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.
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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.