In 1974 Joey O’Neal was riding his motorcycle down Quince Street in Philadelphia, till his bike decided to break down in front of this space that was for rent and that is how the Bike Stop was born.
The Bike Stop Philadelphia opened in 1974 (during the same year Guantlet New York City, The Horeshoe Saloon DC, Munich Eagle, A/J Ranch, Harper’s Ferry WV and The Strap New York City opened) and was owned by Joey O’Neal & Ron Lord.
The Bike Stop on 206 South Quince Street was owned by Joey and Ron till 1982 and changed hands in April 10th 1982. Today the Bike Stop continues to be a major staple in the Philadelphia Leather scene and still has the original motorcycle that broke down in 1974 hanging by the entrance.
Pictured below we have 2 original Bike Stop items that were given away during the fifteenth year anniversary which we had the honor of attending.
- 1997 Bike Stop 15 year Anniversary button & dog tag.
Unfortunately this post is flawed in a few aspects. For one, the Bike Stop did not open until June 11, 1982 as evidenced by articles in the Philadelphia Gay News. Second, the myth about the bar obtaining its name from the owner’s motorcyle, or ‘bike’, coming to an abrupt ‘stop’ is false as evidenced by interviews with former and present bar staff. It is an amusing anecdote that has been shared, and while the bar continues to be a staple in Philadelphia’s leather community this story is one that is rife with inaccuracy.
That’s a great story about Joey O’Neal and the motorcycle. The Bike Stop, however, didn’t open under that name until 1983. It was the Forrest until 1976, then Scarlet’s for about a year, then After Dark from ’77 to ’80. Finally, it was the New Forrest, featuring drag shows and cabaret acts, from 1980 until 1983, when it became the Bike Stop. I was under the impression that Ron still managed the Bike Stop long after 1983. I’d love more info.
Bob this has us wondering and researching the scene in Philly in the 70′s and early 1980′s. We have never heard of the Forrest bar, except for the Forrest theater (which would make sense) since the bar sits across Quince Street from the Forrest theater.
The other names are foreign to me also, but I’m grateful to you for keeping their memory alive. The Bike Stop was my first leather bar to visit. It became sort of a second home for me in the late 80′s and early 90′s.
Thank you for sharing these memories and welcome to backinthegays.
We were actually contacted by one of the original owners via e-mail and he mentioned giving more information on the story. Hope he did not forget about us here, because we would love to read more information as well about this neighborhood leather bar called The Bike Stop.
Thanks again for the contribution of information.
Robert –
The Bike Stop was one of the first bars I went to when I moved here to Philly, too, so it has a lot of meaning for me. I’m the archivist at the William Way LGBT Center in Philly and do a lot of presentations on the history of the city’s Gayborhood. Thanks so much for the time and effort you put into to maintaining this blog. It’s web spaces like this that keep our stories and memories alive. Bravo to you!
Thanks Bob for joining us on our journey through gay history. Philadelphia has so much LGBT history it is insane. We love the Gayborhood, I myself grew up in Philly and both of us living there from 1996 to 1999 right in the area. Any info you can share on the LGBT history of Philadelphia would make a nice addition to backinthegays.com
Thanks again for your support.
Hello guys –
Your website got me to thinking about how important sharing and sharing in LGBT history is. I started a Philly Gayborhood History blog here:
http://thegayborhoodguru.wordpress.com/
and did my first post on the story of the Bike Stop. I hope you all enjoy it! – Bob
We knew when we were posted this that we would need the help of our readers and extended family with filling in the blanks. Which was the interactive part of this blog.
We did not start BiTG for inaccurate information. It was to bring light to the lack of information of old haunts in all areas of the globe. While preserving our own individual history.
Thank you for all the support and feedback.
Hello to StrayOlive to mark our inaccuracies is a great thing, it shows we are human. The lack of information over the years has what you read here today, but with help from our readers like yourself the inaccuracies can be corrected.
Thanks to BobSkiba for turning the wrong info into the right info. The Philly Gayborhood blog is an exciting new blog about Philadelphia’s LGBT community. Hopefully we can share this page on BITG so everybody can share the correct information.