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call ahead! Cycles not welcome!

111865

New member
On April 9th 2005 my wife and I were married at the Old Sheldon church in Beaufort SC. After months of planning we had decided to trailer the bike to SC and take it on our honeymoon. Not only did we plan on using it for the honeymoon but we also rode it from the chruch to the reception. My wife looked so beautiful sitting there in her wedding dress on our K1100LT. We drove though town with people clapping and waving, horns a honking! After enjoing our friends and family one of my friends from Iowa had a time share on Hilton Head Island SC. that he offed for us to use for the week. We thought this was a great idea. We could use it as a place to sleep after riding each day. We had pland trips to Savanna GA, Charlston SC. and other points of intrest. So we packed our gear on the bike and headed to Hilton Head. The trafic was very heavy due to the MCI open golf event (i felt like i was driving in detroit!) We arived at the Ship Yard plantation (bout 8pm) and pulled up to the gate. I told the guard who i was and he said i was on the list.... then he said pull over there....... so i did... i thought he was going to give me directions to the condo... insted he told me that i could take the beemer in. I was shocked! I said wait a second here... this aint no loud harley! this is a BMW! I can ride this any where in the world! its even welcome in South Africa!

The gaurd said that we could over night it in the guest parking outside the plantation but it had to be gone by 7am or I would find it in an inpound lot! (not a good start to our honeymoon) So we made a call to my friend and he went over his paper work again looking for the "No cycles" claws... in the rules he found that ya cant hang a towl over a rail, no kids toys outside, no bicycles parked outside, and stuff like that. Nutten bout cycles.

So at 7am i headed to the gate. Talked to the guard and he said that when the cheif came in we could get a pass for it.... so we waited for the chief. Got ahold of him and he said that he would grant us a pass if we could get some one to authorize it. Well after 2 hours of phone calls we were unsucsessful. The only thing they would do is give us the names and numbers of "You store & parks". Well we had been planning this trip for months and this just wasnt working. the condo was over a mile inside the plantation and the store and parks were miles away. We called other friends that were also staying on Hilton Head at other places to see if maybe we could park there... same problem.

Any way... the point im trying to make is call ahead. There was no info from the time share company of the rules.

This was the first and very last trip to Hilton Head SC.

Gene
 
Sorry to read of your troubles that put a damper on what otherwise sounded like a nice wedding. I agree with Flash as non-motorcyclists tend to see a couple bad apples and apply their behavior to all.
 
what a bunch of %$#@ing ^&%$. dang.
did you or your generous friend who loaned you his place ever get any word of explanation? we can all speculate that loud pipes are the cause and i would tend to agree, but it would be interesting to hear the official explanation if one exists.
 
i dont think it was harleys that wrecked hilton head island for bikes.

i heard that a few years ago, a few folks on BMws camped there. they were up all night with a blender, and they even cussed! hilton head island freaked out and banned them on the spot. you'd have been fine on a harley. ;)

seriously though, thats a drag. it's too bad they didnt pass a noise ordinance instead of a motorcycle one. they might also be seeking to limit cruising traffic or something weird like that. very strange.

my dad lives there (a couple miles inland) and it's a pretty bland place, both in terms of things to do and people that you see there.

scehdule a second honeymoon, you deserve it!
 
WWCD - What Would Che' Do?

When the guard ain't looking just go on by. What's he gonna do? Have you arrested for tresspass? At least it will be a honeymoon to remember!
 
Welcome to the joys of private property. I have hit this problem on occassion a few times. The best thing I have done so far is to ask to see the signage or paperwork that says "No motorcycles". Then they kind of hem and haw and usually just kind of look the other way as I go through.

If that doesn't work, I then ask to talk to the manager and ask on what grounds do they discriminate against motorcycles? If it noise, ask them if they measure the cars? Then from there I start getting pissy.

The thing that sucks the most about the whole issue is that it spoiled a good time. Once again another reason I like the AMA as a lobbying arm.
 
Thanks for all the input. My wife and I will stick to the tent and sleeping bags. We love to ride but places like Hilton Head kinda throw a wet blanket on the whole idea.

I was glad to hear that its also not the only place on earth where cycles are not welcome. Im sure there is more then enough non-cyclest to keep Hilton Head running. We will just plan our trips away from this place.

Thanks to all who took the time to read and comment.
Ride Safe
 
The hilarious thing about all of this is that loud CARS are welcomed on Hilton Head without so much as a second glance! I own a replica (kit) Shelby Cobra roadster with a 460 C.I. / 500 H.P. motor and straight headers with side-pipes. The car is LOUD to put it mildly, and I have taken for a week-end stay on the island twice without the slightest of problems.

BMW motorcycles are probably the second quietest scoots on the planet, (Honda Gold-Wing is the first, hands down). You think that after half a century of BMWs on American roads, most people would figure that out. Sadly, the only cycles that people seem to remember are the "bad actors" with way too much rumble. Loud pipes MAY save lives, but on bikes, the main thing they do is irritate people.
 
Last edited:
jetdriverfla said:
The hilarious thing about all of this is that loud CARS are welcomed on Hilton Head without so much as a second glance! I own a replica (kit) Shelby Cobra roadster with a 460 C.I. / 500 H.P. motor and straight headers with side-pipes. The car is LOUD to put it mildly, and I have taken for a week-end stay on the island twice without the slightest of problems.

BMW motorcycles are probably the second quietest scoots on the planet, (Honda Gold-Wing is the first, hands down). You think that after half a century of BMWs on American roads, most people would figure that out. Sadly, the only cycles that people seem to remember are the "bad actors" with way too much rumble. Loud pipes MAY save lives, but on bikes, the main thing they do is irritate people.

We found that old, rusty, noisy diesel trucks with duck tape for a window on the cap are also welcome. and thats just what we used to get in out of there. If you could have seen the faces on the people who's condo I parked in front of. I myself felt the BMW fit the whole condo/golfcorse thing much better then my old rusty, noisy truck. Not hat I have any thing against my old truck... but she just aint as perdy as my K1100LT.
 
I'm no lawyer (by any means) but I'm pretty sure this isn't legal.

What if I were a property owner and a motorcycle was my sole means of transportation? I mean people can regulate noise levels (loud pipes) and off-road vehicles, vehicles that weigh too much, etc., but not legitimate means of transportation.

If someone would take this to court, I think it would be winnable.

Sorry about your honeymoon tribulations.
 
I would have argued that it is not a motorcycle, it's a car that was picked before it was over ripe.

Bluwing
 
I wonder...

If I rent a truck and put my bike inside it in front of the hotel so the employes see it, and then park the truck on the hotel area - would that be OK? They know I have a bike in there, but they can't see (or here) me riding it.


An old Harley rider past away over here some years ago, in the summer.
I was in his funeral, and many of his friends was there, riding their Harleys.
All the bikes got permission to park just outside the chapel, not more than 10 meters from the chapel. (There was room at the parking lane, but they wanted to bring the bikes as close to the died biker as possible.)
They had to promise to not start those engine who makes a lot of noise when the minister had start the next funeral. So they pushed the bikes for some metres and started the engines just around the corner of the building.
That was OK for all of us.
This happend in Oslo.

I know there are some campsites that do not want to let a club have a meeting there, but when 10 bikes (or more) are coming, they are welcome!
And hotels; there are no problems, not at all.
I know some plases they do all they can to make it safe for the bike over the night - in Germany the owner of a small hotel nearly emptyed his garage for bicycles, the kids toys and gardening stuff so me and my boyfriend could put the bike in there - safe.

Many years ago I heard a story;
it was a family with a sidecar; mum, dad and one kid. The hotel said they was not welcome, so they had to go.
And I know there are a lot of old stories like that, but not anymore.
There was a time when bikers was dangerious or trouble, but now a days we often have a car at home and ride the bike for the holiday because we want to - and people at hotels and campsites seem to know that now.
People on bikes eat and sleep and have money or Visa Card - like those who drive a car.
99,9% of the people in Europe know that!

Over here we have NMCU = Norsk MotorCykkel Union www.nmcu.org It is an organisation for us who rides bikes and to solve problems people/government/laws/ and all have with bikes, and try to tell all we are not evil or stupid - we just want to ride our bikes!
They do a good job.
-Do you have something like that in US?

Oh; I have to stop now - I have been writing too much!

If you want to go for a honeymoon in Norway, I'm 99'9% you'll not get a problem because you ride a bike!

:) Liv.
 
No bikes wanted at private campground in Myrtle Beach SC

Nice pictures, hope you still had a fine honeymoon.

Many years ago I wanted to camp at a campground (well known franchise) in Myrtle Beach and had the same experience. The R90S was on a flatbed trailer behind my brand new motorhome. The guard at the front gate said no bikes allowed.

I was allowed to rent a campsite but I had to park the bike by the front gate and was not allowed to ride to my campsite or park it there.

No amount of friendly discussion, references to BMW not the other brand etc. made any difference.

The State Park down the road was cheaper and had no problems with the bike.

That was in 1987 so I can only hope that things have improved since then, I stopped using that franchise of campgrounds after that.

That was the only incident of bike discrimination I remember.

BTW to reach the warm south from Ontario I have to trailer.


Carl
 
Interesting Carl. BTW you can mention brand-names here... there's only one well-known campground with mulitple locations I've ever heard of (KOA) and I've heard nothing but good about them welcoming motorcyclists. I'm going to call one of them today in fact about staying there on a weekend trip I'm doing this month.
 
The Veg said:
Interesting Carl. BTW you can mention brand-names here... there's only one well-known campground with mulitple locations I've ever heard of (KOA) and I've heard nothing but good about them welcoming motorcyclists. I'm going to call one of them today in fact about staying there on a weekend trip I'm doing this month.

I've stayed at the KOA near Parry Sound, Ont. a number of times. Once they were all full but when they learned it was just me, my motorcycle and my bivy and I wasn't gonna be hanging at camp all day they gave me a square of grass behind the office/showers to set-up. I think they even charged me less. I was caught in a storm once and called to say I'd grabbed a motel room and woulde be there the following day. They did not charge me for that night. On the other hand I called to book two nights at a KOA near Mohawk, NY a few days before then cancelled a short time later and they charged me 1/2. Guess they needed the money.
 
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