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.