Editor’s note: The following Daytona 2006 report is brought to you by Bob Page, of American Motorcycle 1902. I dislike being dragged into the back stage scenes behind motor companies, but I need to spill the beans. Bob handled Sturgis photography in stellar fashion. He shot every girl who strolled past their Full Throttle booth aboard an American 1902 new model. I was extremely pleased with the half-dressed coverage, but apparently Bob’s partner, a devout family man, Branscombe Richmond was not, as you will see.–Bandit
Daytona Bike Week 2006 was a new experience for all involved. Daytona has now evolved to a venue with several major destination sights involved: From the first Bike Week to featuring Bruce Rossmeyer’s Destination Harley, and the purchase of the adjacent land by the bar and restaurant folks at Suck Bang Blow of Myrtle Beach, along with the nearby bars like the Ironhorse. A lot of activities did shift to Ormand Beach. Main street still rocked both during the day and especially at night, and over the weekends again was restricted to bikes only.
All of the night action happened along Main or at the bars in Ormand Beach. Beach street was also a buzz, but a significant number of vendors have left Beach street for other locations. There was an obvious change in the number and quality of vendors along the five blocks of Beach Streets vendor row this year. The Speedway saw a huge increase in vendors as now it is not just a destination for Demonstration Rides, but a viable marketing venue for motorcycles, trailers and haulers, motor coaches, and related products. All the major motorcycle brands had some form of presence at the speedway this year. From all conversations though, vendors were happy with this years event and sales were strong throughout the Daytona markets.
Traffic, as always became a major problem throughout the Daytona and especially around Ormand Beach. Destination Daytona was a gridlock most of the time during the day, and traffic management has not addressed the access problems associated with 500,000 people visiting that location during the week. With the continued expansion of Destination Harley to its full 153 Acres traffic will only get worse and Ormand Beach and Bruce Rossmeyer will have to address this very significant problem.
The other obvious issue with Destination Harley is their need to get more vendors and activities that carry people over into the night time hours. This Bike Week everything was shut down there by 7PM, and the crowds shifted to other locations along the coast.
Accidents were a major issue this year in Daytona. It was felt that since we had a full two weeks of absolutely awesome riding weather that more people were out riding and visiting the area. It is also seen that the spreading out of the venues causes more people to spend more time traversing the area going from event to event…thus more miles are being driven. But the sad news was that at the end of Sunday night there were 18 reported fatalities related to bike week, the highest on record.
Defensive driving on any motorcycle is imperative, and especially obvious was a report on Saturday that stated that the first 13 fatalities were all directly related to motorcycles and automobiles being involved together in those fatal accidents.
Easyriders Events was featured at Destination Harley with a 30,000 sq ft tent that showcased all the best builders in the industry today as they celebrated the 35th Anniversary of their publications. All the famous names in the business were showcased.
The Rat’s Hole Show again drew big crowds, and tons of amazing motorcycles as shown in the photo’s. The diversity of the industry was easily seen in the show as it featured more traditional customs, exotic creations, trikes that were amazing creations, motorcycle as art, and old school.
Daytona set off another motorcycle season with a bang. The perception was that everyone left there happy, and the industry felt good about an event that showed we were moving ahead from last seasons lack luster results.
American Motorcycle 1902 presented its new line of motorcycles at Daytona Bike Week 2006 with great success. Picking up a significant number of new dealers during the show really set the stage for an exciting year at AMC1902. The rides that got the most attention were AMC’s new Apache Bagger, the Ol School Bobber, and the amazing new ProStreet 300.
The Apache Bagger was also selected as “the only” OEM motorcycle to be featured at the 35th Anniversary Easyriders show tent at Destination Harley. It was an honor to have a production motorcycle selected, and invited, to participate with the best builders in the world at such a prestigeous event. Our hat’s came off to Doug, Rick, and the rest of the gang at the factory for pulling off one amazing motorcycle. Mike Corbin chimed in after seeing the finished product to say “that it truly is a motorcycle that the market needs”…it is after all perhaps the first OEM custom bagger offered in the market today.
The Renegade SE was also invited to be a featured bike at the Rat’s Hole show. Given a prominent spot as consumers came into the venue it created a lot of comments over the amazing quality for an OEM motorcycle.
Branscombe Richmond had the opportunity to also be invited to the Freeway Magazine Builders party where a good time was had by all. Freeway is a French publication that showcases the worlds greatest builders, and having the opportunity talk, share idea’s, and spend time with some of Europes greatest builders was enjoyed by all.
All in all the event was a huge success for American Motorcycle 1902, and we look forward to next years Daytona Bike week with great anticipation.
