By Phoenix and Metric-HD

Twice a year the sleepy little town of Arcadia erupts with a “BIG” bike fest. The streets of Historical Downtown are filled with the roar of Harleys, Indians and even “METRIC” motorcycles. Leather and Lace clad strangers stroll the streets and are warmly welcome by the local merchants. “Big” city vendors fill the town with their array of delicious food and a variety of biker gear. The bike show rival some of the larger venues with some of the most radical bikes on the streets. Historical downtown Arcadia is like taking a step back in time. The architecture, the antiques and collectables take you back to a time that has been long forgotten. This is only the second event that the city of Arcadia has hosted but is not going to be the last. Phoenix and I have attended both events and they keep getting bigger and better. The Little “Big” town has all the makings of being a premier event in SW Florida. So, if you have never made it out to the little “Big” town bike event put it on your bucket list. The next Arcadia Bike fest will be Nov 2nd. So, mark your calendar and we will see you there. GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!

By Lulu

Ocalahan’s started their monthly bike night with a big bang! The place was packed!! Of course, having Bobby Friss being the first act of the 2019 season is certain to pull the crowds to Nefty’s event. This year Ocala Car Audio had a bike to present to an injured veteran, and a huge smile was on Robert’s face as he straddled the 2003 Fatboy. A special thanks goes out to all who helped make this bike possible: Parish Tanner with Ocala Car Audio, Ben Counts with Grade Worx, Philip DelZotto with DelZotto Concrete Products, Claudio Gianetto with Paint Worx, Dan Parry with Greazy Hawgs Garage, Tom Leece with Affordable Moving, Ivan Puig with National Property Inspectors, Dale Birch with First and Last Tab, Mitchell Brown with Shop 42, and Joe Decosta with Suzuki Race Team. They each played a part in saying thank you for your service to one lucky vet!

Next event June 1st will feature September Dogs and then July 6th Raging Woody. Nice ride from any direction so put your seat in the saddle and head to Ocalahan’s for their first Saturday night of the month through November!

By Lulu

One of our favorite spots to hang out during Bike Week is the World-Famous Boot Hill Saloon. Karin always has great bands inside and outside and this year we were able to catch Miss Intent and Stone Grey. The oldest T-shirt contest, Fireball Bikini Contest and St. Patrick’s party offered all sorts of interesting photos. Make sure to check out Thunder Roads Florida Facebook site for more photos from the week. Don’t forget bike night on Wednesdays with live music. In fact, the Boot has live music every night of the week except Tuesdays.

This year, the Boot Hill Outpost on U.S. 1 in Ormond Beach also had bands for Bike Week, and two days of a military tribute with a wall to be signed by vets and their families. Karin and the staff love our vets! The Boot is planning a “Palms to Pines” ride from Boot Hill on Main Street to Boot Hill Laconia in June. check with the bar to find more info.

By Lulu

A lot of what Bike Week is about is history. Cabbage Patch Bar certainly has throughout the years added to the tapestry of this fabric known as Bike Week. Ronnie and Roger have continued weaving the cloth their father loved. Coleslaw wrestling continues to draw huge crowds, the Budweiser Ride in Bike Show and the Bagger Show have more bikes than ever, the bands (particularly Joe Santana) provide the soundtrack of our biker lifestyle. Thanks to emcee Radical Randy, the events went off without a hitch. The vendors, including our dear friend Scott Demonico of Rally Leather gave plenty of browsing ops. There was even a camel to kiss and the Budweiser Clydesdale’s clomped around the grounds…I bet the horses like Cabbage Patch better than any other venue they visit! We got a chance to do something we don’t usually get to do because a bikini contest on Main Street was rained out, but the last Sunday they do $1 longnecks and $2.50 wells while Joe Santana rocked the place. A great deal I knew nothing about until 2019!

Check out the ad for the Ronnie Luznar Memorial Ride in June. Ronnie was a teacher and there is a scholarship set up to honor his memory and to continue his legacy and love of education! This ride was huge last year so saddle up and ride!

By Lulu

What a perfect spot for a bike show! First Turn Steakhouse and Lounge in Port Orange right on US 1 (Ridgewood) has lots of parking, live music, great food, a HUGE outside, newly COVERED deck and lots of libations. Ricky Bongo brought his sportster bike show, and with him came a lot of creative bike owners. I used to own a ‘99 sporty and I wished I still had it when I was with these guys and gals! World famous photographer Michael Lichter was there snapping away. Even Bill Grotto and the Twisted Tea girls had to check this bike show out!

The crowds at First Turn were amazing all week, they must be doing something right!! First Turn’s bike night every Tuesday year-round features free food, drink specials, and a Blues jam. So, ride in on Tuesdays and join friends who ride too! Check their monthly ad in this magazine to keep up with current events!

By Lulu

Phaedra Lee knows how to throw a party! Good drinks, great music and hot girls are the key ingredients! And judging by the crowds all Bike Week, Main Street Station must be pretty-damn good at filling all three. This year the bikini contest was moved to the first Sunday and the lot was filled-to capacity. Twisted Tea was the sponsor and brought with them Tea girls with giveaways and the reveal of this year’s motorcycle to be given away in 2019. All you have to do is visit www.twistedtea.com and enter online or text “TEABIKE” to 24587 for a chance to win. The bike was built by Cycle Source, and Chris, Heather and the gang were on site for the event. Beautiful girls pranced around for the crowd and judges, it had to be a difficult choice. The winner Karin Noelle is a rally favorite traveling the circuit all year; and is just as sweet as she is sweet looking!

Twisted Tea is real brewed tea with a kick! It’s got the same alcohol that’s in beer, is non-carbonated and 5% alcohol so it’s about the same as a beer.

Perfect for outside day drinking or just about anywhere, so if you haven’t tried one, try one today!

And don’t forget Main Street Station has a kick ass bike night on Wednesdays with live music and $1 longnecks.

By Lulu

Whether it is Wednesday night bike night, Bike Week, or OB’s 76th birthday, there is always a party at OB’s! Live music, stunt riders and the friendliest staff in town made OB’s a destination ride from Daytona. OB allowed himself to be crowned King for the day as friends and family gathered to celebrate! Kristie still has her daddy wrapped around her finger and you can tell by all the improvements being made to OB’s. A much needed new outside bar replaced the little cage the girls had to work in, and they can serve the large bike night crowds much more efficiently now, so belly up to the bar for a cold one and check out their new digs. A special thank you to the artist Cindy who painted our Thunder Roads logo and OB’s logo on the fence…a perfect spot for photo ops!

Mark your calendar for June 23rd! Americana Bike Show with $1000 to the Best in Show winner and a full-page article in Thunder Roads Florida Magazine. Shine up your bike and enter or just ride out to catch the show and great music!

By Lulu

What a great week we are having traveling Florida on T. J.’s Ultra. We have hit some cool bars, beaches, dealerships and events. The best part of this adventure by far is the people we meet! Collette and Julian at Treasure Coast H-D host a bike night with an open bar, free food and great music. We had an awesome time. The photos from that night will be in the June issue as May’s is always Bike Week coverage which fills the issue to the brim. While in Ft. Myers we checked out Cape Coral’s Bike Night which is huge, thousands of peeps. It only happens 4 times a year and this was the last one until after the heat of summer is over. I hope to return for one next year as it was a cool way to spend a night. Those pics are on Facebook. We made the trip over to the west coast to visit our ad client’s Customer Appreciation Day at Biker Life in Port Charlotte. William has a real love of the motorcycle lifestyle and opened his retail place to serve the needs of those who ride, and he knows how to throw a great party! While there we had a chance to visit with Doug and Michellee are area reps in Port Charlotte/Ft. Myers.

I was going to try to stay off political rants, but I have one thing to ask you to do if you are computer savvy. If you don’t know Candace Owens, you should check out her speech to the people we elect to represent us. She is by far one of the bravest and smartest women in America! Google Candace Owens speech to Congress. Of course, the left puts their spin on it but listen to her words not theirs!

At Cape Coral’s Bike Night, a man was getting petitions signed to keep the voting age 18 and to keep citizenship a requirement for voting in Florida. He was wearing a MAGA hat and he claimed to have been punched for wearing it in Daytona at the Flea Market. It made me buy one the next day at Biker Life’s party. Time to stand up for our country and for our beliefs. Republicans are too busy working to stage protests it seems, although they sure show up for Trump rallies. I have been wearing my hat for 2 days now and haven’t been punched yet…good news!

Take a ride on two wheels to an unknown spot (find it on our Motorcycle Directory List), buy a stranger a beer and don’t forget your sunscreen!

By Lulu

Well anyone who knows me knows I love Willie’s day of Bike Week or Biketoberfest the most! I love the bikes, the friends I see, the crowd, the charity and I love Willie! This event started as a bunch of bike builders meeting to ride together back in the day, their bikes started gathering a crowd and now it is THE best attended event of Bike Week! Too many photos of the winners to post here so go to Thunder Roads Florida Facebook page to view your winning bikes and lots of photos of the event. Roadside Marty of course kept things rolling.

Live music by Big Rick & the Troublemakers in the backyard was rocking the crowd who huddled under the shade of the giant oaks. Twisted Tea, Rue & Ziffra, P. A., Rock of Daytona, Cycle Source Magazine, JP Cycles, Hard Drive, Iron Horse Saloon, Grandview Live, Blings Cycle, Smoke Out, S&S, Pocket Guide, Renegade Magazine, Hardcore Cycles, Inc., Dave Perewitz, Speedkingracing, A-1 Cycles, B & D Customs, Biker’s Choice, Self Made Customs, Custom Chrome, Boomer’s Bike Shop, Led Sled, Billet Proof, Bare Bone’s, Mo’s Image Customs, Lowbrow Customs, Anvil Customs, Bikernet, and Rider Now Magazine all help bring this event to the masses so thank you guys and gals.

The charity is to assist veterans through Veterans Support Fund and there is no one on the planet who loves our vets more than Willie and the guys at Tropical Tattoo! This event is always the Thursday of Bike Week and Biketoberfest if you haven’t been, put it on your list of not to miss events! And in the meantime, if you need ink, the experts at Tropical would love to put their art on your canvas!

Show winners:

Perewitz Paint-Jesse Srpan, Willie’s Choice-Jay, Hardcore-Randall Noldge, Tropical Tattoo Choice-Bobby C, Roadside’s Choice-Zach Gostelli, Cycle Source Choice-Big Joe Lingley, Speedking-Matt Waln, Bling- Johnny 99 Customs, Ladies’ Choice, Gigi, Big Rick’s Choice-Pepi Barone, Sr., Roadside Old School-Gilly, Crowd Favorite-Tai Swank, Rev. Al Award-John Chadwell,  Roadside & Willie-Sweet Pete, BD Customs-Sean Teehan, Cochise Chops-Jasoc Rollier, Performance-Magnum “Bob” Merrill, Antique-Christina Mialky, Flathead-Clay Cooper, Knuckle-Rod “Grimey” Davis, Pan-Xaviet Muriel, Shovel-Rob Jones/Brock Bridges, Evo/Paint-Jess Srpan, Twin Cam-Craig Childers, Sportster-Brenda DeGazio, Creative Custom-Eric Allard, British Custom-Ron Zuk, Metric-Alex Honig, Jap Custom-Troy Banks, Rat Bike-Phil Martin, Bobber-Luis Mellado, Chopper/Mo’s Image-Jerry Merrola

By Lulu

Some news sources say the attendance numbers for Bike Week 2019 were down. The hotels supposedly, were not filled to capacity, and motorcycle fatalities were way down which is an amazing fact that they use to judge attendance. But you would never know it by the grounds of Destination Daytona. The showroom was bustling with shoppers of all things from T- shirts to bikes. My friends Barry and Kay from the west coast adopted a brand-new custom trike to ride home on and before they even emptied the stuff out of their old trike it was sold!

Bike shows, The Wall of Death, celebrity bikers including Billy Lane who has brought back dirt racing with his Sons of Speed event, the Budweiser Clydesdale’s parade, an International Bikini Contest, bands and vendors all gave visitors to Bruce’s mega-Harley complex too much to see and do. This was the 25th Bike Week for the Rossmeyers and to celebrate, they kicked off the event with free beer and food Thursday that they personally served, I even caught a photo of Will using the tap like a pro. This family hasn’t forgotten that part of the allure of buying a Harley is becoming part of the family of motorcycling.

As the offspring of Bruce were greeting the lines of customers, I realized that they were just kids 25 years ago, their father would be proud of how hard they have worked to carry on his motorcycle legacy. Join Shelley and Mandy on one of the monthly rides to a destination for dinner or better yet one of their overnight adventures. The next one is coming up in June to Cedar Key!

By Lulu

Whether you are in the mood to shop, buy a bike, listen to great music or enjoy one of the many events that Tim Bishop at Space Coast Harley-Davidson or Alexis at Miracle City Harley organize, there is always something going on at these east coast dealerships. Miracle City Harley-Davidson is the newest dealership which opened its doors in March just before Bike Week. We rode down for the AC/DC tribute band at Space Coast and to investigate the new Miracle City. Put this on your bike ride plans. Both dealerships have a large supply of bikes and great accessories.

By Lulu

Volusia Top Gun, with a reputation for great burgers, stiff drinks and a bevy of guns with a place to practice shooting them decided to fill their parking lot with cool cars, trucks and a bike show. T. J.’s son A. J. gave his dad a pistol from Top Gun for Father’s Day awhile back, so we have been there for food and fun with the gun! They have a huge selection of pistols, rifles, safes, ammo all the things needed for hunting or protection…or just sport! The bike show had some radical rides including the biggest back wheel I have ever seen, and a beer bike covered from bars to pipes with beer tops, etc. If you haven’t ridden out to Volusia Top Gun to at least grab a burger and watch some expert marksmen do, it is a good date night!

By Lulu

The Broken Spoke was slammed with people and events. Too many bike shows and events to list. Too many bands to hear them all! Too many hot bartenders to try to get a drink from each hot girl or the one hot guy! One of my favorites that we had to see, was of course Hairball, I could watch them every night. I really enjoyed the garage build bike show too! Some of my friends were entered in that one! To see more photos from Broken Spoke Bike Week visit our Facebook page at Thunder Roads Florida.

By Lulu

Hard Rock is known for parties and music! And nothing rocks Bike Week better than a freaking awesome bike show! Cory Souza from over in Sarasota puts on one hell of an event! Inside the ballroom and outside on one of the tiered beachfront decks were beautifully crafted “No Class” entries for his show. Well I realize the “No Class” is a bike show entry term, but I am telling you these were some of the classiest looking rides ever built! Some, of the sweetest paint jobs I have seen anywhere…and all the participants couldn’t have been nicer. Next time you visit Daytona Beach make sure you visit Hard Rock. The hotel is gorgeous and there is always great music planned.