{"id":30047,"date":"2026-10-02T00:11:51","date_gmt":"2026-10-02T00:11:51","guid":{"rendered":"urn:bikertrash-source:past\/blowout.html"},"modified":"2026-10-08T23:11:34","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T23:11:34","slug":"blowout-archive-47","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/motorcyclesontheroadagain.com\/?p=30047","title":{"rendered":"Blowout"},"content":{"rendered":"

Originally published:<\/strong> 1999
Original publication:<\/strong> BikerTrash.com
Original byline:<\/strong> Staff<\/p>

Archive review note: The listed year differs from a year in the recovered heading or opening. The original publication date remains unconfirmed.<\/em><\/p> 

 <\/pre> 
The Harley Blowout 2000 Experiences Payne<\/b> <\/p> 
By \u201cMagnum\u201d <\/i><\/pre> 
I travel all over the world and have, on many occasions; chosen to make the Mississippi Gulf Coast my destination for all the wonderful things that area offers visitors \u2013 casinos, good food, beaches wide with pure white sand leading to blue gulf waters un-muddied by the Mighty Missisippi. <\/p> 
Over the Memorial Day Weekend, on many years, I have found my way to Gulfport for the Harley Blowout, sponsored by the Asgard Motorcycle Club and held at the Gulfport Dragway. This event is one of the last of the good, old-fashioned biker events. Held on private property, this event has always taken you back to the good old days of biker lifestyle: hard drinking, naked women, fast bikes, naked women, good vendors, naked women, non-stop biker music, naked women, oh and did I mention \u2013 a lot of nudity. Blowout has been constantly growing from it\u2019s inception 18 years ago, quickly becoming a major second tier event \u2013 just down from the big three of Sturgis, Daytona, and Laconia. During all this time it has presented no trouble, no lawlessness in the community, and no violence of any sort. <\/p> 
The Mississippi Gulf Coast Convention and Visitors Bureau tells me that Blowout is one of the three biggest events to occur in the area and that it has tremendous economic impact on the entire community bringing in tens of millions of dollars each year. Many thousands of dollars have been raised for local charitable organizations by the bikers who visit the Mississippi Gulf Coast for this event. Throughout its history, Blowout has enjoyed a friendly and peaceful relationship with the law enforcement community. <\/p> 
So I must ask – Why, after seventeen wonderful previous years, was this year so different? Turns out that there\u2019s a new sheriff in town. It seems that Harrison County Sheriff George Payne, just in office since January, wants to make a name for himself as a hard, no-nonsense lawman \u2013 determined to keep us nasty old bikertrash in our place. <\/p> 
For the life of me I can\u2019t understand why that might be. Could it be a dramatic over-reaction to the recent carnage of April? Black Spring Break, on its first visit to the area, brought significant violence directly into the community. Its participants totally stopped traffic, flipped over cars, violated women, took over and vandalized the mall, spent little money, and benefited no local charities. Blowout\u2019s biker participants, on the other hand, have been welcome visitors for 17 years without incident. Their more outrageous behavior is totally confined to private property. They contribute significant economic impact to the Mississippi Gulf Coast and heavily support a range of local charitable organizations. Sheriff Payne, how can you equate these two groups? -as you have done in the media in an attempt to justify your ridiculous position on this issue. Do you really think that the private citizens and the business community of the Mississippi Gulf Coast are blind and ignorant enough to forget the inept manner in which law enforcement dealt with the Black Spring Break because you come down hard on bikers? <\/p> 
If you think that this group of bikers can or will be intimidated \u2013 you are sadly mistaken. The Mississippi Gulf Coast wants us there – or we think that they do. We are asked us to come and play and bring our money. We do just that in large numbers \u2013 well over 30,000 of us. I saw one estimate in the Biloxi\/Gulfport Sun Herald that 50,000 people attended this year. It could have been one of the all-time great biker events and it should\u2019ve been, but not with the new law in town. <\/p> 
This year Sheriff Payne brought all the good feelings to a screeching halt. His three mobile command stations, a dozen or more officers on site roaming the grounds in packs, flashing blue lights and warning signs at every intersection in the vicinity of the event, the interdiction of free access to town and facilities by roadblocks and targeted traffic enforcement \u2013 all served to create a smothering police presence. It resembled a military operation in its intent to intimidate and stifle. Three squad cars made traffic stops. Now I know how the Branch Davidians felt in Waco before the end. I spoke with many of the police officers on site who, so long as I promised not to reveal their names, said they felt that this kind of police presence was unnecessary and totally unjustified for this group. One officer told me that he\u2019d worked the event for years because it was fun, friendly, and he saw lots of flashing pretty girls. Next year, he said he\u2019d try to arrange his schedule so that he wouldn\u2019t have to be there at all since it was so was tense and confrontational. <\/p> 
The presumption that we bikers pose any kind of danger to the community is contradicted by seventeen years of evidence to the contrary. We are tourists \u2013 not criminals. While there, I heard a lot of anger from the bikertrash attending Blowout2000; folks who paid $50 a head and more for every vehicle, expecting what it was and really pissed off at what it has become. Much of that anger was directed at the police, of course, but some was directed at Asgard MC. I don\u2019t expect that the full truth of the matter will ever be known but according to the Sheriff \u2013 Asgard MC REQUESTED the uniformed cops on site and AGREED to the new rules. Now if you believe that, I\u2019ve got some incredible Arizona coastal property I\u2019m selling a bargain-basement prices!! <\/p> 
The scoop I heard from anonymous sources was that Sheriff Payne threatened to close down the whole event right at the last minute and had Asgard and the Dragway bent double over a big barrel. \u201cDo it my way or not at all\u201d, seemed to be the gist of the story. In fairness, the group of people who attend Blowout are not the Morman Tabernacle Choir. We are bikers. Nudity and drinking are as much a part of the biker culture as they are of MardiGras. The difference here is that this event is held on private property. Every single one of us present at the rally knows what to expect and that is why we come. It is an adult event. Every soul on the Dragway grounds pays $50.00 each to attend and participate. For seventeen years, this group has policed themselves, keeping our more outrageous behavior safely contained on private, restricted-access property and out of sight from any who might be offended. <\/p> 
When we leave the Rally Site, we behave lawfully and the Gulf Coast Community has enjoyed our presence. Still there were bike contests, drag races, lots of pretty bikes, girls who would risk arrest for a quick flash, high-priced vendors, and no rain to speak of. It could\u2019ve been worse \u2013 but the point is \u2013 it should\u2019ve been MUCH better. It always has been before. Our group – Buddy, Blair, Fish, Mike, Shine, and I, packed up and left early Sunday morning \u2013 we\u2019d simply had enough of the oppressive atmosphere that Napoleon Payne had brought about. We were far from alone. Normally still filling up on Sunday, this year Blowout saw more leaving than arriving that day. It was really sad and Payneful for those who\u2019ve come to know and look forward to what has been a great event for all. I hope that Asgard MC and the dragway can get it back the way it was before. If they don\u2019t, I won\u2019t ever go back \u2013 and I suspect that few others will either. <\/p> 
It\u2019ll quickly diminish to HOG Rally size, stature, and experience. It seems that is what the new sheriff wants. <\/p> 
In an attempt to write a balanced piece on this event I have tried over the past three days, right up to this morning as I write this for deadline, to contact Sheriff Payne \u2013 unsuccessfully. Everyone else I called either made themselves immediately available for a phone interview or called me right back for one. Gulfport PD gave me all the co-operation I could ask for, right down to manpower numbers. GPD actually had less men on the street this Memorial Day Weekend than in the past. They knew that we posed no problem. The only problem was the legend-in-his-own-mind, 5\u20194\u201d tall lawman, Sheriff George Payne. I wanted to ask him these questions – important questions – both for the Sheriff and for the community he is supposed to serve. Unless they are answered well, the Mississippi Gulf Coast will lose forever the event that has, for almost two decades, brought so much to that area and we will loose the last of the good-time biker rallies. <\/p> 
 
Why the change from the past? <\/i><\/p> 
Do you understand the tremendous depth to the very negative feeling your oppressive tactics generated? <\/i><\/p> 
Do you think for one minute that thousands of people will ride hundreds and thousands of miles to spend millions of dollars and be treated in this callous and unjust manner? <\/i><\/p> <\/blockquote> 
The two little old ladies who pulled up alongside me on Saturday spoke for the local community. They rolled down the window and grinned coquettishly, visions of the beautiful southern belles they once were still showing clearly in their faces and smiles; \u201cAre you boys having fun? We sure love having you here. Have a great time.\u201d And that brings me to the final and perhaps, the most important question for the business leaders and the Mississippi Gulf Coast community at-large. Do you want Blowout to continue? Do you want us back; with our millions of dollars and sunburned, friendly, though maybe somewhat fearsome, faces? Do you want, for one weekend a year, the wonderful thunderous sound of American-made motorcycles echoing through your streets and across your beautiful sand beaches? If you don\u2019t want us \u2013 there are many other communities who do. <\/p> 
Just let us know. <\/p> 
\u00a9 Magnum2000 printed in Bikertrash.com by permission<\/i><\/p> 
Archive notice: This article is preserved from the original BikerTrash.com archive. It reflects information available at the time of publication. Please verify dates, locations, prices, links, and other details before relying on them.<\/small><\/p>\n\n\n
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Originally published: 1999Original publication: BikerTrash.comOriginal byline: Staff Archive review note: The listed year differs from a year in the recovered heading or opening. The original publication date remains unconfirmed. The Harley Blowout 2000 Experiences Payne By \u201cMagnum\u201d I travel all over the world and have, on many occasions; chosen to make the Mississippi Gulf Coast … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[456],"class_list":["post-30047","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-rallies","tag-r005"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/motorcyclesontheroadagain.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30047","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/motorcyclesontheroadagain.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/motorcyclesontheroadagain.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/motorcyclesontheroadagain.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/motorcyclesontheroadagain.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=30047"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/motorcyclesontheroadagain.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30047\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":900603,"href":"https:\/\/motorcyclesontheroadagain.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30047\/revisions\/900603"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/motorcyclesontheroadagain.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=30047"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/motorcyclesontheroadagain.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=30047"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/motorcyclesontheroadagain.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=30047"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}