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From High Rents, Hard Rains, And Hazardous Residents
photos by Jose of Caribbean Custom Cycles
HOTELS TAKE ADVANTAGE OF BIKERS, GIVE THE BREAKS TO KIDS– One of the reasons why the Bikers are staying in Hotel and Motels out sideof the Daytona Beach area during Bike Week and Biketoberfest. Unless Bikers can get these kind of rates also they should consider stayingin surrounding areas until the prices get reasonable
–ROGUE
BREAKERS GET BREAKS ON ROOM RATES–
By VALERIE WHITNEY
Business Writer
Daytona New Journal
DAYTONA BEACH — For $45 a day, college students heading here next month canstay at the Beachside Ocean Inn.Or they can spend $39.95 and stay at the Surfview Motel provided they book afive-night minimum.
Such rates pale when compared to the $200 per night charged by someproperties during other special events.
They are just some of the special deals available this year during thecity’s “official” Spring Break period, March 10 through March 31.Some tourism officials expect a full house for this year’s Spring Break,despite the uncertainty of the times.
“We’re not really feeling the impact of the economy on Spring Break,” saidEdwards, who also chairs the area’s Spring Break Marketing Committee.
Officials with the Oceans Resorts chain depend on Edward’s firm and othertour operators to fill the rooms at their properties dedicated to Springbreak, namely the Plaza Resort and Spa and the Radisson Resort.
“They fill the hotels up,” said Jon Hunter, a spokesman for the chain, whichowns seven area properties with a combined 1,400 rooms. Students are free tostay at the chain’s other properties but they will have to pay theprevailing open rate.
The rate for students who check into the Silver Sands Inn, 2119 S. AtlanticAve., is $55 per day for as many as four people in a room.
ROGUE’S LASTING THOUGHTS–Well Daytona Bike Week is over, gone, toast, but the talk about it is Hot and Heavy. You received first hand reports on Bikernet. Now we’ll wait and see what comes out in the magazines.
Hopefully people will take a hard look at this year’s event, and pray for lots of changes and adjustments before Biketoberfest. I’ll keep you posted.
The parties and events continue and it’s time to get rolling. My next event will be The South Mississippi Biker Rally
Following that is the Heritage Motorcycle Rally
EVENT PROMOTERS: For information contact –ROGUE JOSE RETURNS TO THE ISLANDS WITH HIS FINAL THOUGHTS ON DAYTONA 2003–We all kept our eyes glued to the weather channel expecting better days– no such luck. Gloom was the only ticket available. Meanwhile Geno and Barb showed up with The Horse stuff, and the booth started to take shape. We managed to escape to Lollipops a couple nights. As always, most of our friends were there. Da’ Pops has become the unofficial meeting place in Daytona. We all have fun there. I left my new chopper with our friends at Custom Works. Some tweaking was needed so, as always, they helped us out big time with tools, lift or anything else was ours for the taking. We highly recommend this shop. Whenever you are in Daytona find these guys. They’ll solve those dreaded mishaps. The first shot at clear weather, I went over and picked up my bike, then jammed it back to the booth. The suicide clutch was getting weird in traffic, but I only stalled once. Speaking of suicide clutches, our buddy Wicho had just installed his and was riding from Miami with Kevin (aka Lojack), so Daytona was the maiden voyage for the ’52 Pan with suicide. We have never laughed as hard as that night. Wicho popped the clutch and screeched the tires while black smoke filled the air….lucky that the cops were not around. We almost puked, since minutes before we had managed to “kill” 10 pounds of king crab, 10 pounds of shrimp, four baskets of onion rings and fries (each) and two chicken sandwiches, yes all eight of us. Other folks wondered, if it was an all you can eat joint…The big ass table was not big enough. Wicho was the burn-out king with his smoke and screeching routine for a good 15 to 20 miles without stalling the bike. I guess you do what you gotta do. The booth was chocked full of cool ass choppers, old school, bare bones and no frills. More than one person mentioned that it was good to be able to hang out with people who appreciated the old style approach, and not a sea of overpriced billet barges. I was like a kid at Disneyworld. I really enjoy home mechanics and old stuff. Even the newer bikes had “old school” written all over them. The guys from East Coast Bar Hoppers showed up with a kick ass pair of trumps. William from Clayton Manufacturing had a very cool ’67 bobber. A cool-ass, blue Shovel from Alabama filled the attendance card as well as a black Shovel from Pen. There were so many bikes in and out that it will be impossible to name them all. You know who you are, thanks for showing up. Billy was busy as hell, from the booth to the Camel thing and his new hubless ride (which rocks !). Gene, Suzanne and Carlos commanded the booth in his absence, people crowded the place while getting their Choppers Inc wear, and trying to catch a glimpse of Billy. I’m very glad for his success, he deserves it.
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