By Billy”Kneecap”Braddock

April starts off with April Fools' Day, but I think our politicians and Main Street media believe that Fools Day happens 24/7, 365. Just pick up your local mullet wrapper (newspaper), or turn on your boob tube (TV) and here comes the Bull Squeeze. The distortion and biases are evident unless you were educated in a government school. The prejudice in the press is obvious. I remember reading an article about a biker being run over by numerous vehicles, including a tractor-trailer who was not wearing a helmet. What did not wearing a helmet have to do with it? DA! Then at Read the rest of this entry »

By Lulu

I was lucky enough to meet Kenney Morris at a Bike Night in Clermont and saw the chopper that our Thunder Riders selected to be this month’s featured bike. Kenney is a 53 year old originally from Louisville, Kentucky who has been riding since 17 years old. He resides in Groveland now and spends as much time as he can riding. Read the rest of this entry »

By William and Deborah Speicher

On February 25, 2012 Rolling Thunder Inc. Florida Chapter 11 held a benefit ride and rally. The unique thing about the ride was that it had four starting places – H-D of New Port Richey, Manatee River H-D, Veterans Memorial Park and Jim’s H-D. All of the rides ended up at Quaker Steak & Lube for the Rally. Read the rest of this entry »

By Lulu

Another Bike Week has come and gone, and I must admit, although I am totally exhausted I enjoyed this one! I am often amazed at how, just when I think I have seen it all, Bike Week comes to town and I see creations I have never seen before. But with all the bikes that took thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours to create an OMG look, my friend Ray Campbell took the OMG Award this Bike Week; and he did it with T-shirts. That’s right; he took his 2006 Victory Hammer and covered first the seat, then the tank and both fenders in nothing more than t-shirts. Read the rest of this entry »

By Lulu

Well Bike Week has come and gone. The roads in my town are a bit quieter and less congested. We were blessed with great riding weather except for a bit of rain the first day or so. I think most businesses reaped the benefits of being “biker friendly” and should thank their lucky stars that bikers still consider Daytona a destination! Everything I have read in the local papers have said the event boosted the local economy and almost all the bar owners I have talked with said the event was financially better than last. The fact that it got bumped back a week seemed to just extend the length of the event and I think partially that may be due to bikers that have time shares and condos locked in during the normally scheduled event. Read the rest of this entry »

By Lulu Fernandina Beach on Amelia Island just north of Jacksonville is the host site for a yearly event right before Bike Week each year. The name of the event signifies the last of your journey before hitting Daytona when riding down from other states. The cause of the event is what makes the event newsworthy. Each year the event is held to help fund deep sea fishing excursions for injured veterans. Steve Hair captains a boat out of Fernandina Beach and the boat is outfitted to handle most disabilities. Last Leg Rally starts with Read the rest of this entry »

By Micki Heckman

This was the Best of the Bestest! The only big bike party in St. Auggie was happening again this year at the hot spot in town. What a great time at Bar None for so many folks that showed up from near and far. It is always so much fun to see old friends and meet and make so many new ones. There were many bikes from out of state and they all really enjoyed the party and friendship they were greeted with. Read the rest of this entry »

By Lulu

If there is one thing I can say about the folks at Adamec Harley Davidson in Jacksonville it is that they are involved in their community and that they throw some great events at their Baymeadows dealership for charity. The Lex and Terry Ride, Ride for Smiles, Light up the City Ride and Bike and Boil II are just a few of the many causes they support. Read the rest of this entry »

By Lulu I love Mardi Gras! Having lived most of my adult life in Pensacola, only 3 hours from New Orleans, I have spent many a night in full Mardi Party attitude, either in New Orleans, Mobile or even in Pensacola Beach. In Pensacola I was a masked participant on a float and we were the Krewe of the Silver Slipper. Great fun!!! Read the rest of this entry »

By Micki Heckman

And what a Grand Opening it was! The newest and latest business venture in St. Augustine was a rousing success. The owner Amy, General Manager Alan & Service Tech Pat, along with their employees, worked day and night for a few weeks to get this awesome business up and going. Read the rest of this entry »

By Lulu Often we are asked to attend events and when we cross the state for it we have no idea what to expect. Often shows that are billed as major end up being only a handful of bikes in a Wal-Mart shopping center. Not so when we traveled down to Dania Beach for their 6th Annual Vintage Motorcycle Show at Frost Park. Read the rest of this entry »

By Billy”Kneecap”Braddock

Even though it is the month of Bike Week, I would first like to talk about the unemployment situation in America. These are terrible times. Unemployment is still at 9%, but there's really 16% plus out of work. The government doesn't count "Out of Work” as the unemployed. The unemployed are actively looking for work. Some have stopped looking, they gave up. And if you give up, you are no longer in the ranks of the unemployed. So if you're off the unemployment rolls, that would count as less unemployment. That means Read the rest of this entry »

By Miserable George

GARY BEDSAUL...GT MOTORCYCLES I first met Gary back in 2010, soon after he opened his present day business - GT Motorcycles - on Allen Hill Ave. in the Pineda section of Melbourne, Fl. He’s a friendly, out-going man, who has been associated with motorcycles almost all of his life, starting with dirt bikes at age 8 in the Coatsville-Lansdale area of Pennsylvania where he was born and raised. As a young man, he always worked on bikes. Read the rest of this entry »

By Lulu

One thing I have always admired about our brother bikers is that they do not leave someone stranded on the road. If they see a bike in trouble they stop. We were riding home on 95 from Dania Beach this week. It got dark and cold so we pulled into a convenience store near Melbourne to put on our chaps and have a hot coffee.

As we were walking out to our bike we saw a guy with a BMW pushing it into the gas station. Micah said to the guy “This can’t be good”. His name was Alamo and his girlfriend who was following in an SUV was named Cheyenne. (Believe it or not those names were their real names, given to them by their parents and they weren’t even from North America or related. They are both from Brazil.)

Anyway, back to the bike part of the story. They had just purchased the bike in Daytona from BMW and Alamo was trying to ride it home to Miami. This was the second time their new ride had crapped out on the highway. The first time they were only 50 miles from Daytona and BMW picked them up, returned them to the dealership and gave them a new battery, thinking that was the culprit.

This time it was much later, miles farther and the dealership was closed and…it obviously wasn’t the battery since it was losing power again and having to be pushed. Micah, being the handyman, offered his assistance and tools, but to no avail. Luckily, I remembered a bike shop that was near who advertises with us. It was late and a Saturday night, but their ad claimed 24/7 emergency towing and at this point we just didn’t want to leave the bike at a convenience store.

Cheyenne and Alamo wanted to drive the SUV to Miami and return the next day to deal with the problem motorcycle. Luckily, GT Motorcycles in Pineda not only answered the phone, they came to our aid within 10 minutes!!! Gary and Mel put the BMW on a trailer, Cheyenne and Alamo took off in their SUV and we saddled up for the last leg of our ride. I really can’t say enough about GT Motorcycles. When I asked him, “What are you doing answering the phone this late on a Saturday?” he said, “We are at the shop working, all hours!” They are busy and I know why. They believe in old time customer service!!!

Gary called me the next day to say he checked into the problem with the bike and reported the problem to Alamo so that BMW would have to make it right, which was really over and above the call of duty. If you are anywhere near Pineda and need your motorcycle checked out call 321-255-BIKE!

It would have been easy to just jump on our bike and not get delayed on our way home that night, but that just isn’t what bikers do. I can’t tell you how many times over the miles on the highways that people I have been riding with have needed help and miraculously someone on a bike shows up and helps make things right. It was nice to be able to give back for a change!

By Ron Cox Under a clear, cloudless sky and a crisp morning temperature, more than 100 riders and passengers met at Moose Lodge #1782 to participate in the 17th Annual Bikes For Tykes Poker Run sponsored by the Paradise Chapter(Naples) of the Harley Owners Group. Read the rest of this entry »