Alas, it is our last day and although the entire staff of Thunder Beach, our vendors and all of participating sponsors have not gotten very much sleep, it has been one hell of an experience. We had originally planned on calling it quits as far as photography goes, but there were so many people still in town and a large number of vendors decided to stay open, we made the rounds one more time. I was so excited I finally got a chance to catch the Motorcycle Stunt Show and the Ball of Steel. It’s always one of my favorite events as it takes major cajones to do what these cats do! I was also glad to see Vince and the guys from Redneck Engineering still on site as I hadn’t had a chance to talk to them. Vince is a super guy and has been a long time Rally Attendee. He also happens to build some of the baddest bikes available on the planet! Hopefully after he reads my feeble attempt at a long distance ass kiss, I’ll get a deal on one!

Then it was off to Spinnaker Beach Club to check out the new Bikes Only layout and lets just say it was workin’! The center aisle was think with thunderous machines and there were folks everywhere. My personal fave was the Dyno Machine where folks were pushing their bikes to the max to see what extra power they could tweak from their throaty V-Twin. It sounds SO cool when a big Harley motor hits a teeth rattling 5,500 RPMs! After a short 30 minute rainstorm, everything was back to normal and I was off to the Boardwalk to get some shots of biker favorite Grip and to watch the sun go down on our beautiful beaches.

It was then back to Edgewater to make sure that we didn’t miss anything! After a quick walkthrough and some chit chat with some new found friends, it was time hit our newest venue Sharky’s Beach Club. This brand new venue was going strong and we hadn’t even hit the lunchtime hour! Bikes were lined up from one side of the venue to the other and there were folks standing in line to get their bikes spruced beachside by the Sharky’s Bikini Bike Wash Girls.After a good hour or two enjoying the music, food and friends it was time to ride the beaech and check out some of the other popular hangouts like Shuckums, Hofbrau, and the new Margaritaville. All of these places had shiny chrome and leather clad travelers busting at the seams all having a great time living the beach life!

Around 10:00am, we headed over to the Kevin Kight Memorial Parade and was again surprised at the massive number pf bikes that came out to support this worthy cause. An estimated 400 bikers lined up as far as the eye could see to honor one of our local fallen heroes. We were proud to be a part of this great ride.

What a day! This was by far the biggest Saturday Thunder Beach has ever experienced. There was a literal sea of bikes from one end of Panama City Beach to the other. We started off our day early at the Edgewater venue and was surprised at how busy it was at 8:30am! I was worried I was a little to early to get some good shots, but boy was I wrong. The Kuryakyn install bay was already hopping and had bikes lined up for some cool new chrome. Metzeler, Dragonfly Concepts, Arnott Air Ride and the other big rigs had bikers line up checking out the latest and the greatest and nearly every other vendor had a small crowd gathering around them before I had finished my first cup o’ joe!

More photos from Day 5 of the Thunder Beach 10th Anniversary Spring Rally

Friday was what this Rally is all about! Beautiful blue skies, a perfect 77 degrees, and the roar of majestic V-Twins rolling down the gulf-side roads made today a perfect day at the Rally. All of our existing venues as well as the 2 new venues were packed with leather clad bikers and lovely ladies all looking for that perfect thing for their bike or the latest in motorcycle fashion. It seems to be the largest turnout ever for a Spring Rally making our 10th Anniversary that much better.

Tony Stevens' Slow Ride tore up the stage at another one of the Sandpiper Beacon's Free Pre-Rally Concerts. They pulled out all of the stops and put on a really great show. The Dan Lawson Band opened the show with a blazing performance highlighting a lot of his new original music and probably one of the best versions of Whole Lotta Rosie ever played on the beach! Where were you?!

Even though the Rally hasn’t officially kicked in yet, the party has begun! The last few days we have seen quite a few bikers rolling in to town a little early to soak up some extra sun, take in the sights, and to ride along the World’s Most Beautiful beaches before the minions arrive.

We packed up tight and made the trip over to Daytona for Bike Week 2008 in the hopes of bringing some new folks to the rally and we must admit, to blow off a little steam and have some fun! In addition to talking to so many old friends, meeting a ton of incredible people, and seeing some wicked bikes; fun was just what we had!

Our trip to the Expo was off the hook! Check out the first set of photos from our trip to Cincinnati at the 2008 V-Twin Expo.