Black Bike Week is centered along a stretch of Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune Boulevard in Daytona Beach.
DAYTONA BEACH -- Dana Williams, from Baltimore, rode his customized Harley-Davidson into Black Bike Week in Daytona Beach, an event that features plenty of music, motorcycles and soul food.
"It's fully done, nothing is stock on the bike except for the gas tank," said Williams, who has been coming to Black Bike Week for five years, about the Harley.
The News-Journal spoke to Williams Thursday, March 5, the official start of Black Bike Week, now in its 55th year, and the bikers were still few for the event. But by Saturday afternoon, March 7, the action had picked up considerably in the city's historic Midtown neighborhood. Black Bike Week runs during the latter half of Bike Week, which this year marked its 85 anniversary.
There was plenty of music and roaring motorcycles along a stretch of Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune Boulevard in Daytona Beach, the center of Black Bike Week.
Beginnings of Black Bike Week
Black Bike Week began in 1971. That's when a Black biker said he was told he would have to leave the Bike Week event on Main Street on the beachside, supposedly because his Harley-Davidson was dripping oil, according to a previous News-Journal story.
He and other Black bikers decided to form their own event by gathering at Joe Harris Park, at the corner of Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune Boulevard and Green Street.
That gathering has become what is now informally called Black Bike Week, which ran through Sunday, March 8, during the 85th anniversary of Bike Week.
Black Bike Week in Daytona Beach keeps growing
Perry Harrington of Fayetteville, North Carolina, said he has been coming to the event since the 1980s.
He was selling T-shirts, CDs and other items during Black Bike Week.
"The bikers did a good job for Daytona Beach -- both colors -- white and Black. It uplifts the community. That's all you can ask for," Harrison said.
On Saturday afternoon, vendors like Harrington were selling T-shirts, and a sign advertised "soul food" and listed oxtail, ribs and collard greens.
People lined the section of Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune Boulevard to watch bikers roll by. Motorcyles, some looking pretty much like they rolled straight out of the factory except for a phone holder, and others heavily-modified, barely resembling the original version, were parked along the street.
Rodney Rich of Washington, North Carolina, rolled into Black Bike Week March 5 on his customized Harley-Davidson equipped with 10 speakers, part of an 8,000-watt audio system.
"We come every year in March and October," Rich said.
At Black Bike Week, everyone is welcome
And it wasn't just Black bikers on Mary McLeod Bethune Boulevard. Everyone's welcome, and it wasn't unusual to see white and Hispanic bikers throughout the event.
One of the Hispanic bikers was Lenin Molina, of Port Orange, who rolled in on Thursday, March 5, wearing a customized helmet which took some bikers' penchant for skulls to another level. The helmet looked like a skull.
"I had it custom made. It's an actual helmet," Molina said. "They just built the whole front of it. It's still DOT approved."
He said he comes to Black Bike Week every year and enjoys seeing different motorcycles.
"The amount of bikes, the differences; you get to see different styles; the people; the event obviously; the nightlife," Molina said.
Yasin Dukes, 18, of Atlanta, said he has been coming to Black Bike Week since he was 5 years old. He said Daytona Beach is his mother's hometown. Dukes was working Saturday, March 7, as he does every day during the event, helping his father sell T-shirts.
He referred to the crowd on Saturday, saying it was a good turnout.
"Every year it gets bigger and bigger," he said.