The Fall Harley Rally gets underway in a couple of days, and there are signs that attendance will be way down this year.
Horry County Public Safety officials say they'll beef up police patrols like they always do, but they'll only add about six to eight officers per shift to handle the extra duties, compared to the 12 or so they've added in previous years.
The county has handed out only 43 vendor permits for the event this year, compared to 130 last year. Officials say fewer vendors is a sign there will be fewer bikers.
"In my opinion, they tend to follow the bikers, and I just think that all the indications in the biker trade magazines indicate that we're not going to have a very large event," said Horry County Public Safety Director Paul Whitten.
Whitten says the county can shift gears in mid-stream and they can adjust police presence for the rally, depending on the need.
