What's Happening at 70th Myrtle Beach Bike Week?

Congratulations! Myrtle Beach Bike Week 2010 - 70th Year Celebration - the party kicked off Saturday, May 8th and continues until next weekend, May 16th all up and down the "Grand Strand" of island towns in South Carolina!

Photographer Jack Mcintyre captured this moment during the first weekend at Suck Bang Blow Saloon.

Jack is covering the rally and taking professional bike & model photographs for print, magazines and internet use every day from his base at  Wimmer Performance‎ - 11670 Highway 17 Byp, Murrells Inlet, SC‎. Check out his MYRTLE 2010 Gallery at BIKERPICS.ORG and come join the party!!

The Grand Strand of South Carolina is 60 miles in length and goes form Little River at the NC / SC State Line to Murrells Inlet SC. The Grand Strand Rally is in North Myrtle Beach SC, Garden City SC, Murrells Inlet SC and Horry County SC.

Use Highway 31 (the Carolina Bay Parkway) to avoid Myrtle Beach city limits and the new rules that include: Helmet laws, noise laws and parking laws. The rest of the Grand Strand welcomes rally fans!!

Click out the History of the 70th Annual Myrtle Beach Bike Week

Myrtle Beach Bike Week - 70th Year Celebration

The 70th Myrtle Beach Bike Week is May 7 to 16, 2010 - at least that's the date set aside for the celebration in Murrells Inlet, South Carolina - one of the many beautiful beach towns in the crown of islands that welcome bikers!

Myrtle Beach Bike Week has been held since 1940, and until recent years, has drawn an estimated crowd of 300,000 to enjoy the mild weather, abundant restaurants and pristine beaches.

Inspite of the fact that neighboring towns favor the rally, Myrtle Beach -  the "crown jewel"  at the center - has made every effort to eliminate the rally.

Last year's hot spots included Barefoot Landing, Broken Spoke in Garden City, The Beaver Bar, SBB The Original and SBB Four Corners, H.B. Spokes, Harley-Davidson of Myrtle Beach and Harley-Davidson of North Myrtle Beach.

Biker-friendly businesses that have shut down since the economy took a nosedive and Myrtle Beach made its anti-rally stand include The Dog House, B&M Custom Cycles, Studebakers and Marti's Bar.

The Supreme Court heard two lawsuits against Myrtle Beach at the beginning of February, both of them asking the court to force the city to rescind its local helmet law because, they say, it supersedes state law.

The court's pattern is to issue its rulings on Mondays, which means it still could drop an opinion this week that would be in time to allow people to book rooms before the rally starts.

UPDATE: But no rulling was announced on Monday, May 3rd.

Last year, May room rentals were down to 32 percent occupancy in Myrtle Beach, a figure that is not likely to change in 2010.

State law says only people younger than 21 must wear helmets, but as part of its 14 ordinances targeting the May motorcycle rallies, Myrtle Beach decided everyone riding within city limits must wear one. The city also established "noise" check points and outside "loitering" ordinances that have caused rally goers and their friends to boycot Myrtle Beach, year round.

UPDATE: The SC Supreme Court has ruled in favor of the bikers and against the City of Myrtle Beach in regards to the City Helmet Law. The formal ruling will be released soon. - June 8th, 2010.

Myrtle Beach Helmet Law Challenge 'Fast Tracks' to SC Supreme Court

The Myrtle Beach helmet law challenge has been placed on the "fast track" and will be heard by the South Carolina Supreme Court at 10 a.m. Feb. 3 in Columbia.

The group, Business Owenrs Organized to Save Tourism (BOOST) said it’s encouraged by the high court’s decision to hear the case and not let it go through the courts first.

The City of Myrtle Beach told local News 13 that it’s fine with the case going on the “fast track” because the case was always expected to end up in the high court.


SC Supreme Court to hear Myrtle Beach helmet ordinance lawsuit SCNow