The local Harley-Davidson dealer has moved the dates of its official spring rally in Myrtle Beach into late May including Memorial Day weekend, sparking confusion among bikers, businesses and rally promoters over when the rally will take place.
The official rally dates of May 18 through May 28, announced Friday on Myrtle Beach Harley-Davidson’s website, shifts the rally to start later in the month and continue through the Memorial Day weekend, when the Atlantic Beach Bike Fest takes place and a growing number of family-oriented holiday events have sprung up in recent years.
The 72nd annual “Cruisin’ the Coast” rally will be expanded this year to include an event aiming to set a world record, scenic rides, pier parties, drag races, vendors and more, according to Harley’s website.
Myrtle Beach's Ocean Boulevard has two-way traffic and few motorcycles early on Saturday, May 21, 2011.
“Teams are being put together to build this event into one of the most unique events on the east coast,” according to the website. Officials with Harley-Davidson could not be reached Friday to get more details about the new rally dates and events.
But bikers still will be able to find events earlier in May, they just won’t be official dealer events, as a group of businesses that cater to bikers aim to have events earlier in the month, said Jamin’ Jamie Keats, owner of Jamin Leather, a local business that traditionally has rally events.
Bikers should think of it as two separate events over three weekends, he said. The weekend of May 11 will be a lighter, more relaxed weekend with the events organized by Jamin Leather and other local businesses, followed by two busier weekends during the official Harley rally. The busiest weekend would start May 18 and include the county approved vendors followed by a third, new weekend during the Memorial Day holiday, Keats said.
“Tell them it’s three separate weekends and two separate events,” he said, adding that he found out about Harley’s plans earlier in the week and hadn’t even had a chance to update the store’s website with the new dates yet. “I think it is fabulous. I think it’s going to be a wonderful addition.”
Others weren’t pleased, saying the shift already has created confusion among bikers who book their rooms a year in advance. Any changes in the dates shouldn’t be made just a few months before the event, said Sonny Copeland, a bike rally promoter who owns MyrtleBeachBikeWeek.com, which still was advertising rally dates of May 11 through May 20 on Friday.
“I think it is terrible,” Copeland said. “It is just going to be mass confusion. People have already made plans and taken time off work.”
Ocean Lakes Family Campground got a few calls from bikers Friday asking for clarification on the dates, spokeswoman Barb Krumm said, adding that the campground had been promoting the rally as May 11 through May 20.
“I was surprised by this,” Krumm said. “We have already gotten calls on our reservations line asking about it. Everybody’s calendars are marked and their plans are made.”
Horry County, which must approve vendors for the Harley rallies and the Atlantic Beach Bikefest, hasn’t been approached about changing the vendor dates, spokeswoman Lisa Bourcier said. The county will allow vendors for the Harley rally from May 14 through May 20 and for the Memorial Day Bikefest for May 24 through May 27, according to the county’s website.
“Those are the dates we will issue vending permits,” Bourcier said.
The changes to the spring Harley rally come after a surge of bikers attended last year’s event, though the numbers were still well shy of peak attendance years ago. Still, organizers and businesses said some bikers had finally returned to the spring rally last year after attendance plummeted in previous years when Myrtle Beach approved rules to push the rally out of the city limits - including a controversial helmet law that eventually was overturned by the S.C. Supreme Court.
Keats said extending the rally into Memorial Day weekend is a good business move because it will lure more bikers and boost the economy.
“This is one very wise step in the right direction for May,” he said.
But Krumm and others were still looking for clarification Friday, with Ocean Lakes telling bikers who call asking for information that “we are waiting to learn more, and we are confused, too,” Krumm said.
E-Mail
Print
The Sun News Terms & Conditions and Commenting Policies can be reviewed here.