Broken Spoke Daytona Bike Week
Daytona Beach, FL, March 2011. – The World’s Biggest Biker Bar, the Broken Spoke Saloon was alive with excitement for the 2011 Daytona Bike Week March 4th – 12th, doing its part to make the 70th Annual event an amazing success. We were privileged to have the titans of the motorcycle industry, developers, bike builders, and the best fans in the world join together to make Bike Week at the Broken Spoke a great success.
Jay Allen, owner of the Broken Spoke Saloon, made the trek across the Southern tip of the United States in the Broken Spoke 18 Wheeler with seven of his most prized motorcycles, a 1956 Ford Army Truck, and the famous Wink Eller engineered and built “Broken Spoke Baker Burn-out Box”. The first stop on the tour was Big Al’s Biker Bar in Harvey, Louisiana, just a stone’s throw from New Orleans, where Jay helped Big Al celebrate his fourth Annual Biker Bash benefiting the Children’s Miracle League.
From there Jay headed to Daytona, where first thing on this list, was to execute the yearly ritual of putting the 70’s Triumph Chopper in its proper resting place, hanging from a 600 year old Live Oak that adorns the center of the property, known as the “Chopper Tree”
(http://vimeo.com/20534991). Those of you who were there, were lucky enough to see RonFinch, one of the most famous customizers in the business, under the majestic eaves of this beautiful tree.
The fine folks at AmericanIronMagazine and MotorcycleBaggerMagazine, Buzz Kanter, Chris Maida, and the rest of the American Iron Mag posse helped bring together the 1st Annual Bagger show – which was a home run!
Broken Spoke Daytona Bike Week
Keep your eyes peeled to a future edition of MotorcycleBagger Magazine for the full story, and pictures of the amazing array of diverse Baggers. You’re not going to believe who won the show!
Wednesday ushered in Larry Wood’s Antique Ride-in. Indian 4’s, ‘48 Panheads, and Chiefs were well represented along with an amazing array of vintage bikes. Beyond the age of the motorcycles, it was all about the age of the riders. Larry is 83 years old, and there were some riders in their early 20’s – representing every age group and their passion for vintage iron. One of the greatest things about the rallies is that you get to witness firsthand the younger generation, and how they embrace the beauty of vintage bikes.
Thursday Night during the rally will always be Cycle Source Limpnickie Night.
Some of the hippest young cats in the business came ripping through the Broken Spoke Saloon and filled the dance floor with some of the most hard core choppers on the road today. The Limpnickie Lot in their own words is “a collaboration of custom bike builders and American Parts manufactures from the next generation of the American V-Twin industry.” They are inspired builders that lay out a unique hybrid blend of styles including but not limited to: Motocross, skateboarding, BMX, Motorcycles, & music. Like always, there was plenty of smoke and the crowd was blown away by their custom creations. Be there for their next Broken Spoke appearance in Sturgis for the 71st Annual Rally. The Limpnikie Lot will be setting up camp at the Broken Spoke Campground August 1st – 14th, making it their home for the Black Hills Classic.
Throughout all the excitement and the smoke burning off tires, Jeremy Johnson of MuttinCycles arrived on his infamous pink chopper, bringing all the amazing aid and good will of “Cathy’s Help”. Jeremy’s Mom, Cathy, passed away from metastasized breast cancer complications, and since then he started a foundation in her name which assists women dealing with breast cancer in some of the most simple and profound ways. Whether it’s paying a phone bill, putting gas in the car or installing an air conditioner, the foundation focuses on anything that helps the breast cancer survivor. Hailing from Conyers, GA, Jeremy built the pink chopper and spreads goodwill about Cathy’s Help and generating money for breast cancer awareness.
Friday night’s Baker Smoke-down Showdown was amazing. Earlier in the week, the Broken Spoke welcomed a very special guest: Burt Baker, the chief designer, engineer, and company namesake. In this very rare and special appearance, Burt came in to show his support of Jay Allen and all the Baker Drivetrain fans, and to give his stamp of approval on the ultimate burn out box as engineered and built by Wink Eller.
The Broken Spoke Baker Burn Out Box is a steel bridged structure that was built specifically for the Broken Spoke and Baker Drivetrain to showcase the burn outs, which are a race to fifth gear, as fast as you can. Two bikes line up at the top of the deck, eyes fixed on the light tree waiting for the green signal to dump their clutches and get down to business(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdOdWgcSnhI&feature=player_embedded#at=18).
The event brought with it an array of motorcycles from Harleys, Metrics, and an impressive performance by the Italian bike Aprilla. Dar from Brass Balls was the first to man up in the Box. First place was given to Chris Brown from Yardley, PA on a 2007 GSXR. Chris was quoted as saying, “Push past your known limits.” Jay Allen, who took second place on his 124 S&S Motor and his Baker six speed said, “He was bitch-slapped by a guy out of Pennsylvania on GSXR.” The Aprilla from Italy took an impressive third. Jay also debuted a new film he produced especially for Baker Drivetrain (http://bakerdrivetrain.blogspot.com/).
Broken Spoke Daytona Bike Week
Saturday Evening ushered in the amazing S&SSmokeout. Jay Allen MC’d over eight bikes head to head tearing it up to celebrate S&S’s 53rd Anniversary as the V-Twin industry leader. S&S and their staff showed up in full force with tons of swag including posters and keychains launched into the audience. Jay debuted the film he’d produced on S&S’s latest and greatest of 2011 (insert video http://sscycle.blogspot.com/). The audience was shouting “S&S Rules” throughout the performance.
The Broken Spoke welcomed with open arms Rosemary Smith and her foundation RidingwithAngels, set up to send one lucky raffle ticket holder home with a custom bike that was built for her late son, Nelson. Riding with Angles was started by Rosemary after Nelson passed in a motorcycle wreck. The funeral costs were so much more than they anticipated, and as a family, they were only able to come up with half. Through the generosity of others, they were finally able to come up with the other half. Right then and there she vowed to start Riding with Angels. “The grief was enough. I want to help ensure that other families of fallen riders never have to go through the humiliation and fear I faced when we couldn’t afford Nelson’s funeral.”
Riding with Angels - Broken Spoke Daytona Bike Week
A bike based on the one that Nelson wanted to build for his Mother was raffled off at the Broken Spoke on Saturday night. This bike was so special and revered that it won every day during the loud pipes contest, hands down. The bikers at the Broken Spoke reached deep into their pockets each day and raised money for Riding with Angels.
Congratulations to Al Ramirez from Chicago, Illinois who won the bike.
And as if that wasn’t enough, we’d like to thank our guest, Twitch, from RenegadeChoppers (out of Alabama) who agreed to donate the next bike for Riding with Angels to raffle 2012.
Suzanne Altimar, a titan and icon in the sand sculpture world, featured on the TV show Sand Blasters, was at the Broken Spoke all week building her newest creation.
Sand Sculpture at Broken Spoke Daytona Bike Week
Thank you Suzanne for being with us all week!
And then there were the girls…
Girls at Broken Spoke Daytona Bike Week
Girls at Broken Spoke Daytona Bike Week
And of course there was the male (and female!) pole, the double bubble contests, Jay’s challenging head to head burnouts, loud pipe contest every day, tattoo contests, German stein holding (for men and women), plus great products like unique t-shirts, leathers, and Cigar Pride, where a Cuban cigar roller was hand-rolling the best in Cuban tobacco right in front of you. Hank’s axe throwing booth, where you learned the art of axe throwing, was a big hit. The next time you’re at the Spoke come and see for yourself!
Everyone was awed by the Redwood Log House – a traveling 2,000 year old log, that was converted into a traveling home for over 60 years. Trust us, you’ve never seen anything like it.
The Broken Spoke would like to thank The Iron Horse Saloon, Smiley’s Tap, and Destination Daytona for making the North Strip the place to be on this 70th Anniversary!
With Daytona in the books, it’s time for the 18 wheeler to roll into the Loudon Classic in Laconia, NH, June 11th – 19th, and then to the granddaddy of them all – Sturgis, SD. We’ll be at the original Broken Spoke downtown, and our 600 acre deluxe camping and entertainment facility is open August 1st – 14th, providing the ultimate biker experience. For more information, contact us at www.brokenspokecampground.com.
Until we see you again, keep the shiny side up and the rubber side down!
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