Daytona Bike Week 2019

Back in March of 2016, we attended the 75th anniversary Rally in Daytona.  We opted to trailer out since we had the wives with us, and I didn't want to beat myself up going down Interstate 10. The whole way there I found myself wishing I was on my bike, not in the truck.  On the way back, I was glad we were trailering as we traveled through a monsoon.   While there, we rented an AirBnB home near the channel a couple of miles from downtown main street.  To sum that trip up, we had a blast.  A couple of us said " Check mark.  Don't need to be repeat" .. but yet...  I wish I'd done it different.  Wish I'd rode it.  Wish we'd been down on main-street more.   So last year, the subject came up again and it was game on. But this time.. we were riding in.

Middle of last year, I started doing a quick search on hotels and such , not sure where I wanted to stay.  On a whim, I pulled up AirBnB and lo' and behold a new rental popped up, not 2 blocks from the main street party.   It looked to be the perfect size, so I snagged it ASAP.  We were set!  Nine months to go and my cousin was in.  That was 4 of us.  We agreed if no one else showed, it was worth the money.  Before long Jim/Rozzie and Donnie were also committed.   We had a plan, place to stay .. what more does one need?  Now, it was time to wait for Winter to pass so we could attend the first Rally of the new year. Soon, the only thing between us and Daytona would be, the weather.

Meetup in Jackson MS

Plan is to head out on Tuesday, the last week of the Rally, on a

Damned Rain was following I-20 also

two day ride for the 1200 miles.  Myself and Jim are headed out to Jackson, MS to meet up with Donnie, rolling in from Hot Spring, AR.  But, mother nature is looking a lil screwy.  We'd been watching the weather closely and made the decision to bolt a day early that Monday, and get to FL a day early.  Monday is here, and we are rolling at daybreak.  Problem is the weather is hard to read.  We luck out stay dry the first few hours, all the way to Louisiana.  But, soon, the weather is changing and the rain has found us.  The temps are staying low around  51 degrees the entire day, and rain is pounding on us off and on the

Hilton! 

entire day.   But as we get close to Jackson, we make one final fuel stop, grab a bite and decide to wait it out.  The damned storm has been on top of us, headed the same direction and we are unable to outrun it.  So we let it get ahead of us; an hour later we're back on the road.  It worked; we finally stayed dry!   Hour later, we connect up with Donnie, he finds some $50 Hilton rooms in Jackson and we're pulling the plug!  Hot dinner and cold beers are calling our names!  Load up the rooms with our bike gear, downstairs to the Hotel bar for a drink, then we on the bikes headed a block away to the Bulldog for dinner and more refreshments.  Day one is in the record books

Tuesday

Up early, refreshed and Waffle House is calling our names.  Hot coffee and greasy food!  Then we're off.  Temps have bumped up 10 degrees this morning...into the sixty's.   The rest of the trip we'll have favorable weather/temps. But today, we've decided to detour to Pensacola.  At dinner the night before, since our house isn't ready until Wed, we've decided to head to the coast. But it's spring break and rooms are hard to find.  On a whim, I checked AirBnB and found exactly what we were looking for.  A home on the coast, with a bunk house/room, to crash in.  The lady renting it out lives there, has another room rented out to a college kid, and now us 3 guys.  Seemed a lil quirky, but it worked out perfect for a one night stay. After heading to the coast for dinner and drinks, we rode back to have more drinking at the house and enjoy a campfire with their new fire-pit out back.   This was exactly what we were looking for.  Day two... behind us.

Wednesday

We do our best to leave the house quietly.  Once we're back into the street, we fire 'em up and roll out of the quiet neighborhood.  We're quickly back on Interstate 10 and headed East.  Nice weather day so we're bumping up the speedos.  More than a few times we hit triple digits, making our way quickly across the northern edge of Florida. Sadly, we soon come up on a bad wreck.  Three Victory's are on the side of the road, with one of them ( Cross Country) tore up with parts and luggage spewed across the road way. They have a lot of folks helping them; all we can do is proceed on at this point, staying vigilant and focused. Soon we're moving south down Interstate 95.   Its' now feeling like Bike Rally week... folks are headed home and we're passing and being passed by dozens of other bikes.  It's becoming a mad rush to get to Daytona Beach as the traffic speed is now averaging 90mph; I'm feeling it! We're almost there, Donnie has his phone mapping up, so he takes the lead to bring us in for the last few miles.   It's about 3pm, we're early but the house is available so we're soon in and unpacking.  The home is as nice as the pics led me to believe it was.  It's been on the rental market for less than a year and is in great shape.  Beds are comfy, furniture is nice and the location rocks. We can literally see "main street" from our curbside two blocks down.  Walking distance!   Well, once we unpack it's a quick run to the liquor store.  Leanne and Rozzie have flow in and grabbing an Uber and headed our way. My cousin and Darlene are an hour out.  So we make a quick run, grab our stash and headed back.  When we'd left I'd commented about leaving my sunglasses on the dresser; no biggee I've got a windshield so I raise it up for protection.  Sort of.   On the way back, I take us down main street then we'll turn onto ours; but no go.  As we are about to exit off main street, I heard the officer.

"Pull Over .. NOW!"

Well, that caught my attention.  He's looking pissed and has me turn onto the side street and into the parking lot.  Now we're up to 4 officers surrounding me as he's asking me for Insurance, Registration, etc.  I'm honestly confused where this is all going.  Then they ask me if I have any weapons, which I do.  I've got a .45 pistol in my vest which I tell them about, as well as my CHL authorizing it.  Soon, they've got the weapon off me and telling me why they pulled me over.  No eye protection.  What? 

The Good Cop

You're fucking kidding me right?  I explain to them I'd left them at the house, my bike is loaded down with booze, I've had zero to drink, etc, etc.   I'm soon in the middle of a good cop/bad cop scenario.  Still, I've got nothing to hide and THIRTY minutes later, I'm headed to the house with a warning ticket.   Huh.  Lets just say, from there on out for the week I took it all serious; no bottles and riding, sunglasses on, and speed in check.  They accomplished what they set out to do. In fact by the time I'd left them, they were all cool , we shook hands, etc.  But damned...  started off a lil weird! Soon, we've got a full house.  It's time.  Seven of us have been planning this since '18 and we're all finally together.   Let the Rally begin.  Drinks, jump on the bikes, head out to dinner on the water.  Finally, it's here

Crabby Joe's Deck and Grill

Power!

Dyno Time!

Thursday and I'm headed over to Main St to drop off my bike for some Tuning.  I had the 116 put in last year, but I wasn't content with the numbers from the Dyno.  I was assured the dyno used gives some low numbers compared to others, but I still wanted to make sure it was tuned 100%.  I'd find that original numbers were actually pretty good, and I'd only get another 5HP out of it, and similar with the torque.  Turns out the bike was about 114HP on this dyno, and when the smoke cleared 1'd have 120HP and 142 ft lbs of Torque.  Respectable.  Was it worth the cash I spent to get there?  No.  But I thought I had 100HP, not 114.  So, for several hundred bux I know it's fine tuned, I know all the numbers and believe it's optimized now.    While it was on the dyno, I'd made my way over to Boot Hill Saloon on the next block over for some bloody marys to help with the previous night and a breakfast burrito to calm the belly down. The temps were headed into the 80s, bikes were rolling , bartenders were pouring; it's bike week! We spent a few hours BSing among ourselves, enjoying the sights... but eventually,I've got my bike back.  And, knowing my limitations, I headed to the house

Races!

and got me a quick combat nap.  Others continued to partake, but I was getting my game face on for the rest of the day/night!  Once we're all up and moving, we hare headed to Daytona Speedway for the races... and as always, Indian dominated ...    second one of these I've seen and they always put a smile on my face.  But the highlight was ....   seeing Kim and Ken Berry!   They were walking up next to me and .. bam.. first time I'd seen them in a couple of years!  Crazy coincidence!!!  Kim is a total sweetheart.  They sat a few rows behind me, but then I lost track of them. Grrrr.. Then Alan Southerland looked me up.. . perfecto!  He'd hooked me up with a pair of tickets for the race, we chatted, and promised to connect up the next day or two.   What a night .. what a night! But now, how to finish it off?  We headed to Daytona Taphouse for a redo of our trip three years ago... just off the beaten path, not too crazy, awesome food and drinks.  Perfecto!

Friday!

I'm headed off the local dealership.  I'm become friends with Tony Bedell the last year or so, after a shaky start due to some clown he used to work for.  After learning about how his social media

TX - MN

Iron Horse Saloon

account(s) were used against me by his employer, and all the following crazy shit that is today still going on, we've become friends at an interesting level. I didn't get a chance to meet him last year when I was up in MN with the Iron Indians and I wasn't going to let this chance get away from me.  I rolled in and found him in the corner closing a deal with a couple purchasing their new ride so didn't have a lot of time to chat.  Still, he twisted my arm on a beautiful bike there he'd been teasing me about, but I just couldn't do it.  Maybe if it'd been a deep purple with a big bore kit on it.. but..   wasn't 100% the bike I wanted.  But, we FINALLY got a chance to meet up in person!  Nothing like putting a face to the name!   I know on my next trip north we'll throw back a few beers and catch up on the chaos crap that continues on up there with no end in sight ...  lol .  Well, time to mount up and we head down main street then North up the A1A looking for grub .  We pull into Riptide Bar n' Grill , for some awesome seafood and good music!  No matter where you go, good food and good places are at every corner.  Apparently we didn't get enough the previous night because we headed back west to the speedway to check out all the vendors and bikes.  You never have enough time to absorb it all but we gave it a try. Debating on whether to head back to the house, we said F' it and headed North to Iron Horse Saloon a few miles north of Daytona Beach.  This place rivals the cool stuff you find in Sturgis.  We ventured out here three years ago, but this time we stayed for hours and hours and.... hours! Found some grub to nibble on, LOTs of drinks and people watching was a must.  In the center they have a burnout pit where an HD and Gilroy went at it for a contest of sorts.  Problem was, the Indians was a beautiful 02/03 Chief and damned it was hard to watch.  The moron put himself in a situation where he mangled the front fender bouncing back and forth.  Made me sick to my stomach to watch.  I enjoy a good burnout as much as the next guy ( even on my own bike!)..but... don't fuck it up!  Anyways... looked like a tie to me, several guys grabbed that front fend and attempted to 'pull it out' .. but..   he'll be throwing a few bucks at it to fix it. As dusk started coming about, we jumped on the bikes and headed 'home'.  Upon arrival at the house, dropped the bikes off, made some drinks, put some 'walking clothes' on and we headed out! Main-street, here we come.  Bar after bar, we eventually found a place with a killer band that rocked the house.  We stumbled into the right place at the right time. ( The Bank).  From there, we did a late night pub crawl back to the homestead.  Friday nite, was in the books.

Saturday!

The 'house'

Alan is headed out way!  When I first met Alan up in MN several years ago, we hit it off right away.  We didn't' spend enough time truly getting to know each other, but the last several years we've chatted a lot off line via social media and shared our concerns and thoughts on various subjects, with a lot in common.  I make a lot of jokes about wolves, but he was the original wolf, before the R&R MC situation.   He saw the BS and had the Wolf thing going before it even occurred to me.  Anyways, we now had a 5th Indian in the mix as we took off for the day.  We decided to head South, with Donnie taking us to a 'hidden' place his wife and he visit often; Down the Hatch Seafood Company.  When we walked up , they were smoking Oysters on the Half shell right there, so you knew what you were going to get!  And OMG, they were good! As with just about every location, band was over the in corner kicking it up, drinks were flowing, sky was blue and temps were perfect.  Question was simply .. .how long do we enjoy this before rolling to the next stop? Well, today was our A1A day, so eventually we pulled the plug and headed up the highway to Flagler beach, but first we had to stop at Alan's place for his IIRA Vest.. hah!  Then we were off .  Once we found our stop, and got comfortable, we noticed the temps were playing with us a notch.  The wind had kicked up and even though it was in the low seventies... felt a lil cool.  So, after enjoying the views, we didn't have any issues pulling up roots and heading back were warmer weather appeared to be. Alan led the pack and we diverted west into Tomoka State Park which has some beautiful view and a nice road/ride for anyways. Eventually though you pop back out into civilization. We had such a good time at Daytona Taproom a few nights before, we decided to do a redo'. On this night, I'd throw the 'diet' away and dive into a killer burger; The Pig Burger (fitting!).  After the previous night, we chose to keep this one a notch mellow.  A good nights sleep awaited most of us!

Sunday 

Damned it.. all good things must come to and end they say.   Girls headed to the airport. My cuz had left the afternoon before.  Now, it was the three amigos headed North.  We had a late start watching the weather and it paid off, missing all the rain.   Now we were rolling, taking a slightly different patch home through the edge of Georgia. By the time we got to Alabama, I realized we may have a problem.   My starter seemed to be making grinding noises.  With almost 40k miles on "Krome" I guessed it was giving up the ghost. Was the new 116 kit causing undue stress?  Didn't matter, with the sick metal noises we were hearing we decided to head for Panama City since they were open on Mondays and Donnie knows the owner.  We made it to Chipley FL before pulling the plug.  I had a bottle of scotch in the bag, grabbed some ice.. and .. we proceeded to polish it off.  We'd push started the bike verifying the process before calling it a night.  Tomorrow, we'd kick it off, ride down, new starter, then head home.  Simple enough

We have a problem.....

We can't get it push started.  Tried and tried, but no go.  So, I call AAA and bring 'em in.  Good news is, he's there in an hour and it won't cost me a dime to get it to the dealership.   Bad news is, the flatbed shows up with a mess of oil up on the ramp from the previous vehicle.  Ol' Jethro' didn't think to clean it up. Still I got the bike on it with no issues, but I'm nervous.  We spent some extra time strapping it down due to the oil patch and lack of a front tire chock.  After that, its an hour ride in the front seat talking to this guy who had a crazy amount of stories about the women, ex girlfriends, kids.. you name it.  But, we're soon at the dealership an it's time.  In retrospect, I almost fucked up.  Donne and Jesse were on the other side, up front.  Guys in the dealership are moving bikes since they just opened. I knew I should have got some help, but I've trailered bikes for dozens of years and let my ego get the best of me.  I figure with the oil slick I can handle this, just take my time. But then the

Check out that oil slick on the bed!

slide started.  With the bike unstrapped, and the driver now lowering the flatbed ( which means its raising in the front )....   when he got it in place, with the bike in gear I released the front brake and pulled in the clutch; the slide began.  Not only couldn't I get the bike stopped, but I was now accelerating until I hit the pavement; sort of.  I thought I was going to high side it and flip it over but someway, somehow, when I reached the blacktop I leaned hard over the opposite direction and eased on the front brake with both legs on the 'ground' holding it all up.  I only slid about a foot, sideways at a 30 deg angle.. but...   someone I didn't piss on myself nor drop the bike.  I was yelling "F****" the whole way down, and now was wishing I'd had an audience or video taken to see this miracle. Neither.  Only the driver staring with wide eyes at the whole thing.  Whew.  That was close!  So, into the shop for a quick starter swapout so we can get home.  An hour later, I realize.... we have a problem.  The starter itself isn't the problem the but starter clutch which I guess is the equivalent of a flywheel in a car.  It's got major issues, parts not on hand and they have to pull the front jug off the bike.  Crap.  Well, the good news is...   I have airline miles.  I have a credit card.  I have the ability to miss a day or two of work.  After breaking the bad news to my buddies, they have to head north to get home and I'm now tasked with finding a hotel room during spring break.  Fun fun.   Eventually I find one, Uber there, Uber to the airport the next day, and I'm home. Still, both Donnie and Jim beat me home.  I could have rented a car and made it home quicker due to flight times, etc.  How crazy is that!

I can't believe it was just a week ago, we got home.  Krome is still at the dealership, awaiting the fix with a two week + back log.  Weather here in Texas is finally in full swing with 70s and 80s in the day with sunshine.  I'm looking at a full schedule of events ahead ; another blur of a year of good times.   We've got multiple rallies, CVMA events, IIRA events, a Motorcycle Cruise, Record rides.. .. all planned out... Now.. I just need my bike back.  I've always joked that "Chrome won't get you home, but Krome will".   Crap... I need to come up with something new now.  Hey .. at least the fix is covered under warranty