Bike Week Begins

Thousands of bikers are headed to the Grand Strand for the Harley Davidson Spring Rally.

The major hubs for vendors this year are Hard Rock Park off Highway 501, which is a new vendor location.

On the south end, vendors are in the area surrounding SSB and the Inlet Square Mall.

The parking lot of the Harley Davidson shop off Highway 17 is filled with vendors, and on the North end, they're located near the Colonial Myrtle Beach Mall.

The vendors opened at 10am Friday morning and they'll be here until May 18th. So will the bikers. What brings them here, brings them back, and keeps some here for good.

"People are friendly. There's tons to do. There are enough restaurants you could eat at a different restaurant every day of the year," said Michael Kitcho of New York. "It's my 16th bike week. I love it. There's a good chance I'm going to retire here."

Experts predict over the ten day Harley Davidson Spring Rally holiday, more than 300,000 people will hit the Grand Strand, some golfers, some beach goers, but mostly bikers.

Economists tell NewsChannel 15 they'll spend more than $100 million while they're here.

"It's wonderful. There are so many vendors and too much stuff to buy," said Roxanne Ashmore of Georgia.

After 68 years, Myrtle Beach's bike rally has made quite a name for itself.

"We've been to Nags Head and been to Savannah for motorcycle rallies. This is the first time here and it's much nicer."

Major highways will turn into parking lots. For the next 10 days, you'll notice a steady increase of bikes, noise, and perhaps, new locals.

"We've already looked at a couple places," said Kitcho. "We've looked at a condo. I have a realtor down here."

Highway Patrol wants to remind drivers to pay attention and watch out for bikers. Most motorcycle accidents are caused by motorists failing to yield the right of way.