MURRELLS INLET, SC (WBTW) – The spring bike rally is in full throttle as the second weekend tends to draw the bigger crowds.
As thousands come to cruise the coast, you never know what kind of rides you’ll find. From the newest designs to refurbished classics, bike week is a place for riders to see and be seen.
“If I had ten cents for every picture taken of my lid, I’d be able to- well I’m retired anyways- but I wouldn’t have had to work for as long as I did,” laughed Ronnie Green as he described the attention given to his customized Harley.
When Green bought the motorcycle brand new in 1977, the stock bike didn’t even have a speck of chrome, but he’s spent a lot of time and money to transform it over the years.
“I do my own paint, the motor was 74 cubic inches now its 103 cubic inches, did all that. Now its balanced, stroked; just about everything you can do to it,” explained Green.
Perhaps the most eye catching add on is a custom coffin side car, made from 1 inch of solid wood, hand built so his young daughter could ride along.
“When she was about 4 years old, her and one of her friends used to sit in here side by side, and wife on the back and we’d just go for rides and they loved it, loved every minute of it,” said Green, who also admitted it did get some other uses.
“It will hold exactly ten cases of beer, stacked on top of one another. When I used to do beer runs for the party, you could get exactly ten cases in here and stack them straight to the top,” he said.
While Green and his bike have been the life of the party for years, some other custom builders unveiled their rides for the first time.
“My grandson was into Superman so I said, well, I’ll do a theme bike this year. I just did the Superman stuff this year,” said Mike Presler, the proud owner of a man of steel inspired motorcycle.
Presler says the large logo and decals get a lot of attention anywhere he goes, “everybody taking their kids over like ‘it’s the Superman bike!’”
And though Presler wouldn’t get into specifics, building a custom ride doesn’t come cheap.
“$30, 40, 50 thousand, it depends on what you buy and how much you build yourself,” said Presler, who added that it’s all worth it, since it’s a labor of love.
“That’s the fun of it you know and then riding’s the second thing,” explained Presler.
The spring bike rally wraps up this Sunday May 21st, expect to see a lot of motorcycles on the road this weekend, so be sure to look twice when traveling.