Daytona Bike Week

On Wednesday, the Ultimate Builder Custom Bike Show kicks off at the Progressive International Motorcycle Show during the famed Daytona Bike Week in Florida.

For 2011, the prize money has doubled for the Ultimate Builder show at Daytona IMS show. IMS says $14,000 in prize money, plus big prizes offered up by class sponsors GYTR, Harley-Davidson and Star, makes this competition out to be one of the biggest around.

The Ultimate Builder show will feature class champions from previous IMS competitions throughout the United States, along with some new bikes/builders. Attendants at the show will vote on their favorite of all the custom motorcycles that will be on display at Daytona IMS.

One of the best parts of the Daytona IMS show? Admission is FREE. So if you're at Daytona Bike Week, besure to check out the Ultimate Builder bikes on display at IMS, located at Ocean Center Daytona Beach, 101 North Atlantic Ave. (one block north of Main Street).

The show runs from Wednesday until Friday. The awards ceremony, which is based on votes from the attendants of the show, will be at 3 p.m. Friday.

Following is a list of some of the builders that will be featured in the Daytona Ultimate Builder Bike Show:

• Wikked Steel - a pair of radical customs to enter into the freestyle class - Area 51 and Speedstar.
• Bob McAreavey, who won the Modified Harley class in Cleveland and Chicago, entering a 2001 H-D.
• Jason Bochniak, who won the Modified Harley Class at the DC, New York and Minneapolis shows. In fact the only show he has entered that he hasn't won was the Cleveland show, where he was beat by McAreavey. Bochniak is entering his 2006 Harley named The Phoenix.
• Jesse Bassett who won the Freestyle class with his BSA and Jamie Luczak who won Performance Custom with his 2006 Hayabusa. Both Cleveland show winners will be entering their machines.
• Another previous show winner is coming all the way from Los Angeles. Chris Richardson of LA Speed Shop is bringing Lady Luck with him to Daytona.
• Novi show winner, Gary Maurer, has entered his Kustom's Inc. boober, No Reservation, in the Daytona competition.
• Troy Kyne, who won the Freestyle class in Chicago with his Predasaurus, will be competing in Daytona.
• Steve Bates, Sr. of SRB Customs has entered his bike, Mean Green. Steve also competed at the Dallas show back in November.

Ims says these custom motorcycles will be joined by others from Big Tony's Chopp Shop, Bourget's Bike Works, FNA Custom Cycles, Garwood Cycles, Mad Metrics, plus a new bike built by Interstate Batteries coming all the way down from Canada.