Anyone been? I am not a biker, but love the things. I leave for Daytona on Thursday, en route to Sebring for the first ALMS race of the season on w/e 19/20 March.
Would appreciate any experiences of Bike Week, and suggestions of what to look for...
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Lucky man!
Try and spot the real tattoo's among the thousands of stick ons, and buy a pony tail to clip on your collar.
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Lucky man! I'm hoping to make Sturgis next year. Trust me you will have a ball. But rent a Hog and take yer old lady on the back.
Not much to look for, just kick back and enjoy. Hotels could be full so check that. Nowhere do you find friendlier people, provided you ride. Bring back some pins, a t-shirt or two.
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Been going for years, missed last year and will miss this year too. There are two "Bike Weeks" so to speak. The Speedway side and the beach side. The Speedway is where all the races are held and where the manufacturers have their displays and demo rides. The vendors in that area are primarily non-Harley oriented so thats where you find sport/touring/off-road etc merchandise. Almost all the manufacturers have demo ride progrmas, but not on their full model range. Some need you to have your own gear, while others provide helmets and have various basic restrictions on what you can ride in (long sleeves, jackets, no shorts, no trainers etc).
Harley Davidson has the best set-up as they provide helmets and have no restrictions on what you can wear. They also have their full model range available and you can literally ride for hours on their assigned route(provided you keep going back and switching bikes). Unlike the others, you don't have escort riders on the HD bikes so you are out on your own and free to see how hard you can drag footboards, pipes and saddlebags around corners, how far you can lock up the rear wheel and other assorted hooliganry on a $20,000 Road King etc. Of course you do need to have a motorcycle endorsement on your license to ride any of the bikes.
The Beach side of Daytona is where you see all the usual leather and tattoos. The cole-slaw wrestling girls is supposedly not to be missed, but I have never bothered before. Main street *will* be a gridlock of overheating bikes and bodies and if you have never rubbed shoulders with sweaty 400lb " 5%er" bikers then thats where you go to do it, just don't make too much (any?) eye contact.
All the famous biker bars are located near the beach, but I have never been to any of them and couldn't give you more info. I was into sport bikes and mainly stayed near the speedway watching the racing. You should expect sweltering heat, shivering cold, bright sunshine and rain, welcome to Florida March weather.
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My hotel is already booked (Daytona Inn Beach Resort, beachside, virtually at the bottom of Main St). I was there last year during Spring Break (a week after Bike Week ended) and we visited some of the biker bars when they were empty (e.g. Boot Hill) - expecting them to be somewhat different this time!
I have a full UK bike licence. Renting or borrowing one hadn't occurred to me, but if I qualify, hey, why not? I guess there will be some obstacle to this though...probably insurance...
Much as I'd love to take my lady on the back, she won't be with me. This is strictly a Men Only trip... ;-)
Thanks for the advice, will report back on my return...
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No individual insurance required for the demo rides and I am sure that the hire bike firms will have insurance on offer. Only hire a bike if you want to ride beyond the Daytona festivites, the street are too crowded to fully get your money's worth out of it locally.
I don't know how the demo ride operators feel about paper licenses, but you will be fine if you have a picture one. Carry your helmet and some basic gear (boots, jacket etc) as some of the demo rides require it. As I mentioned before some of them have helmets on loan but those can give give you a nauseous feeling as you slide one on that is still wet with the sweat of the many riders who had it on before you did.
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