At only twenty-one miles long from beach to beach and surrounded by water more pure than the springs at Zephyrhills, Aruba provides the perfect stomping grounds for a group of bikers to join together and celebrate the national holiday of Flag Day. With Aruba flags flown in every corner of the island for the day, they really know how to throw down with parades, parties, and a police-escorted rides through the island's historic landmarks.
While on location in Aruba to complete a custom build for a client and film a local TV show on the process, I was lucky enough to be invited to ride our new 2008 custom Hayabusa on a fun-filled ride through the Caribbean island. Although the ride was sponsored by Harley Davidson of Aruba, I was pleasantly surprised to end up spending most of my day surrounded by stretched and slammed Hayabusas, GSX-Rs, and ZX14s. The ride started out at Underground Cycles and quickly made its way to the northernmost tip of the island. Known for its striking views of the island from the California lighthouse and the lush landscapes of the world-renowned golf course, riding two wheels through this area of Aruba is exactly what I envision taking your bike to heaven with you would be like. The journey continued on through the hotel zone, passed right through the center of downtown Oranjestad and stopped shortly thereafter for a short tour of the Aloe museum and some motorcycle games. After a short breather, we continued on to see the southern end of the island; tour the remaining terrain and end up at a great Caribbean drinking hole for some cold beer and tasty treats.
The day, in total, stretched more than fifty miles of riding and crossed most every inch of paved roads the island has to offer. The overall demeanor of the riders was laid back and relaxed, like most everything is in Aruba, although the riders' favorite thing to do was drift around corners and light the roads up with rolling burnouts. The law requires helmets to be worn but most of what we take out for recreational use on the weekend is legal to drive on the roads of Aruba. Dirt bikes, three-wheelers, four-wheelers and even the occasional quad on 20 inch wires can be found flooding the streets. Add a tail light to the rear, duct tape a flashlight to the handlebars and voila, you're basically free to move about the island. The surprising contrast to this lackadaisical policy on motorized vehicles and their streets is the fact that all cars, trucks and vans need to pass an inspection to stay licensed and on the road... go figure.
With only one place on the island to obtain street bike bling, Moto-Excellence has tough shoes to fill with a growing demand for aftermarket parts. Stocking parts from such US suppliers such as Roaring Toyz, H2o Cycles, RIS Designs and Exoticycle; this is the one-stop resource for stretching, slamming, and upgrading your cycle. Although only a few big-wheel bikes exist on the island, the need for swingarm extensions, grips, levers, and bolt-ons seems to be growing rapidly. All in all, we met some great people, got to enjoy the closeness to the equator on two wheels and debut our single-sided 360mm rear tire Hayabusa to a very interested crowd of enthusiasts. I made some great friends over the past few trips and want to thank Paul Wong and family, Howard's family and friends, Alex and Turbo TV in addition to the local policia and organizers of such an event for all their hospitality.
When you first arrive on the island, you are greeted everywhere by signs that say "Bon Bini Aruba," that translated to "Welcome to Aruba" and they mean it. The people are very friendly, the weather is unlike that of anywhere I've ever traveled and you instantly feel like family amongst the crowd. I invite all riders to make a trip to this wonderful corner of the earth whether it is for your honeymoon, a cruise or just to make a vacation trip to rent some quad's and ride the Caribbean. I know I'll be back as often as possible so as they say in Aruba...Nosta Topa! (See you later)