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SMYRNA BEACH — As Harry Brooks walked up to his customized Harley-Davidson Softtail, he was surprised to see three armed men standing next to it. But after a few minutes of conversation, the group parted amicably.
“Thank you guys,” the Richmond, Va., resident said.
The men were members of the Motorcycle Theft Task Force, and with a few phone calls, they verified Brooks’ motorcycle was legal, despite some irregularities with his registration tag
Members of the task force, coordinated by the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office and made up of law enforcement officers from across the state and country, spent Bike Week walking through parking lots and biker venues across the county looking for anything suspicious. The irregularity could be nothing more than the wrong frame on a particular model motorcycle, or, as was the Brooks’ case, filed off ID numbers.
According to sheriff’s Sgt. Bruce Fleischmann, task force supervisor, the purpose is to put a crimp in the trafficking and sale of stolen motorcycles and their parts.
Fleischmann said many motorcycles are more valuable for their parts than as a whole machine, and there are ways to tell if something isn’t original equipment on a particular bike. If a part is proven stolen, lawmen can seize the vehicle and its owner can face theft charges.
As of Thursday, the unit had confiscated two motorcycles made with stolen parts. In most cases, however, the rider is an innocent victim who believed he or she was getting a good deal on a hard-to-get part without any knowledge of where it came from, he said.
“It is a case of ‘buyer beware,’ ” Fleischmann said. He said the Task Force was formed about five years ago using a state grant after Bike Week became a target for motorcycle thieves. With thousands of visitors in a compact area, it was easy for criminals to wheel away a few bikes without anyone noticing.The Sheriff’s Office and other agencies pooled their resources to provide both protection — in the form of visible patrols — and education, urging motorcyclists to lock their machines.
Over the years, the program has evolved to a point where many jurisdictions provide their own anti-theft efforts, but the Task Force continues to fill in the gaps, especially in the unincorporated areas.
“We are getting more and more people in the county,” Fleischmann said.Despite the few minutes of inconvenience, Brooks said he was pleased to see local law enforcement efforts.
“Normally, I am pretty sensitive about law enforcement intrusion, but if my bike was stolen, I would want someone trying to find it,” he said
All those cops on task forces in Florida Partying must have been afraid ofgoing out in the rain.
DAYTONA BEACH — Dozens of Bike Week tourists have learned about motorcycle security the hard way: More than 40 motorcycles have been plucked from trailers, paid parking areas and hotel parking lots in Daytona Beach and Ormond Beach over the past two days, police said.
“It’s ridiculous,” said Ernie Jones, 32, whose friend had a motorcycle stolen in daylight Thursday from a parking lot near the Daytona International Speedway. “I never knew it was such a big problem.”
Police said motorcycle thefts during Bike Week 2003 seem to be a bigger problem than in years past. Of the eight reported stolen in Ormond Beach since Wednesday night and more than 30 in Daytona Beach, most have been locked. Some were in trailers.
A trailer with six Suzuki motorcycles was taken Wednesday from a hotel lot on West International Speedway Boulevard.
PALM COAST — Rain, rain go away, come again another day — or another week. That could be the mantra of area businesses that depend on Bike Week for a good chunk of their revenue. But there is a silver lining to those rain clouds that covered the skies over Flagler County through the early part of the annual event.
“We’ve lost some business because of the wet weather,” said John Seibel, owner of Thunder Gulch Campground. “But not a great deal.”
Seibel said some groups planning on staying at the Bunnell campground decided to keep going farther south in search of drier land, but only about 15 of them.
“We’ve had some cancellations,” he said. “There’s been an effect, but it’s not major.
And while bikers may have avoided riding their machines around Flagler because of the rain, many of them stayed at their home away from home and spent time enjoying some of the campground’s other amenities, particularly the Black Cloud Saloon.
“We’re doing about 100 percent more business there,” Seibel said. “On balance, we’re probably going to do as well as last year.”
At the Whale Watch Motel, owner Chris Tipton said the rain has not had a big impact on business. In fact, it may have helped attract more customers to the motel.
“We fill up every night in Flagler Beach,” he said. “The rain has maybe driven some of the wet campers to motels.”
Tipton said over the past few years, things seemed to have slowed down a bit during Bike Week.
“I think the last few years of Bike Week have been slower,” he said. “It’s kind of flattened out, but it’s still huge.”
For Tri City Cycles, the wet weather has kept some old friends away and slowed the foot traffic at the Flagler Beach motorcycle service shop.
On a rainy afternoon earlier this week, manager Denise Sarfde bemoaned the wet weather in the nearly empty shop.
“If it were nice out, you couldn’t get in here,” she said. “This weather is killing us.”
DAYTONA BEACH BATTLE — Two men were wounded late Saturday when gunfire erupted in a busy motel parking lot, police said. Bike Week tourists took cover behind an International House of Pancakes restaurant as stray bullets struck buildings and shattered a waitress’s car window.
“The bullet was lodged right above my daughter’s child seat,” said Tabatha Bluhm, 23, of Ormond Beach.
Police said there were 9mm shell casings and blood scattered “all over” the crime scene.
One woman, who was staying at the nearby Days Inn but declined to give her name, said the gunfire “sounded like firecrackers.”
The most seriously injured appeared to be a man from North Carolina who was shot in the stomach, police said. Another man was shot in the leg. Both were being treated at Florida Hospital DeLand for injuries not believed to be life threatening. It was unclear how the men got to the hospital.
Police said they had not yet pieced together a motive or the events that led to gunfire, which broke out shortly before 11 p.m. in the busy parking lot between a Day’s Inn and the IHOP at 2900 W. International Speedway Blvd. Witnesses said they counted up to 23 gunshots.
Bluhm, who was waiting on tables in the restaurant when her car was hit, said the parking lot needs more attention from police.
“There’s definitely a need for more security here,” she said.
Daytona Caribbean Report–The Bike Week that never was…
As you might know we got together and decided to have a joint booth in Daytona Bike Week this year, Choppers Inc, The Horse and us, Caribbean Custom Cycles. At the time it seemed like a great idea, and in reality it was, even though the weather refused to cooperate with us and the other thousands of vendors there. I don’t think it was a very good week for anyone selling stuff, unless it was umbrellas and foul weather gear.
But on the other hand, friends, new and old, and very cool choppers made up for any losses, break evens or whatever else. We were the first to show up and get the ” compound” ready Jim Betlach had outdone himself to accommodate us and we had a great spot, it can always be better, but that will be arranged in following events. As soon as we rolled in our friends started to show up, and the amazing display of cool choppers that endured the whole ten days, if you are into choppers, home builts and old school, I humbly say that our spot was the place to be, no fuckin’ doubt about it.
Then the rain came…
We had unloaded all our stuff under the rain and that seemed to be the curse of the week, we managed to see a day and a half of sun (or at least no rain) the entire week, and those were a frenzy of photo shoots and a false sense of ” at last !” Our friends kept on showing up at the booth, I imagine that they came to say hi and shoot the shit, but hiding from the nasty weather as well, it was funny that during the week the booth became press central, all the photogs ,editors and usual suspects would show up and hang out ’till their next assignment (if there was any) By now the shitty weather and too cold for this Caribbean “bway” temps had me feeling like crap, so the night activities were shortened to a couple of flu pills and a good night’s rest, I was saving energy for the adventures that never came thru.
In the first days of low temps and very , very wet asphalt, Main street was a ghost town, but the bars were full and rockin’ to the beat, I guess it became cage week for a couple days.There were more Hummers than Twinkies in the parking lots.Saturday and Sunday rolled by, slowly, very slowly, by Monday it was plain miserable and we had to end up with a heater…Da’ Caribbean makes da’ blood thin “mon”
(will finish it tomorrow for the news)…
Hope all is good
Jose De Miguel
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