Monday, June 26, 2017

Tennessee Motorcycle Rally

OFF THE WIRE
There will be a bike festival in the general vicinity of Nashville in late September but it will not be the con game called Nashville Bike Week.
As briefly stated as possible, a convicted grifter with warrants out for his arrest in four states started selling the promise that there would be ten-day motorcycle rally near Nashville on November 24, 2015. The grifter’s name was Mike Leffingwell. He told people his name was Mike Axle. He incorporated as Superflow Entertainment. He trademarked the phrase “Nashville Bike Week” and tried to trademark the slogan “It’s Not A rally, It’s An Experience.”
Leffingwell promised the experience would last from September 14 through September 24, 2017 and it would be held at Loretta Lynn’s Ranch and Camp Grounds. And it was going to be the most terrific, beautiful, amazing motorcycle rally in history. Loretta Lynn backed out of the proposed rally because Leffingwell was sloppy and he didn’t pay people. Then Leffingwell promised the event would be held at Opryland. That did not work out either. Somehow, for some reason, a blonde named Janelle Roberts became a spokeswomen for the event a couple of months ago and it is anybody’s guess whether she is Leffinwell’s partner in crime or another of his many victims. After Leffingwell was arrested in Bowling Green, Kentucky, Roberts announced on television and in social media that Nashville Bike Week would be held 112 miles from Nashville at the American Rebel Mud Park near Waynesboro, Tennessee.

Bad News

The Mud Park is owned by Stan Chiras who told Nashville television station WKRN, “When I heard the Opryland venue fell through I reached out to the organizers and told them about my place. I talked to Mike that day, but he ended up getting arrested that afternoon.”
Some amount of money between $940,000 and $4.5 million has vanished into thin air. Chiras knows it and last week, on television, he promised to try to make things right. ““I’m trying to figure out what has happened. How much money came in. Where the money went. Who we have commitments to,” he said and it is anybody’s guess why he said that.
Yesterday Chiras backed out saying that there was “no way to meet promises made by Superflow Entertainment to its customers.”
What Leffingwell seemed to prove with his grand hoax is that there are many people who would like to attend a bike rally in the greater Nashville metropolitan area this September.

Better News

And, already another bike event that wants you to know that it “is not associated in any way with any other previous events in the area” has been scheduled. On June 6, Loretta Lynn distributed a press release that announced that her venue in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee, 60 miles west of Nashville was going to host the Tennessee Motorcycles & Music Revival from September 28 through the first of October.
Lynn’s ranch has hosted the American Motorcyclist Association Amateur National Motocross Championship for nearly 40 years
“We’ve been having motorcycles here forever with the AMA, and all year long thousands of people riding in to camp at the Ranch. This is what we do here, and I’m so excited for this new one to happen.” Lynn announced in her press release.
The event will feature “live music at multiple locations, a variety of entertainment, specialty food trucks, premium and primitive camping sites” and vendors.
One of the sponsors of the event will be Appleton Harley-Davidson of Clarksville, Tennessee. “There has been some drama in the local motorcycle event scene locally,” the dealership’s owners were quoted as saying. “We saw just how many people want to have a great time getting together to ride and enjoy each other’s company. We thank Loretta Lynn and her family for the chance to be a part of this event and truly look forward to hosting the motorcycle community near and far.”
Tickets start at $45. You can find out more about the Tennessee Motorcycles & Music Revival here.