Motor Mania roars into the Shell Factory
The army of hundreds of “hogs” pulling up to the Shell Factory never materialized, but that didn’t mean the inaugural Motor Mania event on Sunday wasn’t a success.
In fact, considering that many of the snowbirds have already gone home for the summer, the event, geared toward locals, went well.
The weather was spectacular as more than 100 bikes and trikes from all over the area pulled in and out throughout the day to eat, enjoy the attractions and listen to music.
The event was a brainstorm of owner Tom Cronin.
“Tom is always looking for ways to get more motorcycles here because he loves them,” Pam Cronin said. “We’re just having a bunch of bikes out here.”
Things got kicked off at 9 a.m. with a biker buffet breakfast, with live music from the Certified Band starting at noon. The event also featured several vendors, biker games and a contest on who had the best ride.
One ride in the running for that honor was from Brian Trexler of North Fort Myers, who rode in on a hybrid motorcycle with a car’s engine called the MLC 400 (MLC as in midlife crisis).
“It’s a remanufactured Suzuki. The top is a Jet-Ski, the engine is from a 1982 Chevy Camaro, BMW seats and a Firebird Turbo rear,” Trexler said. “It’s a rat bike with all different pieces. Whatever we find, we make it work.”
He loves it so much, he said he’s only used his truck about a dozen times this year.
Not everyone was local – a pack of riders came in from the Miami area to enjoy the day, most of them riding Beemer bikes.
“We had the information of the event sent to our dealer, so we put it together. It was an opportunity to ride and go with our families,” said Alexis Sanchez, who manages a BMW bike dealership in the area.
All the attractions were open, and those who came got to take a first look at the soon-to-be completed Soaring Eagle zip line, which should be completed in time for Mother’s Day, Cronin said.
The event drew steady traffic.
Cronin said the thought of doing another Motor Mania during season hasn’t really been considered.
“We try to have events for our locals to bring them in instead of just catering to tourists,” Cronin said. “We love them, but we like to do things for the residents.”