[GOV5]

Daytona Bikeweek desperately needs a new venue. ...for a variety of reasons.


The City of Daytona, Volusia County, and surrounding communities don't want the event there anymore, and haven't for years. It costs them too much money. The residents hate us too.


The hotels that have been bought and paid for, some since the early 70's, have raped, pillaged , and plundered the bikers' wallets since the event started. It's time for the party to be over for them. They have had their time with over charging obscene rates for low quality lodging, and it's time to cut the plug on them.


The Speedway has over charged the vendors so badly that the best vendors have quit playing the game. The don't even make an attempt to show up anymore. And that hurts the folks that come down there looking to buy quality parts and clothing gear.



Finally, lets talk about "timing". The timing of this even is bad. By that I mean to say that it's a crap shoot time of the year for weather. You have to make reservations for lodging far in advance for this event. And then when you get down there, even "decent" weather isn't a given, just because you are in Florida. I have been down there in the middle of the week, and have awoken to temps in the high 20's!



What is needed is a NEW location and a BRAND NEW START with a NEW ORGANIZER. A new venue and organizer could get quality vendors there at rates that attract the vendors, not repel them. The same goes for lodging for the attendees. If hotels start trying to jack up rates, they face the fact of the "golden goose" being taken away from them with a change of venue....done by the ORGANIZER! In fact, the Organizer could get all that done upfront by having the Municipality pass laws prohibiting rate increases for special events. The hotels should be glad to have 100% occupancy for a change. To jack up rates beyond that is nothing but GREED, and there is no reasoning for that. I wouldn't mind a "special event tax" to help offset some of the costs for the Municipalities. That's just fair to them for hosting the event. After all, the Cost of the event is why Daytona wants us out of there in the first place. We don't want to repeat that mistake.


I personally lost a lot of interest in Daytona when Destination Daytona was built. It's a PITA to get into and out of. The only folks I could see that got a benefit was the Rossmeyer HD crowd. Bikeweek is, and should be, more than just Harley Davidson.

 

[Danl]

I lived 20 miles from Daytona for 10 years, yes the vendors are getting fewer and fewer, mainly because of the internet. It is a lot cheaper to drive to your office and update the web page to include the Daytona t-shirts.

The reason it is held this time of year, is the seasons are upside down, meaning that the riding season is during the winter months, summer most park their bikes and use their watercraft. Too **** hot to ride in the heat.

One must remember that bike week in DAYTONA was about drag racing, just like the black hills was a hill climb. They grew into what they are now and costs have had a terrible effect on these events.

Daytona stopped the spring break season because it cost too much to fix the damage done by the young kids. The same is true for bike weeks. Rae weeks are different because the focus is on the race track not the bars. Riding very slow next to a person who hauls his bike down to Fla. and rides down the street two blocks and then starts drinking and hen crawls back on his bike and trys to ride 2 mph back to his motel room is another reason to stay away or be out of Daytona before the drunks wake up.

I still attended bike week every year I was in Fla.

 

[BASSNMAN]

we went to Daytona 2 yrs ago, & it was also spring break the same week, the hotels where a DISASTER !!!! w / drunkin kids, fortunately we where w/ a bunch of LEO's & no problems what so ever, that was our 1st Bike Week & DEFINETLY our last!!!

 

[jgalfo]

locals go to Leesburg bike fest in April. lasts only 3 or 4 days and has an attendance over 300K. they treat bikers right and ask that the bikers use reason. it has been growing every year. for me the Daytona speedway vendors and having lunch one day with my local biker friends is the only reason I go.

 

[WVMANDINGO]

It's funny how attitudes change depending in these local economies. A couple of events I went to were begging for motorcycle traffic after the economic downturn in 2008. Lots of local businesses closed their doors in cities where some of the events were held. A few years later after their economies returned to near normal, bikers were no longer welcome. For the most part these are aged communities that feel we are disrupting their right to peaceful habitat, and some of these events have become so large it's overwhelming local authorities.