Myrtle Beach Bike Week

For 69 years bikers from all over have gathered at Myrtle Beach ,SC to enjoy the scenery and mingle with like minded comrades during the spring Myrtle Beach Bike Rally. Today this event attracts over 300,000 bikers to the tiny Atlantic Coast town to join in what has become the longest continuous running motorcycle rally in the country. But this is an activity that is being met with resistance these days as the local residence of Myrtle Beach are becoming weary of guest turning their town into a party zone for the week of the event. The City of Myrtle Beach has imposed new ordinances on bikers in attempts to either curb their presence or calm them down a bit as to not annoy the locals.

Back in March I posted a news release that stated the Carolina Harley Dealers Association was moving their rally to New Bern Fairgrounds. While this is apparently true, most business owners say this has little effect on Myrtle Beach Bike Week.They contend that the dealers association has little to do with the rally anyhow and their presence or lack of will have little if any effect on the turnout of bikers to the rally.
As before, all the news I hear is that Myrtle Beach Bike Week is not canceled and will go on as usual with the exception of the city limits of Myrtle Beach. Most bikers as I hear from have said they plan to avoid the city limits as much as possible. More news, Horry County Council voted to reduce the number of vendor permits issued this year and raised the fees on the ones that will be issued so expect a lot less vendors than usual. All in all I think the the whole county just wants the rallies to go away. The businesses that rely heavily on the rallies for their existence are trying to play it off like everything will go on as usual. I suspect all this bad publicity will cut the attendance of the Myrtle Beach Bike Rally substantially. It wouldn't surprise me if a lot of riders that attends the event collectively agree to move elsewhere or just forget about the Myrtle Beach Bike Week Rally all together. I guess time will tell. As for me I still plan to attend so far.

The last few years I've participated in Myrtle Beach Bike Week I've opted for motorcycle camping over staying in a motel. There are plenty of campgrounds at Myrtle beach but if you plan on camping with a motorcycle you may want to call ahead and make sure you can bring your bike onto the campgrounds. A few of the campgrounds have motorcycle parking located in an area away from campers so you may not be allowed to keep your bike at your campsite. Lakewood campgrounds is one that will allow you to keep your bike at your campsite.