Rain doesn’t dampen biker fun at 17th annual Laughlin River Run

Monday, April 26, 1999 | 11:50 a.m.

Cool weather and rain dampened the leathers but not the spirits of the 50,000 or so who gathered over the weekend in this Colorado River city for the annual motorcycle run.

The elements kept many bikes parked instead of cruising, much to the delight of vendors and gaming operators who reported brisk business.

The event attracted bikers from both coasts, including bike fans like Theo Drescher of Augusta, Ga., who rode for more than a week.

"I'll go anywhere to show off my hog," said Drescher, 60, using the nickname for a Harley-Davidson motorcycle. "Laughlin is as good a place as any to do it."

The weekend produced robust gaming action, said a Laughlin casino executive who declined to be identified.

Legal gambling is one aspect of Laughlin that sets River Run apart from other, larger motorcycle assemblages around the nation.

Almost all of Laughlin's 11,000 hotel rooms, spread among 11 hotels, were sold out months in advance and at rates much higher than normally found at the gaming burg on the Colorado River, about 100 miles southeast of Las Vegas.

"This is traditionally, along with New Year's, the highest room rates of the year," said Ginger Breen, vice president of marketing for the 1,500-room Ramada Express. "A normal weekend (room rate) is about $69. This weekend, it's $129 to $139."

Breen said revenue from table games went up during the motorcycle rally, but the casino earned less from slot machines.

Peter Fonda, star of the biker classic "Easy Rider" was among those attending.

Also benefiting with a stellar business weekend was the Harley-Davidson dealership in Las Vegas. The new 92,000-square-foot superstore, the world's largest, saw floods of River Run patrons, who made the weekend one of the busiest of the year, said Lori Thompson, director of motor clothes and collectibles.

The store's service department, typically closed on Sundays, had plenty of work as bikers left Laughlin in need of new tires, batteries and spark plugs, Thompson said.