By Lulu

A first visit to Daytona Bike Week can make it difficult to know where to go to get the most bang for your buck if you are trying to get noticed! But the folks at Gorilla Pro did just that in a BIG way. First off their gorilla sized truck created by Richard Rawlings was impossible to miss. They also did two meet & greets with Richard. Their impressive set up was at the entrance to Iron Horse Saloon, right in the thick of things at Broken Spoke, and even set up for Chopper Time at Tropical Tattoo. This year they sponsored a burn out contest at Iron Horse giving a tire and $250 cash! They also brought something new to Bike Week!! The Strongest Biker contest with $500 cash for the strongest man and strongest woman!!! It was an epic show. The women and men had to lift and carry four different motorcycle motors from one side of a field to the other as fast as they could. Amazingly everyone was able to do just that, but the fastest time was how the winner was chosen. Next, they had to toss 2 motorcycle tires, bound by Gorilla Tape, as far as they could. And finally deadlift as much weight as possible. The guy that won was a local and is presently the “strongest man” in the U.S.A. If we are lucky enough to have the fun and adventurous team from Gorilla Pro come down for Biketoberfest…CHECK out their booth and products. The products are packaged to fit perfectly in your toolbox and color coded for easy identification. Start working on those biceps just in case they put on the Strongest Biker contest again!

By Lulu

I have never seen such crowds every single day at any bar anywhere! Broken Spoke has become one of the most visited bars for Bike Week! Whether it is the huge oaks, the sparkly Disney like lights at night, the pretty bartenders and buff Sloan slinging drinks, Rusty Wallace and Southern Country Custom with their bikes that look like pieces of art, the amazing week of bike shows which includes the Bad Apple Bash, Warren Lane’s True Grit Show, Cycle Source’s Custom Bike Show, Perewitz Paint Show and Dennis Kirk’s Garage Build or HAIRBALL, something is making this a mecca for bikers.

By Lulu

I love the Irish, Firefighters, Food and Music. All of which was jammed into a 2-day festival in Leesburg at Gator H-D. The Lake County firefighters are VERY involved in charity and work tirelessly at Gator H-D manning the bars. Their fundraising efforts help local firefighters with PTSD and cancer. This event included a craft beer tasting, cornhole competition, Irish food, and vendors, with live music by Hypersona on Friday. Saturday was complete with live music and a chili and BBQ competition. Sponsors included Fran Haasch, Mammoth Oak Brewing Co., Bully Brewing, Great Chicago Fire Brewery & Tap Room, Love Power Equipment, Cecil Clark Chevrolet, Gator H-D, Firefighter Charity of Central Florida, and Florida BBQ Association. Earlier I mentioned I love Firefighters. Well, my nephew is one in Louisville, Kentucky and he has 2 young daughters who love to visit the firehouse, so when I saw the lady firefighters selling firefighter dolls, I had to have one. She donates some of the sale to firefighter causes. Job well done Firefighters! Not that your career choice isn’t heroic enough, you spend your off time helping those who are in need.

By Lulu

Jeff and Nina Hayes that host Dirty Bingo all over Volusia and Flagler County use their notoriety for grand things. Not only do they give huge sums to charities that arise, they also took it upon themselves to organize a ride to honor “the best the US had”, Vietnam Vets. The ride began at the Iron Horse Saloon, with stops at Hideout Lounge, Emory L. Bennet Veteran’s Home (where some of the vets came out to inspect the bikes), next stop was Hard Deck at Volusia Top Gun, then Cabbage Patch. The final stop and party with raffle baskets was The Dog House in Port Orange. The event raised $6500 for the veterans’ needs. Instead of a sign-up fee the entry fee was postage stamps and envelopes for the residents at Emory L. Bennet. Thanks, Jeff, Nina and Dick for your efforts!!!

By Lulu

Out in Melrose at the Howlin Wolf on State Road 100 is a great biker bar that puts on some old school events. This year they added biker games which included slow ride, keg roll, ride the plank and wiener bite all of which they had lots of participants for. Add that to the great day of music by Branford Hwy, the bike show, and burnout contest you couldn’t make it any more old school than that…oh add in scantily dressed dancers and sexy biker girls working out the pole! Gainesville H-D is a sponsor for this and the trophies and awards all went home with happy winners. Funny though as old school as this was a dude won the wienie bite and a chick won the burnout. LOL you just never know what you will find at Howlin Wolf. The owners of this bar, Mark & Jamie, are vets so make sure you stop in and have a cold or stiff one while exploring Florida.

By Lulu

Officially the first Bike Week for the new owner of Daytona Harley-Davidson was an enormous success. Vendors had huge crowds shopping every day. Two of our ad clients were set up at Teddy Morse’s H-D, Suspension Technologies and Sanity Jewelry and they both were hopping! Bands at Saints & Sinners entertained the masses, and even War Hippies and Jackyl had free concerts on the main stage. Bike shows under the pavilion gave browsers plenty to look at. Full Throttle kicked the week off, Hardcore Cycles and Bike Show Mafia all put on great events. The Flying Piston Builders Breakfast is a benefit each year. We spent time visiting our friend Jim Lynch of Bike Show Mafia and Revelation 1 Concepts who put on a big show with featured guest Dave Perewitz. Our Texas friends from Ladies in Leather who put on the largest ladies parade each fall were set up at his event to promote the parade and rally for women. Their event will be September 7-9 in Beaumont, Texas. If all that wasn’t enough for the motorcycle enthusiasts, they completed the week with a bikini contest put on by Bikini Coast International. A stage full of beautiful girls. Thanks to Lawrence Klein for providing the shot of our friend Sandi Pastor. Patti Miracle is doing one heck of a job running Saints & Sinners so check out their Facebook to see what she has happening each day!

By Lulu

Another successful Bike Week has come and gone at the World-Famous Cabbage Patch Bar in Samsula. Their famous ladies’ coleslaw wrestling matches on Wednesday with the finals on Saturday were packed as usual! The brave contestants slung each other around in the slippery oiled cabbage and wore me out just watching them! Along with the antics in the coleslaw pit, Radical Randy puts on several bike shows during the week with awesome bikes to gaze upon. Live music fills three stages and plenty of shopping in the vendor spots kept peeps pulling out their wallets. The bar is open daily, year-round with a classic car & truck show 11a-3p the 3rd Sunday of each month and vendor spots are free for the swap meet which is part of the day’s event. Free BBQ and live music complete the day. So don’t wait for Biketoberfest to visit the patch, the staff are always happy to sling you a cold or stiff one across the bar! More photos of the week are on Thunder Roads Florida Facebook. And a special thank you to Jackman Photos for the group shot of the slaw winners!

By Lulu

This is by far one of the biggest shows of the 2023 Bike Week. Willie, emcee Roadside Marty, Heather from Cycle Source and the huge staff of volunteers pulled off a successful show once again. This year the weather was nice! For anyone living under a rock that may not know, this event benefits the Veteran’s Support Fund with the sale of alcohol, including tips! Lots of bikes I haven’t seen before filled the grounds. Live music in the back by Big Rick and the Troublemakers kept those hiding in the shade entertained. Special thanks to Rue & Ziffra, Twisted Tea, Gorilla Pro, Spectro, US 1 Hogridin.com, Hardcore Cycles, Cochise Chops, Cycle Source, Blings Cycles, S & S, Hot Leathers, Grandview Live, Iron Horse Saloon, Broken Spoke, Church of Chops, SR Perrott, Renegade Magazine, & for their support in putting this major event on! There isn’t a better event anywhere!! A great day to see old friends, make new ones and see creations so unique you will always leave thinking I can’t believe how talented these bike builders are! If you need some new skin art visit Tropical Tattoo, one of the oldest tattoo shops in the US and staffed by real artists! More photos from the day including all winners’ photos on Thunder Roads Florida Facebook!

Winners of 2023

Perewitz Paint Award    Kenny MacDonald
Best Knucklehead           Jeff Grabau
Rev Al Award                   Blake Benson
Tino’s Choice                   Joe Shahady
Best Shovel                      Tommy Joslin
Best Vintage                     Mike DiPreta
Best Evo                            John Siweckyj
Best Custom                    Tyler Watts
Tropical Tattoo Choice     Brock Bridges
Best Sportster                  Daniel Heman
Roadside’s Choice           Zach Gostelli
Best Paint                         Gusher Cycles
Best Chopper                   Derek Spitsnogle
Best Bobber                     Rich Ruck
Tarball Choice                  Endless Phil
Bling’s Choice                  Eric Allard
Willie’s Hardcore            Daniel Heman
Best Antique                    Billy Franklin
Cycle Source Choice       Garry Cutis
Best Metric/Gorilla Pro  Jeff Hartley
Willie’s Choice                 Mr. California
Ed Kerr’s Choice              Warren Lane
Crowd Favorite                Myles Harris
Best Rat Bike                    PT Jungerman
Best Panhead                  Panhead Bob
Best Flathead                   George Casale

By Lulu

I have had the pleasure of getting to know some really good men that call themselves the Green Swamp Chapter of the Nam Knights of America, MC. We all have busy lives, and most, as we age, retire…play golf, sit on a couch with a remote, travel and visit family when we feel like it. These guys spend their free time working towards a cause! I see them staffing the bar at Gator H-D in Leesburg to raise funds, riding on charity events, particularly for veterans and putting on Christmas in the Swamp, a huge toy drive for needy children. God bless these men and their wives.

This Bike Week this band of brothers donated a trike to Specialist E4 Shawn Burke who had lost a leg in Kandahar, Afghanistan. His love for riding had not dulled. He and his father rode to the 100th Anniversary in Milwaukee back in 2003 and “The Swamp” wanted Shawn back on the highway! They flew him down to Florida and presented him with the trike with a huge event and you can tell by the smile on his face he was truly honored. All these men are heroes to be honored for their service. Just giving up time away from your family to be deployed to faraway places is a sacrifice. Sacrificing limbs, lives and the trauma of war is a huge price for our freedom!

Having been five times to D.C. for Rolling Thunder (Ride to the Wall), I have watched Vietnam Vets work hard to not allow these young vets to be treated the way they were when they returned from war. They hold each other up with pride and spend their retirement helping out others. If you get a chance to buy a drink from them at Gator or to visit The Swamp for one of their events, please do. These guys are really good men I am proud to know!

A special thank you to Reverend Al Paquette for covering this event for me since Bike Week in Daytona kept me from joining their event. And a special note Nam Knights MC welcomes all veterans from all branches of the military!

By Lulu

Iron Horse is world famous for many reasons: t-shirts, Craiger’s Beef Tips, the Wall of Death, David Alan Coe, and other great music acts. David Alan Coe hasn’t been able to perform the past few rallies due to health issues, and people do miss that, but this year’s line-up was top notch. Whey Jennings, Cowboy Kid Rock, Sawyer Brown, Eddie Montgomery, JB and the Cheap Whiskey Band, Joe Nichols were some of the many bands that filled the air with their music. All the headliners signed guitars to be auctioned for St. Jude and brought in nearly $10,000 for the kids. Yuengling sponsored the tattoo contest with Willie and Roadside Marty running the show. Gorilla Pro, a new participant of Bike Week, sponsored a burnout contest that caused tires to pop, engines to blow and a young man with a prosthetic leg to go home with extra cash, a new tire, and a big smile on his face! In June, the St. Jude’s ride coverage will be in the magazine. Find more photos of the burnout, guitar auctions and the tattoo contest on Thunder Roads Florida Facebook.

By Lulu

The spring and fall Panama City Beach becomes a motorcycle mecca. This year the fall rally had beautiful weather even though hurricanes had plagued most of Florida. We always stay at Holiday Inn Resort and the view is absolutely amazing! Frank Brown park was bustling with people shopping the vendors, drinking Twisted Tea and listening to great music. The headliners at the fall rally Included Shinedown which I had never even heard of, but boy what a show! 3 Doors Down, Dierks Bentley and Colt Ford completed the weekend of headliners. Hammerhead Fred’s hosted the Ms. Panama City Bikini Contest, and those bikini clad ladies packed the place every night. This year’s dates for spring are May 3-7, and Pantera May 6th, Lynyrd Skynyrd will rock the stage May 5th, Rob Zombie May 4th, & Buckcherry May 3rd. The VIP tickets are well worth the money so if you don’t have yours better get ‘em!

By Lulu

Sorry Charlie’s Corner on Highway 44 in Samsula knocked it out of the park with their first anniversary bash! This bar’s popularity has been growing by leaps and bounds with people in all vehicles, and particularly those on motorcycles. Lisa Henson helped organize the event and with the help of Willie’s Tropical Tattoo crew, sponsors which included Rue & Ziffra, The Ice Queen Truck, Cochise Chops Magazine, Busch Light, Twisted Tea, and A OK Guns they were packed and prepared. They got the word out that a party was happening on their huge property complete with country music star Whey Jennings, a Daisy Duke contest, Uncle Jess look-alike contest, and the General Lee. Sam Lowe and Christie Beu also performed and the National Anthem was sung by Michelle Marie. The Veterans Support Fund was the recipient of proceeds that day and Lisa presented them with a wad of cash, the total raised was $4059!! Great job everyone! A-OK Guns did at least 4 gun raffles to help fill that kitty.

If you haven’t been out to Sorry Charlie’s Corner it is a great spot for an ice cold brew and they do a bike night on Thursdays 6pm. Check them out and tell them Thunder Roads Florida sent you!

By Lulu

One of the biggest events of the year in the greater Daytona area is the Midwest Motorcycle Anniversary Party and Bike Show. Vendors, bikes, and hundreds of people are on site to enjoy the day at Beaver Bar in Ormond Beach. Too many trophies are given out to put all the photos in the magazine but all the photos of the winners are available on our Thunder Roads Florida Facebook site in Albums. The crowd was elbow to elbow and once again Heavy and Christine threw an amazing event. The band Greentree Brothers kept the large crowd entertained and rocking in the rocking chairs scattered on the Beaver grounds. Congratulations to the bike show winners and to Heavy for 29 years of success!

By Lulu

This yearly music & motorcycle festival is becoming one of our favorites of the year. Every motorcycle event has its own feel and this one is kind of a motorcycle Woodstock. Hosted at the Sarasota Fairgrounds there is a small fee to attend, but the money raised goes to the Suncoast Children’s Charities so all who attend can enjoy the music, vendors and fun knowing they have helped a good cause! There is also a VIP experience with a huge auction that helps feed the kitty. The bands this year were all great. One I heard for the first time and really enjoyed was Twinkle. Headliners included 38 Special, Colt Ford and Bobby Friss. Highway to Hell, Maiden Cane, Nobody’s Fool, and Nuthin’ Fancy filled the rest of the weekend with great music. This was the 25th Anniversary of Thunder by the Bay and by far the largest crowds I have seen. Included was a bike show with Kory Souza, sound off by Jim Lynch’s Bike Show Mafia, Choppertown by Born to Ride, stunt shows, burn out contest, wrestling and bike games. PLENTY to keep you entertained the whole weekend. There is also a ride on Sunday, but we have not been able to stay on Sunday to attend this yet!
I am sure that Suncoast Charities Executive Director and Event Organizer Lucy Nicandri would like to thank all who attended and those who helped to man this event. A special thank you to presenting sponsors S & S and Adrenaline H-D, and to all the following who help make this important event possible: Ford, FCCI Insurance, Greg Linehan Law, Hap’s Cycles, Badger Bob’s Services, Gold Coast Eagle Budweiser, Sonny’s BBQ, Born to Ride, USA Fence, United Rentals, Everglades Equipment, & Homs Partners. This event is every February and if you are a camping kind of guy or girl, they have on-site camping available and bring lawn chairs!