[LDCSteve]

imported post

Looks like the Harley guys have been kicked out of Myrtle Beach. Check this out...

http://www.myrtlebeachbikerinfo.com/message.html

I understand Daytona will be next.

 

[Bagmaster]

imported post

ABATE of South Carolina is putting together a protest ride in the spring.

 

[82gl1100iWingman]

imported post

Granbury, a town 30 miles southwest of For Wort, Use to do a Christian motorcycle rally every year called "Thunder over Texas". Last year was the last year for the event. The town folk complained there was just "too much noise" for their likings.

 

[oldtoys1961]

imported post

I guess to some "Loud pipes saves lives"

But in this instance they may change have changed it to "Loud pipes, makes living, hell"

 

[redeyes88]

imported post

My wife and I have been riding motorcycles for 45 years.We are not into going to rallys and week long gatherings of motorcycles.I am not against them,they are not for us.We would rather go on vacation to see the country,enjoy the motorcycle and each other and not having to listen to all the bikes without any mufflers,etc.I remember many years ago we were riding south on 95 in south carolina as there were hundreds of motorcycles heading north,many were Harleys,some of these bikers would wave and some gave us the finger.That nite in our motel room on the TV they reported some Fighting at the motorcycle rally in Myrtle Beach,Then we assumed that is where all the bikes were coming from.....Anyway it is not for us.......to each his own

 

[lostinflorida]

imported post

It's a shame, but it is the sign of the times.

I'm sure that as time goes by you'll see more and more of it happening. You never can tell, but there could easily come a time when large groups riding together might be looked at too.

25plusbikes together on the road, take up quite a bit of space..

 

[redeyes88]

imported post

Bagmaster wrote:

ABATE of South Carolina is putting together a protest ride in the spring.

Is their protest ride in Myrtle Beach?Will they need lodging in town?Maybe a few thousand harleys? Will they do this every year? Hmmmm ...call it Myrtle Beach protest bike week...

 

[jimsjinx]

imported post

Kinda can't blame the residents though. I went to Panama City Fla. for Bike week last May, and I gotta tell ya, the loud pipes were a drag after a day or so.My good friend rides 2 harleys, and when he tours with his Road Glide,it's fun. But when he rides his old Knucle Head, it gets old in about 25 miles.I can forsee more cities canceling these venues,especially if the costs to host the event outweigh the income they generate.It is kinda funny, the same vendors go to the same events around the country, selling the same stuff,sometimes for more than you'd pay normally.They are fun, but I can only get into it for about a weekend,if that long! Saw a ton of Goldwings,though.That was cool. jimsjinx:waving:

 

[Kit Carson]

imported post

I guess none of you understand the whole story. The news media is pretty good at leaving things out.

It was not just the loud pipes. For several years in Charleston and Myrtle Beach it has been so you could not park a motorcycle in a covered parking garage, yes due to loud pipes and some so loud they set all the car alarms off from the vibration. The loud pipes are a consideration, for sure. But that was not the whole story and nothing but the story.

The rallies have been a sore point with the locals for some time, but they were tolerated until this past event. An all black rally. There were drag races in the streets, wheelies, drunken parties in the parking lots and on the sidewalks. Bikers and their mates having sex in public. Obnoxious behavior towards the local citizens. It was like a zoo.

Then right in the middle of it all some blacks shot another one, not related to the rally but it was a catalyst for the town to take action.

The city of Myrtle beach is at the moment being sued by the NAACP, and there is a lot of racial tension over the whole affair. Exactly over what and the why, I do not fully understand myself.

That was the straw that broke the camels back. Everyone this day in age tiptoes around this issue and will not just come out and say the truth and what the real reasons are. I would say at least 50 percent of the whole issue is race related. And race related issues between powerful citizens, ministers and town leaders.

I however happen to agree with the city of Myrtle beach. Good Riddance.

As for those ABATE folks, the ones I know, are all that I do not have any respect for in the world of motorcycles. I have seen them in action too, downtown Columbia racing their engines and roaring their pipes, drowning out what public speakers are trying to say. All those folks can do is make things worse. And they will, I have great faith in their ability to mess up almost anything. They are the ones who go every year to the state house, roar their pipes and protest the helmet laws. Quite an intelligent bunch of folks.

If you are a responsible person, wear your helmet, and just be courteous and cool you will not have any problems in Myrtle Beach or any of the coastal towns. Stock pipes on a Harley are even cool. All they are asking is just simple respect and to honor some of their citizens values.

Some of it is a mute point at the moment in any event. I am not sure exactly if Barefoot landing is in the city limits or not. But most of the vendors and rally events are north of there and out of the city limits. So things will not really change a lot, just a small shift in concentration of where they will be held. At this point the county has not joined the city in their quest.

Kit

 

[Gofastandfalldown]

imported post

 

[LUV2WING]

imported post

Kit said it well. If you know just part of the reason the city passed this you can't blame them.

Having said that, the South Carolina district GWRRA rally will be held in Myrtle Beach, SC. at the Springmaid Beach Resort within seeing distance of the city limits (in the county)on the south side.

This rally will be held from April 30th through May 2nd 2009.

Ya'll come



[line]

 

[roscoepc]

imported post

LDCSteve wrote:

Looks like the Harley guys have been kicked out of Myrtle Beach. Check this out...

http://www.myrtlebeachbikerinfo.com/message.html

I understand Daytona will be next.

Daytona next?? As a lifelong resident,(till I moved up here!), I don't think so! Daytona and Volusia County do not care what the residents think about special event's as long as there's a tax dollar in it for them!! The only reason Spring Break finally got the damper put to it was the breaker's were costing the city and county more than they were taking in!

 

[Motorcycle Pete]

imported post

Kit Carson wrote:

The rallies have been a sore point with the locals for some time, but they were tolerated until this past event........

I however happen to agree with the city of Myrtle beach. Good Riddance......

Kit

Kit- I think I mostly agree with you, on this....it is certainly, to my mind, within the rights of Myrtle Beach to decide what they will, and will not, tolerate.

Having said that, if race (rather than bad/criminal behavior) becomes the issue, in court, they're probably pretty well screwed. Best of luck to them.

When I attended Daytona for Speed Week, back in 1978 and 1979, I thought it was pretty "out of control", but I was young, and had fairly easily offended sensibilities, I think now, in retrospect. Heavy drinking, crashing, drag racing, some public nudity on the beach, no doubt a few bar fights....that's about it. I stayed quite a ways south, because I was, even back then, worried about getting caught up in it. In Daytona the fact is that they deal with far worse, over spring break.

There is no doubt in my mind that things (bad behaviors) have escalated, tremendously, since then, so I think each community gets to decide where the trade-off is, with income vs. sanity. Anyway, Kit, I thought you gave a well thought out and very informative response.

 

[RonSena]

imported post

While the City of Myrtle Beach may heave decided to not have the Bike Weeks, the other smaller cities that suround MYB are willing to host them. I beleive Garden City or Surfside has stepped up to host the event.
Rumors are out of control down here as to the real reason why and I spoke with some of the MYB businesses and they mainly bring up trying to get back to a family atmosphere.

As for Charleston, it cuz ol' deaf Mayor Joe Riley can only hear a couple midrange frequncies and the sound of the loud bikes are in that range so that is all he hears.. plus the vibrations are shaking down the old historic buildings. Not to mention the bikes are parking in his parking garages for free since they can get around the ticket gates....
(for the record the Charleston dig was in jest but has some valid points)

 

[jimsjinx]

imported post

Wow, I had no idea! I thought it was noise related! Sounds like the crotch rocket crowd has struck again! We passed some African American bikers last May,going to KittyHawk, and they gave us the "one finger salute" when we waved at them. Nice, real nice. I didn't know thier attitude was so bad to ruin a rally,though.

 

[2nd85Wing]

imported post

My Father in Law lives in Murrells Inlet. We've been to Bike week several times. He lives about 1 mile from the Suck-Bang-Blow 4 corners (the one in the old Pelican Lumber). We could hear the loud pipes at night about 2-4am each night. The locals did not mind what happened during the day, but the noise at night did not help the matter.

As a side note, I am a Shriner in Greenville SC. In 1993, we had the last Shrine initiation in Myrtle Beach the week before the Harley bike week. I was waiting for my canidate to finish with a meeting and started to talk to a security man at the hotel. I think it was the Sea Mist Resort. I asked him how much trouble he had out of the Shriners. He stated that he was a Police officer with Myrtle Beach Police and he was doing security as a side job. He said that the only issue with the Shriners was a few loud parties. I asked him about the Harley week, and he said it was mostly drunk and disorderlys and fights. Maybe a few bike wrecks. I said, "How about the week after that?", meaning Memorial weekend. He said that he wished that he could leave the state. He was on 12 hours on- 12 hours off, and that he was on call the 12 hours off time. All officers were on duty as well as as many that could be called in from other counties and states. He said that there would be fighting, leaving the restuarant without paying, theft of goods from shops, hotels would have to refinish most of the rooms, blatant sex in public, including on the vehicels of residents and tourists, property destruction, and many wrecks from non licensed riders. Remember, this is in 1993. Many hotels, restaraunts, and shops just closed down instead of taking the loss of property and goods. Some even paid employees to take the time off. It was cheaper.

The first time I ran into Bike week was in 1986 at the Hunnington Beach State park. I was there with my first wife (Satan's niece), my mother, my sister, my wife's
nephew, 2 cars, and tents. This was before I went bad and got a motorcycle. At first, we were worried, but soon found out there would be not problem. We had a ball. In fact, I might have gone bad much sooner except for the soon to be pain in my life (Satan's niece). She said "NO!" That was one reason of many that she is my EX.

I know many families that would like to go to Myrtle Beach for Memorial weekend, but don't due to the atmosphere at that time.

2nd85Wing
Upstate SC

 

[cobra57]

imported post

I've seen this discussion on other forums and I think that the people of Myrtle Beach have just finally had enough. The blatant disrespect for the law and not being able to park on their own streets and parking lots because of all the trucks and trailers, not to mention some of the other stuff that just seems to go with bike rallies, the drinking, fighting, sex and nudity in public, etc. These folks are tired of it and I don't blame them. They need to move the rally out of town, away from the general public, and do what they do. The people in town and the surrounding area that want to come to the rally to see the show will still be there, but the ones that don't want any part of it can stay in town and not be subjected to something they find offensive. As for the laws, all they are asking is for motorcyclist to ride in their town with some common sense. Don't "rack off" your pipes, ride with a helmet, and follow the rules and laws of the town. I don't think that this is too much to ask.

I honestly believe that if some of the behavior at rallies is not curbed, this won't be the last town that asks us as a community, motorcyclist, to move on. JMHO, but for a lot of the same reasons, I don't do big rallies either. I would love to go and see all the bikes and look at what people have done to make the bike unique to them, and I enjoy the vendors too, you never know when you might find something you can't live without. I think that you can have fun without getting falling down drunk or stoned, fighting, running around in the nude, (although that is fine in it's place), and just plan raising hell. I'll get off my soap box now.

Cobra

:15grey:

 

[UbarW]

imported post

I sent an email to the city info officer. I think its nice that I got a response, especially over the weekend. Here is the entire email...

--

Dick…



I’m glad to hear that your bike is quiet. So many are not. The noise ordinance amendment is just one of the changes, but it is an important one. For more information, please visit http://www.myrtlebeachbikerinfo.com. Among the new ordinances is a city requirement that all riders, regardless of age, wear an approved safety helmet and eye protection.



Does is not occur to people that the city would not have taken this action if there hadn’t been problems? It is the rallies, not the residents, who are responsible for the city’s actions. Three straight weeks of back-to-back motorcycle rallies with hundreds of thousands of noisy, speeding motorcycles is simply too much. But the rally organizers and attendees have been unable or unwilling to alter their events. The city and its residents finally said, “Enough.”



That we have reached this point should surprise no one. And the Harley people now tell County Council that they know there are problems and they are willing to work on them. Well, it’s a little late. Noise was just one of the problems. Wrecks, injuries and deaths were another. We had as many, if not more, traffic fatalities during three weeks of rallies as we had during the entire rest of the year.



Myrtle Beach does not want to be the focus for these two huge events, so the rallies are over, as far as we are concerned. Perhaps the organizers and attendees can find a city that will welcome events that are this intrusive and this long. How about your hometown?



Thanks again,
Mark Kruea

Public Information Officer

 

[UbarW]

imported post

having read their ordinance, I really dont think they are out of line in what they ask for...

 

[slickster]

imported post

I live in St Augustine FL, 40 miles north of daytona....just before, during and just after the bike weeks, one is the spring and one in Oct....the noise is very annoying, I can't imagine what it's like in daytona.....21 bikers died a few years back during that week in the spring..the are tons of cops out all day and night...a huge amount of money has been invested catering to bikers...bike week isn't going away in FL...there was an issue with spring breakers, bikers, fraternity/sorority weeks in Va beach a few years back...the hotel owners got together and decided to "close for renovations" during those weeks...it worked for the most part....sorry to hear of the issues in Myrtle beach...sounds justified in this case...loud pipes don't save lives, they just annoy the rest of us...