Daytona Beach's Main Street 'underwhelming' on 1st Friday night of Bike Week; scantily-clad hostesses serve up booze

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Photos by Henry Frederick / The first Friday night of Bike Week 2011, on Main Street in Daytona Beach, was light as shown in this 7 p.m. photo, at far left.

DAYTONA BEACH -- Vince Ballard couldn't believe how easy it was to find a spot on Main Street -- Ground Zero for Bike Week -- on Friday night -- going into the first weekend of the 10-day annual motorcycle rally that ends March 13 and billed as drawing 500,000 bikers.

If Friday night was any indication, the half-million biker stat certainly won't hold up. "I know it's the economy," said the 40-year-old Ballard of Indianapolis, proprietor of Thugs Inc. Choppers back home.

"The gas prices aren't helping things," he said. "The hotels are expensive. I noticed in 2007, it started to have less bikers, but not like this. Not for... Main Street."

Photos by Henry Frederick / Daytona Beach cops on Segways outnumbered bikers at one point on Main Street Friday night as shown in this 7:15 p.m. photo.  Far more bikes were parked than in motion. A bike tows a coffin in far right photo.

Not only was parking easy for the bikes, but the sidewalks were far from crowded as were many of the stores selling Bike Week merchandise, from hats to T-shirts to posters.

The scantily-clad hostesses at the outdoor bar venues drew a lot of attention from bikers.

Still, the bar venues were crowded with bikers, who did show up on Main Street, with scantily-clad hostesses serving up bottled beer.

Beach Street was barren Friday night and the temporary vendors on U.S. in Port Orange and South Daytona were empty. Pub 44 in New Smyrna Beach had a moderate crowd.

Ballard, the Indianapolis biker said in years past, Main Street was busier in the days leading up to the official 10-day run. And while he used to come down for the full run, Ballard said he and his friends will be gone by Wednesday.

"We just can't afford it any more," he said. "It was $500 just for the gas to come down here."

Between renting trailers to haul the bikes, the hotel stays, food and beer, Ballard said the $2,000 he reserved for the trip won't go as far as it did in past years.

Being different is one of the hallmarks of Bike Week on Main Street as shown in the far left photo of two women walking arm and arm and Spiderman conversing with a biker.

To put things in context, Main Street was crowded during the day Friday and the temperatures dropped slightly after dark with the threat of rain.

By 7:30 p.m., there was a slight drizzle.

Still, Ballard doubts Bike Week organizers will be able to lay claim to drawing 500,000 bikers, which he believes hasn't been the case for at least the last four years.