Bruce Rossmeyer | Top Harley-Davidson dealer By DOUGLAS HANKS dhanks@MiamiHerald.com Bruce Rossmeyer, who rode his success as a Harley-Davidson dealer into motorcycle celebritydom, died Thursday while driving a Harley on a Wyoming highway, a spokeswoman said.
The 66-year-old was in a motorcycle caravan with friends on the way to the Sturgis biker rally in South Dakota when he collided with a truck pulling a camper that the caravan was passing, said Valerie Zucker, a family spokeswoman.
Rossmeyer presided over the largest chain of Harley dealerships in the world and each prominently featured his name. Though he once spent considerable time in Fort Lauderdale, Rossmeyer's empire revolved around the Florida biker capital of Daytona Beach.
`PUBLICITY ... SELLS'
There he created ``Destination Daytona'' -- a 150-acre tourist attraction featuring the world's largest Harley-Davidson dealership and places for fans to eat, drink, sleep, get married and buy a condo.
Billboards for Bruce Rossmeyer's Harley-Davidson dealerships featured his beefy, gray-bearded face. GEICO put him in a television ad for motorcycle insurance, and Rossmeyer once gamely entertained an offer to be in a reality show that never got produced.
``Publicity is what sells,'' Rossmeyer told The Miami Herald in 2007. ``It's a way to promote me and sell more bikes.''
Rossmeyer bought his first Harley dealership in 1994 after a successful career as a car dealer. He thought the Daytona Harley shop would be a weekend hobby, but he went on to own 15 of them from Fort Lauderdale to Boston. He bought his Fort Lauderdale dealership in 1998, then one in Sunrise and Pompano Beach over the next eight years.
Though his primary residence was in Ormond Beach -- the actual location of Destination Daytona -- Rossmeyer has a condo in Fort Lauderdale and was a part-time resident there.
`LOST A CHAMPION'
He was active in raising money for the Boys & Girls Club of Broward County and the Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital, hosting charity bike parades and dinners, often featuring his celebrity friends such as James Gandolfini, a Sopranos star, and Aerosmith's Steven Tyler.
``We lost a champion for our community,'' said Richie Supa, a Fort Lauderdale resident and one-time Aerosmith songwriter who helped Rossmeyer line up talent for the biker benefits.
FAMILY
Rossmeyer is survived by his wife, Sandy, five children and nine grandchildren. Jeans and untucked shirts made up his CEO attire as Rossmeyer personified the fantasy of a millionaire biker. His private jet has flames running down the side like a Harley. His arm bore the signature Harley logo, permanently.
``He loved having the bar and shield on his forearm,'' Zucker said of Rossmeyer's tattoo. ``The man absolutely loved life.''
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