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!

By Lulu

Known for great music, the Boot Hill Saloon is a crowd favorite! This year Leaving Eden, Rockabilly Rockets, Rex Floyd, Full Throttle, Greye, Vermillion, Rick Monroe & Hitmen, Gunshine, Second Shift, Just Priest, Spread Eagle, Music City Stones played on the outside stage. Inside stage featured Jeremy, Dina, Redline, & Matt O’Ree kept the bar hopping. Live music and vendors were at The Outpost on US 1 for the event. It was great to see Stacy back tending bar! Thanks to Nash Customs, Twisted Tea, Yuengling and Biggins for their support and bringing Bike Rock to Boot Hill. Boot Hill has a weekly Wednesday night bike night with live music and music on weekends. Come to Daytona Beach to play!

By Lulu

Tony, owner of The Boat Bar in Port Orange, is pretty extraordinary. He is not only one of the few bars that still serves $2.50 beer all year long, even when a band and free BBQ is happening which was the case at End of the Rally Bash this fall. He also was insistent about staying for the party even though he was looking very frail and weak. He has been having health issues. When the Budweiser man showed up and took over the mic to talk about Tony. He finally relented to going home. We found out later he had had a heart attack and spent MANY days in the hospital. The Budweiser rep gave a very moving speech about how special Tony is, and that Tony never demands or complains about anything. The rep had tears flowing down his cheek as he spoke of his admiration for Tony, saying he sells more beer than just about anyone (of course it is only $2.50) and never wants a thing. Then he treated the whole bar to a free beer on him! And leis, so everyone got Laid at The Boat! Tony missed the speech and the free beer, but all of us who know Tony and Dar feel the same way about them. They are really good people. Good Lord willing Tony will get healthy before March and you can join us for the Boat Party!

By Lulu

This year Steve and Rusty Wallace had a change of venue for their custom bike display. Their good friend, Dwayne Stanbaugh, is co-owner of Annie Oakley’s and with high visibility on US 1 they created quite a bit of attention from the vehicles stopped in the heavy traffic in front of the bar. Usually set up at Broken Spoke, they had to find a new location due to Broken Spoke not opening during Biketoberfest. I think it was a perfect choice from the new faces that the new location brought in! It is an honor to get to know this team of bike builders, not only are their creations amazing to gaze upon, but they are also made for the road! Add to that they are genuinely down-to-earth nice guys that do a lot of charity work! Check their ad in February issue for Bike Week location and make that a must see stop for 2026!

WE NEED VOLUNTEERS! I want to try to help get volunteers to help with a Daytona Beach project coming up on January 11th from 9am-4pm. This is to help revitalize the Pinewood Cemetery on Main Street. This is an old historic cemetery that has fallen in disrepair, from age and vandalism. “Heavy” Eddie Kastrul at Midwest Motorcycles has met with the city and the police to get them to help with keeping a watchful eye on Pinewood once the repairs are made. Heavy tombstones have been pushed over by vandalism and storms, and we need able bodied male bikers to help put them upright, we need those with yard skills to man rakes, shovels, etc. to clean up debris. We want to make a party out of this and with help from sponsors and the bars across from the cemetery bands and refreshments are going to be offered to make it a work party!!! This should be a place of historic interest for tourist to visit like they do in Savannah, New Orleans, and St. Augustine, but work needs to be done to beautify this and help with the overall look of Main Street, Daytona Beach. Come join us for this community event. Every little bit of muscle helps! And in April there is a poker run TBA to raise funds to re-gravel the road, etc.

By Lulu

The property of Teddy Morse’s Daytona H-D was so packed I had to turn around and leave because there was NO parking and I was in a car that day instead of a bike. Vendors seemed busy selling their wares. Saints & Sinners always brings in great live entertainment and Biketoberfest was no exception. This year bands like Planet Hairspray, Duval County Line, Krash Party, Gunshy, Are Friends Electric, Voodoo Dollz, Blake Free Band, Razor’s Edge, Burnside, Old School Banditz, MOLLY HATCHET, Big Engine and Hayfire entertained the masses. There was a bikini contest on Saturday night too that added to the fun.

By Lulu

We attended a candlelight service at the Traveling Vietnam Wall that the American Legion Post 285 escorted to their Post in Edgewater for Biketoberfest. Having been many times to The Wall in D.C. and witnessed how emotional a trip to the wall is for all who visit, I was surprised how this replica affected us all. The evening started with presentation of colors, then candles were distributed to all, prayers and Taps followed. Many tears fell by those in attendance, tears cried for the lives lost. I mentioned this in my Pony Tales last month but certainly feel it is worth repeating as I was shocked by some of the numbers on a photo displayed there.
58,267 names are on the wall
39,996 were 22 or younger
8,283 were 19
33,103 were 18
12 were 17
5 were 16
1 was 15
3 sets of father & son are on the wall
31 parents lost two sons
997 were killed their 1st day in Vietnam
1, 448 were killed their LAST day in Vietnam
8 women are on the wall-nurses
As I read this, I thought those that died their first day at least didn’t have to endure the fear, the swamps, the torture, the loss of friends only to die on their last day before returning home. So, so tragic…and this my friends is the cost of protecting freedom!!!

By Lulu

Each month rain or shine…cold or hot…a loyal group of riders show up at the Boat Bar in Port Orange for a day of riding “somewhere.” And to these folks it doesn’t seem to matter where. Far or short, they just saddle up and head to the stops for the day. The ride in August took us to Crossroads Tavern in Bunnell where our friend Janice was visiting the new owner, Holly. Working in corporate America for most of her adult life, she now proudly is at the helm of Crossroads and is happy to have bikes pull in. Next stop was The Oasis in San Mateo where the owners Larry and Tia came in on their day off just to see us. We then jumped on the bikes for a short scoot to Satsuma to the old Hermits Cove, now the Gnarly Gar, a GREAT waterfront dive bar that has been updated enough without losing what the bar is known for. Long’s Log Cabin in Welaka, owned by dear friends Waylon and Tonya, was the next stop and the misfits in our group saw a children’s mini train ride across from the bar and were able to sneak a seat for a photo without getting arrested!

We then had a bit of a hike back to dinner at The Boat, but no one cared. We were simply happy for the first time in a bit that we didn’t get wet! Mike Jones, from A -OK Guns in New Smyrna Beach won the 50/50 money. And FYI, if you are looking for guns or ammo, the State of Florida is having a tax-free holiday from now until the 31st of December and Mike has LOTS of guns for sale! Come put some miles on your bike with our group next month on Saturday, December 20th so put on your jingle bells and join us.
! We usually have several female riders and of course we love that!! The Boat Bar has $2.50 domestics all year long!!!

By Lulu

Each fall and spring Howlin Wolf in Melrose throws an old school biker party that you should really ride out for! The fall event this year featured games that included Wienie Bite, Plank Ride, Slow Ride, and the Keg Roll. My favorite is always the burn out contest which these guys do on brand spanking new expensive Harleys…insane! The men’s favorite is the sexy biker chick contest which this year featured an amazing pole performer who was able to steal the show. Gainesville and Tallahassee Harley-Davidson were the sponsors and were set up onsite with a great basket raffle. The band once again was Twisted Fate, and they always put on a wonderful day of music. The bike show had some great entries and would have been tough to pick winners. Photos of all the winners and more of the day’s events are on Thunder Roads Florida and if you find yourself there, please like and share!!! Their date I have been given for spring 2026 is Sunday, February 22nd, hope to see you there!