Santa doesn’t always ride a sleigh.
The world-renowned gift-giver and wife Mrs. Claus hopped aboard a three-wheeled Harley Trike motorcycle — with a 1,600 cubic centimeter engine replacing the holiday honcho’s signature reindeer — to join the Bikers of Brooklyn and other riding clubs in delivering toys to more than 100 kids at the Flatlands Family Residence on Nov. 21. Adults may have been more excited than tykes to meet St. Nick, according to the man himself.
“The adults get a bigger kick than the kids,” Santa said. “They’re the ones who try to pull down the beard and say, ‘Is that beard real?’ ”
The special delivery, part of the Bikers of Brooklyn’s 26th Annual Toy Run, kicked off at the Baron DeKalb Knights of Columbus in Sheepshead Bay, where the riders mustered around Santa before roaring off to the Canarsie residence for battered families.
Santa and his leather-clad elves distributed toys to the delight of 135 kids ages 1 to 16, according to Mr. Claus.
“They really love it — they really do,” he said.
Since the benevolent biker event’s inauguration, Bikers of Brooklyn has typically found a new source of needy kids each year.
However, Santa and his biker buddies found the members of the Flatlands Family Residence, a shelter for battered wives and a few husbands, a bastion for families in truly dire straights, according to Santa.
“The kids that are there are really, really poor, and their families are poor, and it just breaks your heart,” Santa explained.
Afterwards, the bikers and their friends headed back to the Knights of Columbus hangout on Emmons Avenue for an after-party, where Santa, Mrs. Claus, and their bike-borne helpers partied it up with food, music, and raffles.
Santa, who road his three-wheeled motorcycle during the whole journey, said he doesn’t often ride the trike bike, but it’s his go-to ride when he wants to bring Mrs. Claus with him on the road.
“Mrs. Claus won’t get on the motorcycle,” he said.
