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The party is about to begin
HDRIDER
Member Posts: 305 ✭✭✭
BIKE WEEK 2006 [:D][:D][:D][:D]
Groundwork is done; Biker influx starts Friday
This year's spring Harley rally expected to be the biggest yet
JANET BLACKMON MORGAN/The Sun News
Love 'em or hate 'em, the motorcycles are on their way.
Bikers begin their annual migration to the Grand Strand on Friday for the 66th year of the spring Harley-Davidson rally, one of the oldest motorcycle gatherings in the country.
The event started small, with about 100 bikers in North Myrtle Beach. Now the rally's influence can be felt beyond the 300,000 bikers who flock to the Grand Strand each year - it causes year-round political conflict and has been a factor in recent federal lawsuits.
Still, the rally keeps growing, with attendance forecast to increase this year despite the cancellation of the Orange County Choppers and a near-ban on vendors in Myrtle Beach.
The success of the 2006 rally could be determined by its new components - more traffic constraints, stricter noise laws, the addition of a Dale Earnhardt Jr.-themed attraction and the promise of the largest bike show the area has ever seen.
No official estimates exist for how much money the 10-day event brings to the Grand Strand, and the financial impact is what causes much of the debate.
Proponents say it exposes the area to new repeat visitors and it brings in money for businesses and for the event's workers.
Critics say it drives away visitors with families and it only helps the segment of the economy that includes hotels, restaurants and bars.
The end of the Harley rally on May 21 isn't the end of motorcycle events for Grand Strand residents.
The Atlantic Beach Bikefest begins May 26, and the area won't see much relief until May 29.
Traffic changes
Two major changes will affect traffic flow on Ocean Boulevard in Myrtle Beach for the rally.
Myrtle Beach City Council voted in April to eliminate the two bus lanes on the Boulevard, opening all four lanes to traffic, as requested by downtown merchants.
The city also will require Boulevard traffic to travel one-way southbound from 2 p.m. to midnight May 18-20 as part of its settlement of a federal discrimination lawsuit filed by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
The NAACP had accused the city of discriminating against the predominately black Bikefest participants by enforcing a one-way pattern during the Memorial Day Bikefest rally but not during the Harley rally.
City officials had said the Bikefest crowds require the one-way pattern.
The city had used a one-way traffic pattern for the Harley rally in 2001. The decision drew complaints about bikes overheating and roadway congestion spreading from Ocean Boulevard to Kings Highway. Harley-Davidson motorcycles are more likely than other bikes to overheat when sitting in traffic.
The southbound one-way traffic will be in place from 29th Avenue North to 17th Avenue South on Ocean Boulevard with right turns restricted to roads that meet Kings Highway at a traffic light.
Noise restrictions
North Myrtle Beach police cracked down on noise violations by motorcyclists during last May's rally, writing 368 tickets for noise violations that each carried a $129 fine.
Myrtle Beach officials followed suit, passing a stricter noise ordinance that will have its first real test this weekend.
The law sets a maximum noise level at 99 decibels for motorcycles. The law also bans several behaviors that contribute to noise, including revving engines, excessive acceleration or deceleration, and burn-outs.
The fine can be up to $500 and/or 30 days in jail.
Myrtle Beach spokesman Mark Kruea said bikers shouldn't worry about getting a ticket if their motorcycles make a reasonable amount of noise.
"Having a functioning, factory-installed muffler is pretty foolproof," he said.
Tattooing
For the first time during the spring rally, motorcyclists will be able to get legal tattoos in South Carolina.
State legislators removed restrictions against tattoo parlors, and three have opened in Myrtle Beach since March. No other municipality on the Grand Strand has approved the shops.
But tattooing will be limited to those buildings. S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control rules make it difficult to set up a tattoo booth as part of the Harley event.
The event changes
Orange County Choppers won't be coming to this year's rally because of a new rule by Myrtle Beach City Council.
The council recently banned special events in May within the city limits. That means no vendors or outdoor activities except at the city's Convention Center and Broadway at the Beach because the city wants to limit activities that clog up the roadways and strain public services.
Orange County Choppers, a staple at Club Kryptonite for three years, is one of the casualties.
"We have told all of our vendors and all of our celebrity body builders to not bother to come this year because the city has canceled bike week for our property," said Andrew Manios, owner of the club.
"We believe that we can make up the lost revenue in the daytime by doing more events at nighttime, but we can't make up to all the people that are going to be coming down to see Orange County Choppers."
Gene Lummus, president of the Carolina Harley-Davidson Dealers Association, said he agrees the event needs to be regulated - he has tried to work with county officials to reduce the length of vendor permits from 10 days.
"Nobody seems to want to listen to this idea," he said. "I know that will help control the rally if they control the vendor permits, even if they cut them to five days, it will help the traffic."
Vendors are still allowed in other areas of the county - 370 have received permits so far in unincorporated Horry County. Barefoot Landing in North Myrtle Beach will have more than 70, and in Myrtle Beach, the convention center has 60 planned. Broadway at the Beach will have 70.
"The biggest thing we are doing differently this year is we are going to host the Rat's Hole bike show, the biggest bike show Myrtle Beach has ever seen," said dealership marketing director Mike Shank.
The event will display 200 to 400 bikes at Barefoot Landing, he said.
At Colonial Mall-Myrtle Beach, the dealership is setting up the Dale Earnhardt Jr. Budweiser Experience, he said.
Expected attendance
The Harley event is pushing projected occupancy at local hotels up, especially during Mothers Day weekend, a traditionally slow time for hoteliers here.
Gary Loftus, director of Coastal Carolina University's Center for Economic and Community Development, said reservations are slightly ahead of where they were at this time last year for the first weekend of the event. Currently reservations stand at more than 60 percent and could reach 75 percent occupancy.
For the final weekend of the rally, occupancy is already 6 percent ahead of last year at this time. Loftus projected the Grand Strand hotels could surpass last year's occupancy of 90 percent for that weekend.
One possible influence on the increased numbers is the timing of a Nextel race in Darlington during the first weekend.
Loftus said it's unknown the impact the race has on Myrtle Beach but said it could be significant: when the Darlington race was dropped from Labor Day weekend, occupancy dropped 10 percent.
Kruea said despite the noise ordinance and traffic restrictions the event will likely continue to grow.
"The Harley-Davidson event has grown from year to year for the last five or six years," he said. "I know there are rumblings in the biker community about how welcome they are, and that is understandable, but I don't think that's going to dissuade anyone from coming."
[:D]
Groundwork is done; Biker influx starts Friday
This year's spring Harley rally expected to be the biggest yet
JANET BLACKMON MORGAN/The Sun News
Love 'em or hate 'em, the motorcycles are on their way.
Bikers begin their annual migration to the Grand Strand on Friday for the 66th year of the spring Harley-Davidson rally, one of the oldest motorcycle gatherings in the country.
The event started small, with about 100 bikers in North Myrtle Beach. Now the rally's influence can be felt beyond the 300,000 bikers who flock to the Grand Strand each year - it causes year-round political conflict and has been a factor in recent federal lawsuits.
Still, the rally keeps growing, with attendance forecast to increase this year despite the cancellation of the Orange County Choppers and a near-ban on vendors in Myrtle Beach.
The success of the 2006 rally could be determined by its new components - more traffic constraints, stricter noise laws, the addition of a Dale Earnhardt Jr.-themed attraction and the promise of the largest bike show the area has ever seen.
No official estimates exist for how much money the 10-day event brings to the Grand Strand, and the financial impact is what causes much of the debate.
Proponents say it exposes the area to new repeat visitors and it brings in money for businesses and for the event's workers.
Critics say it drives away visitors with families and it only helps the segment of the economy that includes hotels, restaurants and bars.
The end of the Harley rally on May 21 isn't the end of motorcycle events for Grand Strand residents.
The Atlantic Beach Bikefest begins May 26, and the area won't see much relief until May 29.
Traffic changes
Two major changes will affect traffic flow on Ocean Boulevard in Myrtle Beach for the rally.
Myrtle Beach City Council voted in April to eliminate the two bus lanes on the Boulevard, opening all four lanes to traffic, as requested by downtown merchants.
The city also will require Boulevard traffic to travel one-way southbound from 2 p.m. to midnight May 18-20 as part of its settlement of a federal discrimination lawsuit filed by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
The NAACP had accused the city of discriminating against the predominately black Bikefest participants by enforcing a one-way pattern during the Memorial Day Bikefest rally but not during the Harley rally.
City officials had said the Bikefest crowds require the one-way pattern.
The city had used a one-way traffic pattern for the Harley rally in 2001. The decision drew complaints about bikes overheating and roadway congestion spreading from Ocean Boulevard to Kings Highway. Harley-Davidson motorcycles are more likely than other bikes to overheat when sitting in traffic.
The southbound one-way traffic will be in place from 29th Avenue North to 17th Avenue South on Ocean Boulevard with right turns restricted to roads that meet Kings Highway at a traffic light.
Noise restrictions
North Myrtle Beach police cracked down on noise violations by motorcyclists during last May's rally, writing 368 tickets for noise violations that each carried a $129 fine.
Myrtle Beach officials followed suit, passing a stricter noise ordinance that will have its first real test this weekend.
The law sets a maximum noise level at 99 decibels for motorcycles. The law also bans several behaviors that contribute to noise, including revving engines, excessive acceleration or deceleration, and burn-outs.
The fine can be up to $500 and/or 30 days in jail.
Myrtle Beach spokesman Mark Kruea said bikers shouldn't worry about getting a ticket if their motorcycles make a reasonable amount of noise.
"Having a functioning, factory-installed muffler is pretty foolproof," he said.
Tattooing
For the first time during the spring rally, motorcyclists will be able to get legal tattoos in South Carolina.
State legislators removed restrictions against tattoo parlors, and three have opened in Myrtle Beach since March. No other municipality on the Grand Strand has approved the shops.
But tattooing will be limited to those buildings. S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control rules make it difficult to set up a tattoo booth as part of the Harley event.
The event changes
Orange County Choppers won't be coming to this year's rally because of a new rule by Myrtle Beach City Council.
The council recently banned special events in May within the city limits. That means no vendors or outdoor activities except at the city's Convention Center and Broadway at the Beach because the city wants to limit activities that clog up the roadways and strain public services.
Orange County Choppers, a staple at Club Kryptonite for three years, is one of the casualties.
"We have told all of our vendors and all of our celebrity body builders to not bother to come this year because the city has canceled bike week for our property," said Andrew Manios, owner of the club.
"We believe that we can make up the lost revenue in the daytime by doing more events at nighttime, but we can't make up to all the people that are going to be coming down to see Orange County Choppers."
Gene Lummus, president of the Carolina Harley-Davidson Dealers Association, said he agrees the event needs to be regulated - he has tried to work with county officials to reduce the length of vendor permits from 10 days.
"Nobody seems to want to listen to this idea," he said. "I know that will help control the rally if they control the vendor permits, even if they cut them to five days, it will help the traffic."
Vendors are still allowed in other areas of the county - 370 have received permits so far in unincorporated Horry County. Barefoot Landing in North Myrtle Beach will have more than 70, and in Myrtle Beach, the convention center has 60 planned. Broadway at the Beach will have 70.
"The biggest thing we are doing differently this year is we are going to host the Rat's Hole bike show, the biggest bike show Myrtle Beach has ever seen," said dealership marketing director Mike Shank.
The event will display 200 to 400 bikes at Barefoot Landing, he said.
At Colonial Mall-Myrtle Beach, the dealership is setting up the Dale Earnhardt Jr. Budweiser Experience, he said.
Expected attendance
The Harley event is pushing projected occupancy at local hotels up, especially during Mothers Day weekend, a traditionally slow time for hoteliers here.
Gary Loftus, director of Coastal Carolina University's Center for Economic and Community Development, said reservations are slightly ahead of where they were at this time last year for the first weekend of the event. Currently reservations stand at more than 60 percent and could reach 75 percent occupancy.
For the final weekend of the rally, occupancy is already 6 percent ahead of last year at this time. Loftus projected the Grand Strand hotels could surpass last year's occupancy of 90 percent for that weekend.
One possible influence on the increased numbers is the timing of a Nextel race in Darlington during the first weekend.
Loftus said it's unknown the impact the race has on Myrtle Beach but said it could be significant: when the Darlington race was dropped from Labor Day weekend, occupancy dropped 10 percent.
Kruea said despite the noise ordinance and traffic restrictions the event will likely continue to grow.
"The Harley-Davidson event has grown from year to year for the last five or six years," he said. "I know there are rumblings in the biker community about how welcome they are, and that is understandable, but I don't think that's going to dissuade anyone from coming."
[:D]
Comments
I wouldn't mind going but I have to save my pennies for the "Trail of Tears" run in September.
I've never been on the Trail of Tears run. Would you care to offer a little information about it. [:)]
We are off to Hawaii, the island of Kaui, have rented Harleys on the island and will be riding around for a week this month. Leave on May the 18th. I will try to get a few pictures.
Sounds like a fun event. A long ride from Portland, OR so I won't make it.
We are off to Hawaii, the island of Kaui, have rented Harleys on the island and will be riding around for a week this month. Leave on May the 18th. I will try to get a few pictures.
You lucky Dog!!! Have fun!! [:)]