit and then run over by a SUV. The crowd rushed in and lifted the SUV off of the 2 riders, who appeared to have had mostly minor injuries. It was a stark reminder of why those on 2 wheels always must be more diligent.

From now on, at intersections, I’ll give myself a little extra space for a quick exit and be more alert than ever before.

We spent our last afternoon at the Heroes Bar, walking out at the exact moment when the First Responder Race Boat pulled up. It’s a cool bar, check out the top Floor and Balcony. If you stop by, tell them Kim from Thunder Roads FL sent you.

Fantasy Fest 2026
Theme: Iconic Musicals – Dates Oct 16-25, 2026

We’ve already made our reservations for next year. Hope to see you there.

P.S. Don’t forget your Reef Safe Sunscreen and Ride Safe.

By Lulu

In November, Bert’s Barracuda and OCC Roadhouse host a 3-day rally on their premises. The place was slam packed! The weekend featured live music, a bike show, vendors, a 7-bike burnout by the crew at Bert’s, a bikini contest by Reign, WWN Pro Wrestling and the Sunday Sunshine Skyway Ride with Paul Sr., providing more than enough to entertain the masses. We love to visit with some of our clients that set up there each year, George from Chrome Premium Cigar and Brian from Florida Bike Life, making it kind of a party with friends for us. Paul Sr.’s ride had to be the largest group of riders to date! This year they not only gave away a 2025 Heritage to a lucky winner, they also gave Carillo Alexandrov, an American rescued by Grey Bull Rescue from war ravaged Ukraine, a surprise Harley Davidson motorcycle! Bryan Stern, the founder of Grey Bull Rescue, was at the event and please Google their organization. The video and story of the great, brave team of rescuers that also do disaster relief is really amazing. The music is always great at OCC Roadhouse and Museum. Two stages allowed for basically continuous music. This year’s line-up included Homegrown Zac Brown Tribute, Bearded Brother’s Band (one of my favorites), Pete Hunt Band, Creed Fisher, Sobriety X, Silver Band, Shovelhead, Blackberry Smoke, and Twisted Revolution. Next year’s date for 2026 is November 19-22, hope to see you there!! But also, don’t miss OCC’s Invitational Bike Show May 16-17, featuring a free ride-in bike show Saturday, live bands, vendors, the Sunshine Skyway Ride with Paul Sr. Sunday and the invitational bike show awards. Be there or be square!

By Lulu

So for those avid Thunder Roads Florida Readers who will chastise me for pulling the Joker’s Wild page from this month’s issue, we had to go up 18 pages to get all the events on the Calendars and all the Bike Week related ads in (which helps us pay for the rest of the year!) and I felt it was extremely important to get the coverage of the clean up of Pinewood Cemetery into the Bike Week issue. Pinewood Cemetery is directly across from Boot Hill Saloon on Main Street and is a landmark of Daytona Beach. It had fallen into complete disrepair between storms, overgrowth of weeds and vegetation and vandalism. Eddie “Heavy” Kastrul owner of Midwest Motorcycles decided something had to be done about it. He organized a grassroots effort that was amazing. I saw twin little girls with their mother in little dresses and gloves picking up debris. When I thanked the mother for teaching them civic pride. She said their tattoo business was right next door, and the girls thought it was a very scary place with the vagrants, overgrowth and just being a cemetery. When they woke up that morning and saw all the people it was like “bringing sunshine” to a scary place. There were Outlaws and Warlocks in large numbers working on this event together! This was a GREAT event! Citizens of all walks of life and all ages showed up to volunteer to rake, push wheelbarrows, gather bags of debris, fix broken headstones, scrub headstones, trim fence lines, trim palm trees. For Daytona Beach this should be a treasured piece of history, and a place tourists could visit. John Smith purchased this land in 1873, and the first grave was for his 19-year-old daughter buried there in 1887. A 300-year-old tree known as Grand Dad is worth the walk through this hallowed place to see. Thank you Heavy and Christine and to all the volunteers and sponsors, there is more work to do but what a difference already! Be on the lookout for a future poker run to fund some improvements and another clean-up day!

By Lulu

Chris Anderson and the organizers of Thunder Beach in Panama City have taken it back to its roots! The event still has lots of things happening with vendors at several large locations including Frank Brown Park, a 100-acre venue, featuring live music and a huge number of vendors. Hammerhead Fred’s still hosts the bikini contest with great live music by Buck Wild. Full Throttle put on a bike show and there was also a sound contest at Crossroads which also has vendors and a bar onsite. There are so many cool bars to bounce around to from all the way west at Salty Goat, and as far east at Ms. Newby’s, with Sharky’s and Wicked Wheel in between, just to name a few! Also, you need to hit H-D of Panama City Beach and Indian Motorcycles to check out these dealerships while you are in town. What sets this rally apart from others is the beautiful sugar white sand beach and blue green Gulf of America! You must make time to sit by the gulf and enjoy a drink or two!!! There are also great spots to ride out in the country to get away from the beach traffic! We love The Hideout in Red Bay (see the article in this issue). A special thank you to the sponsors that help put this on each year: Twisted Tea, Miller Lite, Camping World, Law Tigers, Harley-Davidson of Panama City Beach and Progressive Insurance. Put your bikini on and show up for the spring rally April 29-May 3! More photos of the fall event are available at Thunder Roads Florida.com.

By Lulu

It was a beautiful fall weekend for a trip to Leesburg and the 2025 Gator Harley-Davidson Rally. Full liquor bars, vendors, food trucks, tattooing, live music, bike and audio shows and shopping were the agenda of the weekend! This year the music included Barfly, Rock Hard, Bobby Blackmon, Justin Heet, Rusty Wilmot, and Hypersona. Tony from Full Throttle put on a 12 Class Bike Show with lots of sweet rides to gaze upon and the Audio competition was off the chain. Join in the fun for the spring rally, which will be during Leesburg Bike Fest April 29-May 3. More pictures from the weekend event can be found on Thunder Roads Florida Facebook.

By TJ

An interesting day at Seminole Harley-Davidson was put on by Rafy of NVS Kustoms in Orange City. The show was a Viclas Bike Show. A Vicla motorcycle style is rooted in Chicano roots. Low-and-slow style, vibrant candy paint, intricate engraving on chrome, wide ape-hangers, long fishtail pipes and detailed murals reflect the Mexican American heritage, evolved from the lowrider scene in South California. Along with some amazing looking bikes, vendors, a sound competition by Elite Baggerz and a DJ 4 Shure were onsite. This was a great day. Thanks to the sponsors that brought this to Sanford, AJs Tires, Leo Z Art, A Plus RV & Boat Storage, and Attorney Louis Berk.

by Jeani G.

We had the pleasure of riding to beautiful downtown Crescent City in Putnam County on Saturday, October 25th for their first annual Bikefest, hosted by the Crescent City Downtown Partnership and Mayor Michele Myers. It was a truly fun day and a super successful event with approximately 4,000 in attendance … the streets were packed, the local merchants had lots of new foot-traffic, and the vendors were busy selling their wares and food.

The day’s festivities included a classic car cruise-in, motorcycle swap meet, arts & crafts vendors, 50/50 raffle, food trucks, two bars and a bike wash by Highroller Customs and the Raiders football team. The Sunshine Antique Riders were happy to show off their vintage bikes. The event brought together riders from near and far … the Mystery Riders from the Boat Bar in Port Orange, IMRG (Indian Motorcycle Riders Group) of Daytona, as well as owners and customers of several bars including Hideaway Bar in Pomona Park, The Oasis in San Mateo and Gnarly Gar in Satsuma, to name a few.

We all enjoyed some really great music …Framing the Red drove 13 hours straight from Louisiana to wow the huge crowd with their brand of Southern rock and roll, while local band Gu3 Music got our feet tapping with old country and blues. And a nice surprise was the Thrill the World zombie flash mob whose rendition of the famous Thriller dance was “to die for.”

3 Bananas Restaurant was one of the main sponsors – Pat and Anna and their cheerful staff did a fabulous job serving up delicious food and spirits to the enthusiastic crowd. Thanks also to the many sponsors who made this awesome event possible: City of Crescent City, Florida Main Street, Main Street America, Visit Florida’s Putnam County TDC, A to Z Roofing & Waterproofing, Producers Ace Hardware, Big Dog Shirts & Signs, Cow Catcher Lounge, Animal Health Center, Diamond Motorcycle, HR Customs, HOG Radio, A&D Swap Shop, Midnight FL Land, Parker House Liquor & Lounge, Renegades on the River, Waste Pro, Winn Dixie, Xfinity, Yuengling and The Meet of Volusia County Fairgrounds.

More photos of this epic event can be found on Thunder Roads Florida Facebook page in the Crescent City Bikefest album. You’ll want to add beautiful Crescent City to your riding list and be sure to catch next year’s Bikefest which is scheduled for Saturday October 24, 2026!

By Lulu

Each year a small band of elves and their wives put on one heck of an amazing charity event. Out in the middle of nowhere is an oasis known as “The Swamp,” I call it that because many of these clubhouses that our veterans create are a place of healing for those still living with PTSD from their time spent in conflict. And “The Swamp” is one of the best of those. These guys that should be sitting on the couch with their remotes, are always working on charity events…staffing the bars at Gator H-D to fill the kitty for their charitable giving. THEN they put on the Christmas event filling a whole pavilion with toys collected for the local kids in Mascotte. The day includes live music, an amazing spread of food and some of the best cookies you can eat, all you have to bring is a toy. This year the band was Bad Mannerz that feature “ol school rock with an attitude”! If you can next year, put on your best elf self and show up at “The Swamp” with a toy, it will make you feel good and put a smile on some child’s face Christmas morning. Thank you, “Swamp” creatures,,,LOL for a great event!

Pony Tales Veteran’s Support Fund Bike Auction

For years I have heard about Willie, owner of Tropical Tattoo, playing Santa at Emory L. Bennett Memorial Nursing Home in Daytona using the the funds raised at his “Choppertime.” This is a state-run 120 bed facility for vets. It provides skilled nursing, assisted living, memory care and short-term rehab for eligible veterans and their spouses. Many of these vets have no one to care for them or visit them. Mike Erthal and the crew from Veteran’s Support Fund raise money all year long to provide things that the veterans need or the facility is lacking. At Choppertime volunteers tend the bars all day, all tips and sales proceeds go to the fund. This event really boosts the kitty and helps cover the cost of every veteran getting what they want for Christmas. Gun raffles by Mike Jones, owner of A-OK Guns in New Smyrna Beach, at major events is another fundraiser. On April 18 Ocean Deck in Daytona Beach have a Beach Bike Bar Crawl (this is bicycles not motorcycles) that have 400-500 bikes all for the veterans! Autographed guitar auctions during Bike Week and Biketoberfest at Broken Spoke Saloon and Iron Horse are another way they raise a bundle for the cause. During Bike Week 2026, a donated 1980 H-D XLS 1000 Ironhead Roadster will be auctioned live at The Broken Spoke during a Hairball Concert on Friday night 3/6. The winning bidder for this bike will also receive a signed Hairball guitar. What a great package! All this money matters!!! So put your angel wings on and show up to bid on the bike or guitars, buy a couple rounds at Choppertime and be generous. Our vets gave years of their lives for us; it is the least we can do!

By Lulu

If you get anywhere near Panama City Beach, you must take a ride out to the country and visit The Hideout in Ponce de Leon, located at 8704 SR 81. This is an old school biker joint with GREAT food. The Hideout presently serves ice cold beer and wine. They also have live music scheduled at times. During Thunder Beach Spring and Fall Rallies they schedule bands, have biker games including fat belly contests, wet T contest, bike wash girls, and scrumptious BBQ! Put this on your list of places to visit this spring!

By Lulu

A year ago, the Oasis in San Mateo changed hands. For the past year, friends of ours, the new owner, Larry and Tia, have been growing the attendance of The Oasis! We didn’t get to attend their 1-year anniversary as we were scheduled to be out of town, but the bar was packed. The party was a combination of a birthday event for the bar and Halloween as you can tell from the photos! If you are visiting for Bike Week or just looking for a nice ride to the country, head out 100 toward Palatka but take a left on Rt 17 where you would normally go right and a short scoot up the highway you will find The Oasis. Check out their ad for Bike Week events including a Bike Giveaway!

By Lulu

Out in Orange City is a sound system shop that has been operating for 36 years. Karl Biancardi lives and breathes sound! His creativity or “insanity” has breathed life into a monster bike! His green “Hulk” themed bike has grown bigger and bigger over the years and has gained him national attention! You can view and hear this creation at Hard Rock Hotel on US 1 in Daytona Bike Week 2026 at The Limitless Show, March 7th. The Hulk will be competing there. His masterpiece has won the Extreme Class in Atlanta in 2024 beating out “Zeus.” There he was crowned King Hulk, king of the extreme class and in the world. In 2025 after revamping the motorcycle, he went to Philly to the SOS Top Eight and took the championship once again “the loudest, baddest bike in the world.” Below are the components of what it takes to create a monster with an unimaginable amount of desire, hours, and “insane” creativity. Karl thanks all his sponsors that are listed below for helping him create his vision.
The Hulk weighs 3500 pounds with dual rear axles.
Measures16 ft. long
Thirty-five gallons of resin to build the saddle bags.
Custom steel work
2 Harley frames
$14,000 in Limitless batteries
1 year to build.
Dual car tires in rear
100,000 Watts sound system
SoundMagus Dsp SoundQubed subs & amps
Beyma loudspeaker SounDigital amps
Cost of a monstrosity like “The Hulk” can range between $375,000 and $425,000.

By Lulu

Tom and Lisa, owners of 1405 Saloon in Bunnell, have brought back their monthly bike nights. It is a great venue for a bike night and even if it gets a bit on the chilly side they have fire pits out back where the large stage is located. The night we were there we did the strongest male and female contest with buckets of Twisted Tea! Their next one is February 12th, and Paul Wane of Duval County Line will be playing. Join in on the fun! And check out their ad in this month’s magazine for the Bike Week schedule.

By Lulu

Once again, the place was packed!! This year the weather was perfect. The band Leaving Eden puts on one hell of a good time. Barbecue served by Scooter and his crew from Feeding the Obsession were selling like hotcakes. This show always brings out real lovers of motorcycles, and we get to see lots of old friends and still manage to make new ones!! I have to say that Ashley and the crew are able to keep the large crowd happy, which isn’t always easy with all the testosterone on the property. Below is a list of this year’s winners.
Antique-John Bartman
Best in Show-Wayne Lostan
Caps Choice-Marcus Orabona
Flathead-Marc Cavalari
Ironhead-Lane Matherme
Knucklehead-Keith Shipley
Panhead Custom-Christopher Cord
Panhead Stock-Marc Cavalari
Rat-Tito Sanchez
Shovelhead Custom-Rusty Bozzi
Shovelhead Stock-Jay Wright
Don’t forget that OB throws a Wednesday night bike night with live music! And in June the Americana Bike Show!

By Lulu

So, if you have been to Bike Week or Biketoberfest and haven’t been to Coleslaw Wrestling at “The Patch” then you haven’t actually experienced the rally. Saturday, a bevy of women sign up to try to win the belt and cash! Into the slippery oiled shredded cabbage they go, to give it their best shot! Cabbage Patch also has great live music, vendors, 2 bike shows, a sound competition and hot bartenders serving you with a smile. They close the event with a Survivor Party offering discounted beer and drinks with live music. Don’t wait for Bike Week to visit the Cabbage Patch. This iconic bar welcomes those on 2 and 3 wheels and is a great stop for poker runs!