Hog heaven - Poker Run grows from small Keys ride to huge South Florida event

When the Florida Keys' biggest motorcycle poker run heads south this weekend, event founder Phil Peterson will be coming back to where it all started for his family business.

Peterson, a Wisconsin native, opened his first motorcycle shop in a wooden building on Key West's Caroline Street in 1954.

Now, more than a half-century later, Peterson's Harley-Davidson of Miami operates two large dealerships in Miami-Dade.

When Peterson journeyed down U.S. 1 in 1954, palm trees and clear water were a secondary appeal.

"I knew the Navy had several thousand sailors based there - and a credit union," smiled Peterson, a former Navy sailor who'd been stationed in Key West.

His Key West Harley shop competed with several other motorcycle dealers, include sellers of BSA and other British bikes.

"Their bikes were good, too, but we outlasted them because our service was better," Peterson said during the recent grand opening of his relocated south dealership in the former Circuit City building on South Dixie Highway.

"If a guy came in for a quart of oil, I'd get his name and talk to him a little bit," Peterson said. "When he came back, I'd ask him about his bike or his family or whatever."

Peterson's Key West shop was an affiliate of the main Harley dealer in Miami. In 1958, Peterson bought the mainland dealership and moved north. He later worked with longtime Key West shop owner Mike Horne to maintain a center in the southernmost city.

Now, a replica of Peterson's original Key West storefront has been built inside the new Harley-Davidson South of Miami dealership, as a backdrop to a display of historic Harleys.

"I love having that here in the dealership to show where we came from," said Drew Peterson, Phil's son and now owner-manager. "It helps bring back the look and feel of the old-style Harley-Davidson."

Drew now coordinates the Peterson's Key West Poker Run, in its 34th year.

The first event was staged mostly as a membership event for the Mustang Motorcycle Club, planned for the September season in Key West "when things were slow," Drew said. "There were 46 riders the first year, but that started the tradition."

In recent years, Peterson's Key West Poker Run has drawn an estimated 10,000 motorcycles and 20,000 people, Drew said.

About 2,500 bikers register for the actual poker run, while the others are content to share in the excitement of filling Old Town with two-wheeled thunder.

Proceeds from the event - about $70,000 - are split between the Key West Sunrise Rotary's scholarship fund and the national Diabetes Research Institute.

Other Keys chapters of Rotary receive a $1,000 donation for staffing the Poker Run stops on the way down the Keys.

The poker run "gets better every year, and does a lot of good for worthwhile charities," Drew said. "But my father has always considered the people in Key West. He's always told us to keep things down, and go slowly."

A special Poker Run guide directs bikers to local businesses, he said.

Activities at the 2006 Poker Run will include bike-judging, and contests that reward prizes for tattoos, eating chicken wings, and best beer belly.

"I remember when it was a bit rougher crowd around motorcycles, but motorcyclists today are a totally different group," Drew said. "It's completely changed. These are baby-boomers who will be coming in from all over the country, just to enjoy Key West. Nobody's coming to pillage."

Peterson's Key West Poker Run lasts from Friday through Sunday. Most riders come down Friday.