The Suck, Bang, and Blow is a motorcycle bar named for the operations of the motorcycle engine. That said, what I saw leads me to believe that some folks pack their dirty minds in their saddlebags, take them out, and parade them all over the place at certain Bike Week venues.
you can see it all at the Suck, Bang, & Blow
One of our friends got married on the SC coast last weekend, and the wedding coincided with the beginning of Bike Week in Myrtle Beach. How fortunate for my Harley riding better half! He and a friend trailered their bikes, hoping for 30 minutes of riding time. Ordinarily they wouldn't consider attending a motorcycle event, but hey, since they were already going to be there . . .
At the above mentioned SB&B, riders can actually ride their bikes through the middle of the bar - something I thought to be a novel thing to do. In a fleeting moment of lost sanity, I said I wanted to ride through the middle of a bar. Before I knew it, I was on the back of the Harley, heading to Murrell's Inlet and the Suck, Bang, and Blow. Our friend convinced his spouse to go, too, and the other wedding attendees followed in their car.
There were bikes everywhere. Vendors had tents set up all around the SB&B and across the street. They sold everything from helmets, tee shirts, motorcycle parts, and food to decals, sunglasses, and beer (lots of beer).
In jeans and sleeveless knit shirts, we were the best dressed folks there.
Hundreds of motorcycles buzzed and sputtered on every road around Myrtle Beach. Their riders were adorned in doo-rags, graying beards and ponytails, tattoos of varying styles, leather vests or chaps, sunglasses, and sunburns. Some guys were shirtless (all the better to show off those tattoos and pecs!) Some folks wore helmets; most did not.
We decided that some of the tattoos were temporary, and some of those beards were begun a few weeks ago in anticipation of this week. Most likely, many of those scruffy riders return home to regular 9-5 jobs where their co-workers are none the wiser as to how they spent their summer vacation.
But it's the women who lent a touch of trash to the whole atmosphere. Some were attired in shorts so short they had to cause a rash. Some wore leather vests with nothing underneath. Others wore bathing suit tops, thong underwear, and chaps, exposing it all to anyone behind. Worse was the fact that some of those exposed bodies had no business exposing anything! Victoria's Secrets models they were not! Some women even pulled up their shirts for money!
SB&B patrons
I guess I'm just too old to understand why on earth a woman (of any age) would choose to display her chest or her derriere to the public, especially in a place where testosterone levels were so high. Granted, at the beach inhibitions tend to be lower, and bathing suits are skimpier than ever, but still. This was trashy, and there was no ocean at the SB&B.
Aside from that, I witnessed my first burn out. This is when a rider pulls his bike up to a wall and gives it all it's got, spinning the rear wheel and generating clouds of rubber smoke. The bigger the clouds, the greater the crowd approval. When a tire actually blows, the crowd expresses its appreciation by throwing money at the driver!
At first, I thought this was ludacrous. Then I talked to the guy who had just blown out his tire as he counted out a handful of bills to the vendor selling tires across the street (how convenient). His was on its last threads anyway, so he'd made sure the vendor had a tire to fit his bike before he did the burn out. He wound up paying only $95 for a $195 tire. Not so stupid after all.
A burn out
All this, and I never got to ride through the middle of the Suck, Bang, and Blow. With so many people, the event staff had closed off the ride-through.
The following day, my better half rode further up the coast to the Harley dealership where there were at least 20,000 motorcycles, . He regretted that I hadn't gone there with him because it was opposite from what I saw at the SB&B. It wasn't trashy. That's good to know. My spouse isn't like that; he just enjoys puttering around on his bike with his old men friends. Harley riders get a bad name from displays like that at the SB&B.
But I'm glad for the experience. It was a weekend of contrasts. First a lovely wedding set among the Spanish-moss laden trees in front of a coastal marsh, graced by the calls of the marsh hen and cranes. Then ride on the back of a Harley Davidson to the ambience of the Suck, Bang, and Blow. Life is good.
3 comments:
Your attempt to tell us all about the suck,bang and blow and to keep our minds out of the gutter that it doesn't mean what people think I say BS... it was designed to do just that by a mob of low life cycle tramps and trollips who think that to make spectacles of themselves and show their ignorance ia "just a whole bunch of fun" get a clue, get a life, one that's fit for people who still have an ebb of decency and morality.... how utterly swell that you got to have "lots of beer and drive your bike right through the middle of the bar and WOW you got to blow out your rear wheel attempting to what? climb a wall? my my how impressive !
Wow... I see your still needing much work on some unresolved deep-rooted issues! Several. Sad that you can't be happy for people that are simply enjoying themselves. Maybe one day you'll get off of your pious, self-righteous, judgemental high horse that's simply overflowing with negativity... maybe.
In the meantime, for everyone else, HAVE FUN and ENJOY THOSE HARLEYS!
-Kimberly
I'm sorry that you think the behavior of the patrons of Suck Bang and Blow was trashy. I respect the fact that that is your opinion and you are certainly entitled to it. However, in the opinion of someone who attends the Myrtle Beach Spring Rally every year, may I just say that "most" people who attend bike rallies and who go to biker bars know that this style of dress and type of behavior is par for the course. They expect it and are not shocked by it. It's all in fun and good spirits. My thanks to everyone who is openminded enough to appreciate that.
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