1. Why do you want to eliminate bike week?

It’s Bike Month, not bike week. These events began as small, multi-day events that attracted several thousand attendees. Other tourists could also enjoy visiting the area at the same time. Other groups could also visit, like the Shriners and the Hairdresser convention. But these motorcycle events have grown too large for our community. And because they occur back to back, they are too much of a burden for our local citizens. We want to see Bike Month go somewhere else. We want a normal May. Simply put, enough is enough.

2. Why do you hate bikers?

We don’t hate bikers. We hate Bike Month.

3. What makes you think you can decide who can and cannot come to your community? It’s America, this is a free country.

You’re absolutely right. And because we are law-abiding, tax-paying Americans, we have decided to exercise our constitutional right to live peacefully in our community. More over, as property owners and taxpayers within Horry County, we no longer wish to be prisoners in our homes and subsidize these large, privately-run events. Wesimply want to return May to what it should be: a pleasant month for all residents and tourists, not just for those 300,000 noisy visitors.

4. Bikers spend a lot of money during the motorcycle rallies and they bring their families back at other times of the year. You are going to cost yourselves a lot of money. The city will probably raise taxes to make up for all of the money they lose.

Bikers are welcome to come back at other times during the year, with or without their families, as long as they follow the laws. We just don’t want the large, over-sized rallies. As for costs, no one really knows the economic impact of these events. What about the costs of the law enforcement that we have to pay for? What about the tourists that do not come during May because of the rallies? What about the overtime of our public servants who have to work ridiculous hours to accommodate these events? And how much dollar-value do you attribute to our peace and safety? We’ve thought about it. We want to Take Back May.

5. Isn’t this just an underhanded effort to get rid of the Memorial Day Bikefest? Isn’t this really just about race?

No, not at all. We don’t care what color the bikers are, we want the rallies to go somewhere else.

6. Why are you over-reacting this way? These events have been going on for 68 years? Why all the fuss now? Why the sudden, knee-jerk reaction?

Sudden? Knee-jerk? Where have you been hiding? We’ve felt this way for many years, but most of us have tried to grin and bear it. For many years, the rallies were smaller and did not impact the residents of Myrtle Beach. But for the past ten years, it’s been getting worse and worse. We can’t sleep. We can’t enjoy our homes. We watch flagrant violations of our local laws and ordinances, knowing nothing will be done. Some of us actually leave our homes simply to get away from these rallies. We are no longer grinning and can no longer bear this. Enough is enough.

7. If you don’t like tourists, maybe you should move away.

We like tourists and don’t mind sharing our community with them. Heck, many of us work in the tourism industry. We just don’t want the large, unwieldy, out-of-control motorcycle rallies. We deal with the influx of tourists in the summer and most weeks, we have more tourists in July or August than during the motorcycle rallies. We can deal with the normal burdens of tourism. What we do not want to deal with is the lawlessness, the lewd behavior and the noise.

8. Why are you so anti-biker?

We are not anti-biker. We welcome visitors of all types. We just want our visitors to obey our laws. Motorcycle rallies bring too many arrests and too many traffic violations. And, they bring way too much noise.

9. What about those of us who depend on bikers for our livelihood? For many wait staff, this is their busiest week of tips. And for a lot of businesses, motorcycle rallies bring a lot of money in.

We understand that. However, many other businesses, including theaters, restaurants, stores and golf courses suffer through May. Their revenues decline and they lose money. When the rallies go elsewhere, these businesses will fare much better. Why should the majority of our businesses suffer for the benefit of a few?

10. What are you going to do when the bikers stop coming? Your community will lose a lot of money. And you’ll be living in a ghost town.

Ahh, we can only dream, huh? Actually, we think other tourists (those that do not enjoy loud noise, lawlessness and lewd behavior) will be encouraged to return. We might even see some conventions come at the same time. And, because our residents won’t have to hide in their homes, they will come out and enjoy themselves. We believe our businesses will benefit, overall.