Welcome Back, Bikers

Friday’s editorial suggests that the shape of this year’s Harley rally may be indicative of years to come.

As we head into the second weekend of this year’s motorcycle Myrtle Beach drivearound, CCU’s Brittain Center for Resort Tourism has released an intriguing figure: Overall hotel occupancy for last Friday and Saturday, the first rally weekend of 2010, was just under 55 percent.

During the first rally weekend in 2009 – the year Myrtle Beach’s new restrictions went into effect, prompting widespread calls by bikers for a boycott of the city – the center’s survey showed about 48 percent occupancy. Last year’s report notes this figure was a decline of 7 points from 2008 – or, in other words, that overall occupancy on the Grand Strand this past weekend is at about the same 55-percent level now as it was in 2008, before the controversial new laws.

If history is any guide, nearly every side in this debate will jump to its own conclusions from this point. The most devoted rally advocates will dismiss the validity of the numbers altogether, while those who fought hardest to run the bikers out of Myrtle Beach will likely hail the success of their new sales tax for tourism advertising. Obviously, the first extreme relies on ignoring the data, and the latter is as-yet unsupported by it – occupancy this year has been on average almost exactly flat compared to 2009 since late February.

So what is going on? Like last year, motorcyclists are diligently avoiding the city limits, where new laws require them to don helmets and be acutely aware of their decibel levels. Instead, the actual “rallying” is primarily taking place in the south end of the Grand Strand amid the cluster of venerable institutions that include Suck Bang Blow and the Beaver Bar, with bikers traveling to a number of outlying destinations such as North Myrtle Beach’s Barefoot Landing or HB Spokes in Longs – all within a pleasant cruise up S.C. 31, well away from the restrictions of Myrtle Beach.

Perhaps what we are seeing is the new shape of the Harley rally to come, an event that coexists peacefully with beach tourism in May. Mike Shank of Festival Promotions, once one of the rally’s strongest advocates, points out that the only way total occupancy in the first weekend of 2010 could match that in 2008 is if there are more non-bikers here than there were two years ago, because “we definitely don’t have as many bikers.” And it may be that last weekend was just a fluke, that an unusual number of people just acted on an overwhelming urge for a weekend at the beach.

If this coming weekend’s figures show a continuation of the trend, however, it may be safe to conclude that, in some sense, Myrtle Beach’s exercise in home rule worked (inasmuch as a ponderous S.C. Supreme Court ultimately allows it to, anyway). The rally is “over” – but only inside the narrow area drawn by the city limits – and what remains is smaller and more manageable for everyone else, yet still a good time for the bikers.

Much rebuilding remains to be done – the same report shows average room prices still 15 percent below 2008’s levels, for example, but we may be nearing a solution most of us can live with. So for those of you bikers who were not permanently alienated by the city’s anti-biker messaging, welcome back to the Grand Strand.

If history is any guide, nearly every side in this debate will jump to its own conclusions from this point. The most devoted rally advocates will dismiss the validity of the numbers altogether, while those who fought hardest to run the bikers out of Myrtle Beach will likely hail the success of their new sales tax for tourism advertising. Obviously, the first extreme relies on ignoring the data, and the latter is as-yet unsupported by it – occupancy this year has been on average almost exactly flat compared to 2009 since late February.

So what is going on? Like last year, motorcyclists are diligently avoiding the city limits, where new laws require them to don helmets and be acutely aware of their decibel levels. Instead, the actual “rallying” is primarily taking place in the south end of the Grand Strand amid the cluster of venerable institutions that include Suck Bang Blow and the Beaver Bar, with bikers traveling to a number of outlying destinations such as North Myrtle Beach’s Barefoot Landing or HB Spokes in Longs – all within a pleasant cruise up S.C. 31, well away from the restrictions of Myrtle Beach.

Perhaps what we are seeing is the new shape of the Harley rally to come, an event that coexists peacefully with beach tourism in May. Mike Shank of Festival Promotions, once one of the rally’s strongest advocates, points out that the only way total occupancy in the first weekend of 2010 could match that in 2008 is if there are more non-bikers here than there were two years ago, because “we definitely don’t have as many bikers.” And it may be that last weekend was just a fluke, that an unusual number of people just acted on an overwhelming urge for a weekend at the beach.

If this coming weekend’s figures show a continuation of the trend, however, it may be safe to conclude that, in some sense, Myrtle Beach’s exercise in home rule worked (inasmuch as a ponderous S.C. Supreme Court ultimately allows it to, anyway). The rally is “over” – but only inside the narrow area drawn by the city limits – and what remains is smaller and more manageable for everyone else, yet still a good time for the bikers.

Much rebuilding remains to be done – the same report shows average room prices still 15 percent below 2008’s levels, for example, but we may be nearing a solution most of us can live with. So for those of you bikers who were not permanently alienated by the city’s anti-biker messaging, welcome back to the Grand Strand.