Vendors, businesses bemoan low turnout at motorcycle rally

MYRTLE BEACH -- A warm and sunny fall weekend day wasn't enough to lift the gloom of vendors and business owners at a fall motorcycle rally in Myrtle Beach, and they say new regulations targeting bikers is to blame.

The Sun News of Myrtle Beach reported Sunday that the weekend rally known as The Pilgrimage saw small crowds and empty motorcycle parking spots.

"What I'm seeing is pitiful," said Buster Brown, co-owner of The Rat Hole bar in Socastee. "It's a shame. This is definitely the worst fall rally we've ever had."

Typically, the rally, which ended on Sunday, has fewer attendees than the area's two spring events. Organizers expected up to 20,000 riders for the fall event.

Vendors and business owners say bikers succeeded in their boycott of Myrtle Beach and Horry County for regulations enacted last year to discourage bikers from coming to the area.

New rules include a mandatory helmet law, a 1 a.m. to 6 a.m. curfew for those younger than 18 and a ban on loitering in business parking lots. Also, Horry County officials increased fees for vendor permits and restricted the number of vendors at a certain location and where they can operate.

"I think they've done a job on this one," Jim Davis, owner of Hot Leathers, said of local government officials.

The Winchester, Conn.-based company had a tent near the Harley-Davidson shop on 4710 S. Kings Highway in Myrtle Beach.

Davis shook his head in dismay as he watched a slow stream of people come in and out of the Hot Leathers tent.

"There's no bikes here," he said. "The bikers have spoken. If they're not wanted, they're not coming."

Lesley McCoy of Wilmington, N.C., came to the rally with a group of 12 couples and said she was disappointed.

"It's sad. That's the only way to describe it," she said as she watched the beginning of the rodeo. "It's nothing like the past fall rallies at all. Usually, the bikes are so packed in here. ... I'd rather use that money on my kids somewhere."

Brown said the results of the Nov. 3 Myrtle Beach City Council election will determine the fate of the fall rally.

"I think if these people get this straightened out in November, people will come back," he said. "November's going to make or break that. If this was a bone, the dog would throw it back."

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Information from: The Sun News, http://www.thesunnews.com