Motorman's Tips & Tricks Here in Florida, we only have two seasons, spring and hotter than hell. Spring starts in late October and lasts until mid May. The reason I mention this is because if you’re up north, you’re probably still shoveling all that global warming off your driveway and you haven’t been able to take the bike out for months. Fortunately, there’s a cure for the winter blues and its called Daytona Bike Week, which starts this year on February 29th and goes all the way to March 9th, 2008. If you’re planning on making the pilgrimage to the bike Mecca of the south, here are a few tips for you. First, before you leave the frozen tundra, and even if you’re trailering down here, give the bike a good inspection before you load it up. Make sure there are no nails or screws in the tires, check the air pressure and make sure all the lights are working. Check the fluids as well. If you’re trailering, use at least four tie-down straps all pulling the bike forward toward the chock. Check the tie-downs every time you stop for gas. Once you arrive here and unload the bike, before heading into traffic, spend 20 minutes in a parking lot practicing your low speed skills; that is, turning, braking and swerving. Believe me, you’re going to need them during Bike Week. If you’re a new rider and, like most new riders, you can’t turn, swerve or use your brakes properly, don’t take your bike to Daytona for Bike Week. You’re just asking for trouble. With close to a half million bikers, many of whom are under the influence, combined with a ton of teenagers driving boom boxes on wheels and also under the influence, and last but not least, the aggravated locals in cages, Bike Week is no place for beginners. As for the “experienced” riders with the loud pipes, if you make a spectacle of yourself, you’re probably going to get a ticket or two. In spite of the rumors you may have heard about the local police having itchy ticket fingers, from what I’ve seen, the people that get hassled have brought it upon themselves. Here’s an example: I was walking down Main Street last year watching this idiot revving the hell out of his loud pipes and smoking the tires every ten feet. Mind you, there are cops all over Main Street. The third burnout seemed to be the charm. A cop walked up and motioned the jerk to pull over. He happened to stop right where I was standing. Instead of apologizing for acting like a fool, this jerk starts off with an attitude and says, “Whadya pull me over for?” Of course, he wound up with several tickets. The point is, if you look for trouble, you’re going to find it. Speaking of Main Street, if you have an air-cooled bike, avoid Main Street at peak hours. That would be between 11am and 1am. If you don’t, you risk overheating your bike and having to push it. You can even do permanent damage to the motor. Your best bet is to park your bike on Beach Street and walk across the bridge and do Main Street on foot. Some of the other hot spots in Daytona are the Speedway and, of course, Destination Daytona, which is actually up North in Ormond Beach. There are usually huge traffic jams around Destination Daytona and really no way to avoid them unless you get there early, say, 9am, then you’ll breeze right in. The main road along the speedway is 92 and that gets backed up for miles in both directions heading in and out of Daytona. The good news is there are plenty of back roads to get into the Speedway with very little traffic. These back roads will also get you toward the beach area with very little stop and go jam ups. You can go to any number of Bike Week sites and download a map of the area, which will show a lot of alternate routes to all the hot spots. I’ll be at the Speedway this year at the Harley Demo site performing my Rider Skills Shows on March 1st, 2nd, 5th, 6th, 7th 8th and 9th. Four shows daily. Stop by and say hello and enjoy the fusion of entertainment and rider skills enlightenment. Remember, you can have a great time during Bike Week if you just use a little common sense. Ride Safe,
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