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I just bought a new Harley. It is so beautiful. I love it so much. I am thinking of going to Bike Week in Daytona in March, driving in the AM from Orlando. Anyone even been there before? Anyone going again this year? Was it cancelled last year and/or the year before?

The State Attorney’s Office will seek the death penalty against a man accused of killing a Daytona Beach couple as they returned home on their bicycles after a night of Bike Week festivities, according to a press release. Jean R. Macean, 32, of Orlando, was indicted on March 29 by a grand jury on two counts of first-degree murder with a weapon while acting with premeditation in the killings of Terry Aultman, 48, and Brenda Aultman, 55, according to the indictment. The Aultmans were stabbed repeatedly while riding their bicycles home early in the morning of March 6 after attending...

Just as summer is ramping up, Myrtle Beach, a top South Carolina summer destination, is dealing with a flurry of violence that has city and state officials scrambling to calm worried visitors and residents. In the city's most prominent incident, at least seven people were injured in a June 18 shooting that was live-streamed on Facebook. That shooting -- and two others that weekend -- followed six over the Easter holidays in April. The violence prompted South Carolina's Republican Gov. Henry McMaster to visit the city not long after and order steps to beef up security, such as bringing in...

Bike Week Deaths Worst In Event's History 18 Deaths Most in 65 years (CBS4 News) DAYTONA BEACH Bike Week in Daytona beach ends today, and this year’s event will go down in history as the deadliest gathering of motorcycle enthusiasts in the event’s 65 year history. 18 motorcyclists have died in the past nine days, three more than the previous deadliest Bike Week in 2000. The Florida Highway Patrol says three bikers died in separate accidents Saturday, and four died on Friday. Tens of thousands of bikers flock to Daytona each spring for the event, which celebrates motorcycles and bike...

Stunt rider hurt at cole slaw wrestling contest STAFF REPORT SAMSULA - A stunt motorcycle rider in a show that featured 30-foot jumps over a cole slaw-wrestling pit was injured today. James Verschuuren, 21, ran his motorcycle off the side of a ramp and landed on his head while attempting a jump just after noon at Sopotnick's Cabbage Patch, witnesses said. The freestyle motocross show was a preliminary to the venue's annual Bike Week cole slaw wrestling event. "This is my rookie guy and this is want he wants to do, and this is what happens to him," said Kenny...

Thousands Roar Into Daytona Beach for Bike Week 3/4/2006 9am report By First Coast News Staff DAYTONA BEACH, FL -- The annual pilgrimage to "motorcycle mecca" is underway. Thousands of bikers are roaring into Daytona Beach for Bike Week. The city is geared up and vendors are set up along Main Street. More than 300,000 motorcycle riders are expected to roll through town.

Fourth Motorcyclist Dies in Accident at Bike Week Mar 6, 2004 The Associated Press DELTONA, Fla. (AP) - A motorcyclist was killed Saturday when he ran off the road and struck a tree, bringing the death toll at Bike Week to four. Hector Torres, 28, of Deltona, was the only person involved in the accident, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Torres was thrown from the motorcycle after missing a curve and striking a tree. He was wearing a novelty helmet, not a safety helmet, The Daytona Beach News-Journal reported. He was the...

Laconia’s embattled Police Chief Bill Baker yesterday fired a verbal shot against politicians, businessmen and the New Hampshire Supreme Court in the wake of the shooting of two “Hells Angels prospects” in the early morning hours. The men arrived at Lakes Region General Hospital at 3:20 a.m. after being shot from behind while motorcycling on Route 106 between Loudon and Laconia. Laconia police, who were called to the hospital, said the State Police knew the two men. Laconia Police, however, did not have information on their names, ages or places of residence. Laconia Police Sgt. John MacLennan said the...

LACONIA — Despite concern for potential violence, Motorcycle Week ended substantially quieter than in previous years, with a dramatic decline in arrests and fatal accidents. Wet and cold weather made for smaller crowds and fewer day trippers, but business were reporting good profits from the week. Rather than the 375,000 believed to have attended last year’s event, a record according to the American Motorcycle Association, this year about 250,000 to 270,000 are believed to have come to New Hampshire for the nine-day event. State Police Lt. Harry Nadeau said only a third of the normal number of arrests were...

LACONIA — Welcome inside the Camel Roadhouse at Bike Week, a huge beer tent set up on the grounds of the Weirs Beach Lobster Pound, where beautiful women wearing close to nothing will pour you a beer while you listen to live rock and roll. Today, both U.S. Sen. Bob Smith and gubernatorial hopeful Craig Benson will come to the Roadhouse, if they can get in, to greet potential voters. Oh and, if they come, they better expect to keep their weapons outside and be checked over by a huge bouncer looking for drunks. This tent and several others...

How did this happen? A year ago I covered the Laconia Bike Week for the newspaper wearing ear plugs. The black-leather-clad crowd looked silly to me, as well as the men who spent fortunes chroming-out and customizing their pet bikes. Today, I own an ensemble of black leather, and shop for more. I have a Harley-Davidson with loud pipes and enough chrome to make me proud . . . but not proud enough. When my friend read the sticker I pasted on my black helmet last weekend after attending the Laconia rally (WANTED: A Meaningful Overnight Relationship), she concluded...

06-02-02Becoming a Biker, Part 1: Buying the motorcycle is just step one for this beginner LACONIA — Bike Week’s last few days are ending as a washout, with thousands yesterday pulling up stakes and heading home, as cold rain fell on the Lakes Region. Instead of building up to this weekend, as has occurred in years past, Laconia’s Bike Week now is a true nine-day event, and in this case, the big weekend was last weekend. “If we were having a good sunny day like Thursday it would be packed,” said Dave Kelly, working at the desk at the...

LACONIA — As hundreds of members of Hells Angels gather from across the country this week for the largest motorcycle rally in the Northeast, concern for the presence of rival gangs intensified yesterday with word that members of such groups had been seen among the crowds in Weirs Beach. Yesterday, members of various chapters of the Hells Angels were walking Lakeside Avenue keeping a lookout for members of gangs such as the Outlaws, whom police intelligence sources have said could possibly appear at Laconia’s 79th Annual Bike Week. Other groups that dislike the Hells Angels could also be present among...

LACONIA — So, what do bikers do when it pours rain all day long? Get wet. Very wet. In the bathrooms at Patrick’s Pub in Gilford yesterday, bikers were taking off their boots and pouring rain water into the sink, and using towels to pat dry their faces and raw hands. Then it was time to belly up to the packed bar. At the Gunstock Hillclimb where several thousand motorcyclists stood in puddles watching riders attempt to ascend the steep and muddy ski jump, they just whooped it up when a downpour came through to saturate them even more....

Part 1 06-02-02BECOMING A BIKER: Buying the motorcycle is just step one for this beginner This thing might kill me. That thought is on my mind as I learn how to ride my shiny new purchase, an 883 Harley-Davidson Sportster. Experienced riders advised me to never lose this respect for my bike. Riding is risky, no matter how good you are. Nearly everyone recommended the three-day motorcycle rider safety training program put on by the state division of motor vehicles for $85. Anxious to increase my odds of survival, I signed up. Plus, if you pass the class, you...

CONCORD — Following an almost non-stop day of negotiations and an emergency meeting of the State Liquor Commission yesterday, an agreement was reached that will allow three Laconia restaurants to open reduced-size beer tents for Motorcycle Week in Laconia. The three-member commission on Thursday denied extended drinking area permits after listening to public safety concerns expressed by the Department of Safety and the Attorney General’s Office. It was concern over increased alcoholic beverage drinking and the possibility of violence over the coming week that worried state officials. But during yesterday’s hastily called commission meeting, Assistant Attorney General Ann Rice...

CONCORD — The Hells Angels of New Hampshire won their court battle yesterday to run vending booths at a busy crossroads during Motorcycle Week in Laconia. The annual event that begins today draws 350,000 to a lakeside festival centered at Weirs Beach. It features beer tents, live entertainment and motorcycle races and runs through Father’s Day. The state Supreme Court ruled that a Laconia licensing board wrongly denied the Hells Angels a license to operate 11 booths at Weirs Beach. A Superior Court judge had sided with the city. A breakdown in a long-standing truce between the Hells Angels...

05-01-02Laconia police chief worriesabout biker gang clashes CONCORD — Permits to operate large beer tents during Laconia’s Motorcycle Week were denied by the state Liquor Commission yesterday, prompting business owners to head to court today to seek an emergency reversal. “This is far from over,” said Jay Allen, owner of the Broken Spoke Saloon. He claims public safety officials are afraid of the event that draws 350,000 and are resorting to this and other “extreme” measures to prevent possible motorcycle gang violence. The three-member Liquor Commission voted unanimously to deny the permits for the Broken Spoke, The Weirs Beach...