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From another forum:

About a half hour ago I was listening to a conversation between one of our local talkshow hosts and the event promoter (Harvey) and he cited his reasons for throwing in the towel.

For the last four years that he has put it on, it has always depended on support from the local biking community, shops, vendors etc. to make it happen, but that is a lesser issue ... here was one of the primary issues:

Most biker events like Myrtle, Daytona etc are scattered out all over town, whereas this one centers on one location. Also other events don't require insurance because of that, unless the owner of the particular display that you are attending requires it, such as a shopping center parking lot as in Myrtle Beach. Since this was centralized at the fairgrounds, one of the requirements by the city fathers was insurance. He says it's always been that way and he knew it going into it again this year. One drawback is that he was never able to get a firm quote on the premium until 30 days before the event, so he has always played the risk game until the last minute. This year, they were still mailing and phoning agents trying to get someone to commit, and when he finally got a quote, it brought his premium to 1.2 million. He said with a budget of 2.8 million and a Biker Build-off award of 1.0 million, the budget was almost shot.

As he mentioned earlier, it took the cooperation of the bike community, i.e. shops and vendors in town to pull it off, and as it got closer, more demands and opinions as to how it should be done started coming in, plus some disagreements. This shop didn't like that shop, this bar didn't like that bar, nyah nyah etc. One shop or bar wanted to have some stuff like wet tee-shirt contests, and whatever, with which he disagreed since it was to be a family type event. He said pretty much that that's why he built the biker bar, so those guys that enjoy that can unwind. He said that in the years that he has owned the biker bar, law enforcement has only had to respond twice.

While at one of the shops discussing the event, he said that the guy he was talking to walked over to the display that had the flyers in it, wadded them up and threw them down on the ground or in the trash. I think at that point was where he might have decided that he didn't want to play anymore.

He was asked questions about trouble or violence, and said that the main disruption last year was during the Kid Rock concert (I think their fee was $500,000), and he didn't recall that it was between two bikers.

When asked if the "Hells Angels" ever caused any problems and his answer was "absolutely not", they have always been easy to work with. In addition, our local talk show host who was interviewing him reminded everyone that he has done live shows at the last three events, and didn't recall seeing any disturbances during his shows or attendance.

Harvey also said that when he started getting email and phone threats, that he just didn't see where it was worth it to continue.

He gave me the impression that he just thought that the biking community (commercial?), and Charleston area just really didn't want it.

On a much smaller scale, here in Greenville, SC, a group of "riders" (all bike styles are represented) are having success with having a "non alcohol" bike night at a local hamburger spot. It started last year and averaged between 50-60 folks on Friday nights. Some nights, there were almost 100. They had DJ music, door prizes, 50/50 drawings all in a family atmosphere. Kids are always running around and are eligible for the prizes as well. This year, at the same location, they are having live music, donations for the drawings from some of the dealerships and bike shops around the area and a local TV show, "Carolina Cruisers" is coming out to do a show there on April 13. So far, there are no conflicts, no hassles, no problems. Maybe by keeping it simple and manageable, it will grow on its own, maybe not, but it is a very enjoyable event with alot of great folks.

vaya con Dios
BeauJames

mike2000t wrote:

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I've been to that one, as a matter of fact, that is where we met. James is right, it is a nice little crowd. It's the type pof place your not ashamed to say you've been all evening
Mike

It's supposed to be even better this season, hope to see you and yours friends again this year Mike. First night is March 30th, 6:30-10:00.

Jim