"We decided to take a ride on our bikes and ended up in Boothbay Harbor," said Sonny Thiboutot of that leisurely motorcycle ride with his cousin, John "Stoney" Dion, a quarter century ago.

The next year, some friends joined them. The year after that, more friends.

Soon, the group began meeting in the Brunswick Shop 'n Save parking lot, a space they quickly outgrew.

"Everybody has four or five guys they ride with," Thiboutot said. "It just grew from the hip."

This Sunday, Stoney's Lobster Run marks its 25th anniversary of cruising into town for lunch at the Lobstermen's Co-Op.

And as in years past, there'll be more than just close friends along for the ride.

"I'm looking at probably 1,000 bikes," said Thiboutot, a Boothbay native who now lives in Falmouth. "It should be the best one yet."

The event has proven popular with out-of-state motorcycle owners, and this weekend should see riders from New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts, according to Thiboutot.

The route will take the bikers from Brunswick onto I-295 to the Richmond exit. There, they will make their way to Dresden where the majority of the remaining motorcycles will join the pack, for the journey's final leg through Wiscasset and into Boothbay Harbor.

They are scheduled to arrive at the Co-Op between 12:30 p.m. and 1 p.m., according to Melissa Bosse, the Co-Op's manager.

"We've never had any problems with them at all," she said. "They're a great group that come."