Cycle Connections

Our January 2015 cover bike is a 2007 Big Inch Bike, owned by Steve Witt from Kansas City, Missouri. This month's cover model is Bree, who is from Platte City, Missouri. Scroll down for cover page articles and more details on our cover bike and model.

In This Issue

Our January 2015 cover bike is owned by Steve Witt, and his 2007 Big Inch Bike was selected as the winning bike at our Cover Bike Search on Thursday, September 25, 2014 at Worth Harley-Davidson.

Bree from Platte City, Missouri is our January 2015 cover model, and she took first place at our Cover Model Search on Thursday, September 25, 2014 at Worth Harley-Davidson. Bree is in sales, and is also a student. When asked about her ambitions in life, she said “To be a doctor in pediatrics or gynecology.” When it comes to hobbies, Bree told us she enjoys shopping, concerts, fishing, four-wheeling, and spending time with her daughter.

For this month's issue, we invite you to take a look behind the Scenes at our January 2015 Cover Shoot video, which follows cover model Bree through her photo shoot and interviews.

For those who read the article I wrote last month entitled Biker Build-Off Team Building at Shawnee Cycle Plaza, you may recall that the management and employees at Shawnee Cycle Plaza drew names out of a hat, and divided into three groups for a fun team building exercise. Each team was given a stock motorcycle off the showroom floor, along with a budget of $2,500 (retail value) per team. The bikes were a red 2013 Honda Fury, a green and black 2014 Kawasaki Ninja ZX14, and a red and black 2015 Victory Cross Country. They had until Monday, December 22, 2014 to customize their motorcycle in an attempt to beat their competition. Along with a great sense of pride, the winning team members would each receive a paid day off. Plus, since all three bikes would be put up for sale, the team whose bike sells first will receive $50 each.

For those of us here in the Midwest and other northern climates, it looks like Old Man Winter has exhaled a breath of cold air and knocked the last few leaves to the ground. It’s 14 degrees out as I sit here writing this, which means for some, it's time to roll your bike into the corner of your garage, hook up your battery tender and hope for an early spring. For others, who are a bit more adventurous, there’s no real end to the riding season; just a change in riding gear.

Most people I know end up replacing their stock grips. Therefore, I thought everyone might enjoy watching this YouTube video, which was produced by J&P Cycles. It walks you through the process for replacing the grips on a Harley Davidson motorcycle; however, the same general concept applies to most makes and models.

Beryl Swain was the first solo woman to complete the TT race in 1962, performed on the notorious Isle of Man TT course in an official event, finishing 22^nd. This led to the male dominated world of racing to revoke her license due to the perception that motorcycling was too dangerous for women. The ban held until 1978 when Hilary Musson competed.