First, a little bit of history, The first annual Biketoberfest was held on October 16-18, 1992 and was originally named “The Daytona Fall Tour.” I was there among 5000 bikers, mostly from the local Florida market, with activities centered around the Main Street merchants. The name Biketoberfest became popular after a marketing campaign in Germany (where Oktoberfest is a national celebration) to attract bikers who wanted to escape Europe’s winter weather and enjoy a fun-filled Florida holiday. In 1993 the name Biketoberfest® was registered with the US Trademark office, marking it the first US trademark registered motorcycle event in the country.
Today, Biketobefest events have spread around Daytona, to Ormond Beach to the north, to Orlando to the west… and to the Keys to the south for those looking for a long weekend scenic ride. Daytona Main Street, Daytona Beach Street, the International Speedway and Rossmeyer’s Destination Daytona in Ormond Beach are ground zero for motorcycle manufacturers and custom part vendors selling everything you can dream of to make your bike look and run better.
For this 21st annual Biketoberest weather could not be more perfect (blue skies until Sunday with temperatures from 70 F to 84F.) Although Biketoberfest is not a ticketed event and consequently it’s impossible to know the exact number of visitors, it looks like attendance is slightly up, demonstrating again (like during the recent Sturgis Rally) that the motorcycle industry continues to recover. New Baggers and Sportsters (in black) continue to overwhelm other models on the road and in parking lots. The custom culture is well and alive and the merchants of custom accessories I talked to reported to me very good business.
To notice, a huge empty lot at the International Speedway vendors area where Harley-Davidson canceled all demo rides due to the massive recall and “do not ride notice” of 29,000 2014 models affected by an hydraulic clutch issue. In addition, some new Harley touring models seem to be prone to coolant leaks around the heads (at this time, not an issue subject to recall.) At the Indian Motorcycle display, long lines all day long for demo rides with the Chieftain being the most requested Chief model (followed by the Heritage and the Classic) for a 10-mile test ride. Many bikers have stated to me that today Saturday or tomorrow Sunday, they will ride to the Orlando Orange County Convention Center to check out other vendors set up at the new AIMExpo.
On top, cool bagger
Thanks to the Harley dramatic recall, Indian overwhelmed by Chief orders?
Heard also about the 2014 Harley touring engine heads coolant leaking because of a faulty clamp… For the new year models, Indian is winning the first round.
For its Rush More project, Harley should have Rush Less.
Shifter,”Rush Less”: Ho-Ho Hoady-Ho.
It is truly funny reading these comments with a H-D demo day banner ad playing on this web page.The animated gif bike seems to pull up O.K. at the stop light,well it does once anyhow.
Harley said that the Rushmore project was crowd sourced. “We asked bikers & dealers what they wanted”. They asked for no clutch and leaks? Really?
Harley 4th quarter earnings is going to be a disaster.
Like the custom moto mag wheels. Had those babies on my Mongoose bmx bike back in the day.
I’m in the middle of it at my favorite Florida State Park and, while there still seem to be crowds on Main Street, Destination Daytona and the Speedway, Iron Horse and Broken Spoke seem off attendance wise.
According to my insiders in the industry, Bikertoberfest was way down in numbers partly because of the trade show in Orlando .
I’m on my way back soon and Cyril was correct with the Weather report. It was almost perfect
Not convinced on the numbers. Biketoberfest (and Bikeweek now) have become so spread out over Central Florida that counting attendees, or even who counts as an attendee has become difficult. There are far more vendors than ten years ago, and they seem to be everywhere. Gross tax revenue from hotel and restaurant receipts are usually the most reliable method of calculating an economic impact on a region for any single event. It takes the state about two months to get that data.
I love hearing it’s up no it’s down no it’s the same. Well I guess whoever lies the loudest will win.. Btw I was and still here..
Harley demo rides were not scheduled to be at the speedway, which is where they usually do them during Bike Week. They were scheduled to be at Destination Daytona during Biketoberfest. I think this is the 2nd year in a row they have done them there. The demo rides were cancelled on Thurs, but did take place on Fri and Sat. Don’t know about Sun. Crowds seemed down to me, but tragically, 5 people were killed this year. 1 in Daytona, 2 in Palm Coast, & 2 at the Daytona International Speedway.
Spectacular collection of just awful stuff…the HD with the gold wheels and the girder…well let’s just say that front suspension geometry would vary depending on whether you are accelerating or braking….scary.
The way of the dollared Dodo:
The wagon wheel bagger illustrated at the top is a case in point.When fitted with bicycle pedals to the front wheel to end the evolution to devolution,it will be complete.
Honestly,many of the bikes here appear likely to be built by drunks who have virtually zero actual motorcycle engineering knowledge. Conceived in a hearty and coarse stupor,commenced in a blurry hung over haze and completed munching a cheap pizza.
Have to admit that the rally did not have the excitement nor the attendance that I have seen in the past. Oh well, spring will come…
Awesome looking 2014 Road Glide custom built in 5 months by one man at his home is Dade City, Florida. Jeff Raeuchle has bike building talent, very excited to see more to come.