Businesses hope dollars roll in with bikers

OFF THE WIRE
By HILARY LEHMAN and VALERIE WHITNEY, Business Writers

Carl Morrow has visions of a Beach Street packed with bikers this week during Biketoberfest.
By extension, he thinks the motorcyclists will fill Carl's Speed Shop, the Daytona landmark he owns, as well.
Bikers are resilient, despite the economy, Morrow said.
"They're not waiting for someone to tell them they can take vacations."
When the motorcycles roar into town for the 18th edition of Biketoberfest, many local businesses are hoping that the riders will be leaving dollars as well as dust in their wake by the end of the four-day festival. But with this year's Bike Week paling in comparison to Bike Week in previous years, their outlook is cautious.

Morrow, while describing his anticipation of Biketoberfest as "excellent," hesitated to compare this year's Bike Week to years past. He said his measure of a successful event is different now than it used to be.

"We struggle, like everyone else in these times," he said. "It ain't a downhill pull, by any means."
Some advance numbers, though, are looking good.
Jim Gallagher, whose Mid-Florida Sportswear prints the official Biketoberfest T-shirts, said pre-sales are up about 10 percent from last year. He said recent successful motorcycle rallies in Myrtle Beach, S.C., and Arkansas bode well for this week.

"Everybody's been a little gun-shy the past couple years and that's over, hopefully," Gallagher said.
Mandy Rossmeyer Campbell of Destination Daytona Harley-Davidson said she heard good feedback from the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota in August, which bodes well for next year's Bike Week, if not immediately for Biketoberfest.

Destination Daytona's sales were down slightly for this year's Bike Week from 2009, although the sales department declined to give exact figures, Rossmeyer Campbell said. The store's sales goal this month is 400 motorcycles.
The lackluster results of recent biking events have made some business people hesitant to spend money they don't know whether they'll make back.

Samuel Ferguson, owner of Safari Lounge on Martin Luther King Drive, said he spent almost $50,000 on Bike Week events and lost money. He's saving his efforts for next year's Bike Week instead of Biketoberfest, he said.
"It won't be nothing like last year," Ferguson said. "I can't do it like I would like to."
One of the main indicators for a successful biking event, hotel occupancy, shows mixed preliminary results.
Gary Brown, owner of the Sun Viking Lodge in Daytona Beach Shores, also bemoaned a slow Bike Week. People come for just the weekend now, he said, as opposed to before the recession when they would stay for the whole week.

For Biketoberfest, Brown said, he's tried to lure customers with pricing incentives and shorter minimum stays, but he still expects lower occupancy than last year, with advanced bookings lagging behind 2009.
At the Speedway Ramada Inn, though, owner Chris Fagan said his property was already close to a sellout for Biketoberfest. On the other hand, Fagan said the average daily rate was down from last year. And Donna Shay, spokeswoman for the Daytona Beach Carefree RV Park in Port Orange, said 75 percent of the park's 235 sites have been reserved for Biketoberfest.

But regardless of the economy, Biketoberfest is still one of the last chances for northern bikers to take out their motorcycles and head south before putting their rides away for the winter, said Janet Kersey, Biketoberfest founder and president of the Daytona Beach Area Convention and Visitors Bureau.
The bureau has stepped up its marketing for the event, using social networking and blogging bikers to drum up interest.
Kersey said the bureau is looking to improve over last year's Biketoberfest numbers, shooting for 125,000 to150,000 attendees and more than $200 million pumping into the local economy.

"People just love to travel and get out and do things, and they'll put other things aside to get out and travel, which is good for us," Kersey said. "We might not eat lunch, but we'll get out there and ride our bikes."

BIKETOBERFEST EVENTS
BIKETOBERFEST, OCT. 13-17: Oct. 13: Acoustic with Cliff Darby, 6-9:30 p.m.; Oct. 14: Acoustic with Cliff Darby, 12:30-4:30 p.m., rock with Kevin Quinn, 5-9 p.m.; Oct. 15: Joe & Donny, 1-5 p.m., Classic rock with Never Ending Drama, 6-10 p.m.; Oct. 16: Island music with Captain Nick, noon-4 p.m., Rock with the Chris Tuttle Band, 5-9 p.m.; Oct. 17: Classic rock with Joe Atti & Friends, 12:30-4:30 p.m., The Golden Lion Cafe, 500 N. S.R. A1A, Flagler Beach. FREE. 386-439-3004.

BIKETOBERFEST, OCT. 13-16: Oct. 13: music by Joe Santana, Farrell Webber Band and 7 Bridges Road; Oct. 14: Cycle Source & Limpnickie Night! Featuring Miss Limpnickie Contest, music by Farrell Webber Band and Houses of the Holy; Oct. 15: Baker Drivetrain Night featuring The Baker Burnout, music by Farrell Webber Band, Hells Bells and Edge of Forever; Oct. 16: S&S Night featuring the S&S Smokeout, music by Farrell Webber Band, Hells Bells and Edge of Forever, events begin at 1 p.m. Oct. 13; 4 p.m. Oct. 14; 2 p.m. Oct. 15-16, Broken Spoke Saloon, 1151 N. U.S. 1, Ormond Beach. FREE. 386-673-1040.

BIKETOBERFEST EVENTS, OCT. 14-17: Smoke & Mirrors, 7 p.m. Oct. 14; Rick Magee and the Road House Rockers, 8 p.m. Oct. 15; From Outta Nowhere, 8 p.m. Oct. 16; Harryoke, 5 p.m. Oct. 17, Black Cloud Saloon, 2129 U.S. 1 North, Bunnell. FREE. 800-714-8388.

BOARDWALK CLASSIC BIKE SHOW, OCT. 15: show, vendors and more, 11 a.m.-5 p.m., Daytona Pier, 1800 E. Main St., Daytona Beach. FREE. 386-871-0398.

JAM FOR AMERICA, OCT. 16: with Gretchen Wilson, John Anderson, Bucky Covington and more, 2 p.m., City Island Park, 115 E. Orange Ave., Daytona Beach. $35; $25 in advance. 386-322-3600.

BIKETOBERFEST EVENTS, OCT. 16: Sisterhood Ride for women begins at 10 a.m.; ROAR Fiesta featuring food and more from noon-3 p.m., ROAR Motorcycles for Women, 897 Bellevue Ave., Daytona Beach. FREE. 386-255-7527.

COUNTRY MYSTERY ROAD TOUR, OCT. 16: presented by the Daytona 200 Motorcycle Club, 9 a.m. registration; 10 a.m. ride, Daytona 200 Motorcycle Club, 3602 W. International Speedway Blvd., Daytona Beach. $15. 386-717-1888; daytona200mc.com.