SURFSIDE BEACH —
Myrtle Beach's helmet law may be history, but the hard feelings that came with it aren't, at least among bikers and some locals.
"If you live in a tourist town, you need to be able to put up with tourists," said Mercedes Meyers of Little River, who was introducing her new line of handmade chocolates at this weekend's second annual Scandinavian Heritage Festival at St. Philip Lutheran Church on Kings Highway at 63rd Avenue North.
Her words echoed those of Roanoke, Va., biker Dave Simmons outside Jamin' Leather South on U.S. 17 Business in Surfside Beach, where the parking lot was filled with Harleys, and bikers strolled through the complex and sat watching lap dances for T-shirts and men's tattoo contests.
"This is a resort town," he said. "My gosh."
Action for the Hurricane Alley Fall Bike Rally, as it's been named by Harley-Davidson of Myrtle Beach, clearly was concentrated from the dealership's southern location across U.S. 17 from Myrtle Beach State Park south to SBB in Murrells Inlet. There were bikers along much of Kings Highway, but just in clusters and clumps, and then another concentration at the Harley-Davidson location in North Myrtle Beach.
Denise Triece, marketing and events manager for the dealership, said the 10 vendors at the southern location all reported good business and said they'd be back for next spring's Cruisin' the Coast Spring Bike Rally.
But the vendors across U.S. 17 from SBB Original, unlike those at the Harley dealership, weren't happy.
Darek Rodriguez of Daytona Beach, Fla., selling sunglasses, T-shirts and other pullovers under a large tent in the parking lot of Hoof 'n' Finz Restaurant and Taproom, said his business had been terrible.
"Three years ago, it was beautiful," he said. "This year, last year, no. That's why you don't see many vendors here."
Triece suggested there may be another reason as well. She said it's hard for vendors to recoup permit and other costs in the four days of the fall rally. The longer span of the spring rally gives vendors more time to sell.
But it's not just bike vendors who are suffering from the lack of riders, Simmons said.
In the past, he's purchased a pickup and time share from Myrtle Beach businesses. But he's spent his last penny in the city.
And it's not just the out-of-towners who will keep their money out of the city. Biker Sharon Poe of Conway said she hasn't spent any money there since the law was passed.
"When the helmet law passed," she said, "everything went downhill, and I don't know if it'll come back."
Mike Stump, a friend of Simmons and also from Roanoke, Va., said he thinks there would have been more bikers for this week's rally if it hadn't been for the storms that battered the area through Thursday.
"We had people coming who canceled out because of the storm," he said.
Triece said she didn't have an estimate of attendance, but the number of bikes parked at both Harley locations, Jamin' Leather and SBB couldn't have totaled much more than a couple of thousand.
Lisa Peeples, who was washing bikes for tips at Jamin' Leather, said it seemed to her that there were more bikers for this rally than last year's fall rally. She made $275 on Friday, she said, and credits Mother Nature.
Perhaps it will get better, said bikers, vendors and locals. Simmons and Stump said they'd like to see more Welcome Bikers signs re-emerge at area businesses. Two were posted at restaurants on South Kings Highway, but they hadn't attracted any bikers to their lots Saturday afternoon. Other area businesses could use the income, said some.
Bikers "brought a lot of money into this town, and now (businesses) are scrambling to make it up," said Jan Zimmerman, selling homemade towels and other things outside St. Philip.
"It's going to get better," said Rodriguez. "It can't get any worse."
By STEVE JONES of TheSunNews
(reprinted from The State - South Carolina's Homepage)
October 6, 2010- -
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December 7, 2011- -
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