Cycle Connections

From our family to yours, we wish you all a very Merry Christmas !!!!!

Cover Design By: Lisa Bonta

In This Issue:

Cycle Connections will be going through a “transitional” period, and as we do so, we will be loosing some of our contributing writers. We have enjoyed seeing things through their eyes for over 10 years, now we will be looking toward you the readers to share your bike adventures, benefit/fundraising efforts, Rally experiences etc.

You are already attending these events and no doubt taking some awesome pictures along the way. We would like for you to share that with us and EVERYONE else!

Also, we would like to help advertise your event in our “Upcoming Events” at NO charge to you, just drop us a note with the information.

If you are interested, or if you would like to submit event information, Please contact us at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

We appreciate all of you for your interest in Cycle Connections and look forward to sharing in your up coming adventures!

I hope everyone had a very merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

I’m excited to start the New Year off with a big announcement! My business partner Dennis and I have decided to hand off the Cycle Connections baton to our good friends and longtime staff members Lynn Reynolds and Leigh Lilly. As many of you know, Lynn and Leigh have been with the magazine for years, and have covered numerous events for us in and around the Birmingham, Alabama area. Being down south also enables them to take advantage of pretty much year-round riding when it comes to event coverage. Super jealous!

On Saturday, November the 3rd, 2018, the American Legion Post # 107 in Leeds Alabama, along with Cycle Connections, hosted the inaugural "Zoo Run for Children's" Bike Show/ Raffle/ Auction, benefiting Children's of Alabama Center for Childhood Cancer & Blood Disorders.

There are a lot more helmets out there for nearly every riding style, preference and weather condition than there is cash in most people’s pockets to acquire them. The answer is to get a helmet that can offer options to suit a variety of riding conditions, tastes in style and rider preferences.

  For You We Ride is a Poker Run fundraiser for breast cancer assistance charities.

This ride was also an attempt to break a record and get into the Guinness World Book of Records. There were some 80-motorcycle dealerships from around the country that joined into this record-breaking attempt.

  Over 10 years ago, we became involved with a multi-state motorcycle fundraiser event that included a half dozen or so, kids with brain tumors, this quickly became our most treasured event to do each year as we got close to these families, watching these kids grow. When we got in touch with the organizers this year to get information on the 2018 event, I was told that they had decided to pull the Alabama event to combine it with the Georgia event. 

  Thousands of fans came rolling into Alabama from all over the country for the 14th Annual Vintage Festival at the Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama, October the 5th-7th, 2018.

Motorcycle Tales

When you think of one of those hot air corn poppers, one with a four-cylinder double overhead cam mill attached probably doesn’t come to mind.

  On Saturday, September the 8th, riders gathered at the Hardees in Pinson, Alabama for a ride in remembrance of Brittany Payne Daugherty, who was in the beginning stage of her young married life when her life was cut short due to unexpected complications related to her heart on July 12th, 2018

    On Saturday, September the 15th, 2018, bikes rolled in to Rider's Harley-Davidson in Trussville, Alabama where they were playing host to a ride that was to celebrate the life of a bright, caring young lady, Ms Angel Eaton, whose life was cut short due to cancer. Larry Hardeman organized this ride as he has gotten close to not only this family but also many like them who have been touched in some way by Childhood Cancer, and was co-hosted by Ridez For a Reason. The ride stopped by Bates H.D sales in Oneonta, and was greeted with a “Cruise In" and music by: 7 Stone Riot when they returned.

  On Sunday, September the 9th, 2018, the Legion Riders joined forces for a ride in remembrance of the 911 tragedy and all of the lives lost that day.

MILWAUKEE (August 21, 2018) Three 2019 Harley-Davidson^® CVO^™ models offer show-stopping finishes, advanced technology, exclusive components and attention to detail that borders on obsessive. The Harley-Davidson Custom Vehicle Operations™ program creates limited-production Harley-Davidson motorcycle models for the most-discerning customers, often using finishes, materials and accessories that are only available on a CVO model.

MILWAUKEE (August 21, 2018) The new Harley-Davidson^® FXDR^™ 114 motorcycle delivers moto-aggression with a technical edge. Like a drag racer crossed with a fighter jet, this unapologetic power cruiser brings a new level of all-out performance to the Harley-Davidson line-up. The FXDR 114 combines the unrelenting power of the Milwaukee-Eight^® 114 engine with the liberal use of new weight-saving aluminum and composite components. Every aspect of handling and performance is amplified.

Modern retro class bikes:  This line-up of bikes in the BBC’s Modern Retro class is only a part of the bike show on Saturday.

  On Saturday, August the 11th, riders gathered at Thunder Inn, a favorite local watering hole, for the bikers to make the annual ride over to the final resting place of Larry "Mad Dog" Rogers.

  On July 28th, 2018, The Gintown Lowlife Society hosted a fundraiser event for the family of Joey Garner.

On Saturday, July the 7^th, 2018, riders gathered at Jack's on Gadsden Hwy in Birmingham, Alabama to ride over to the Lakeview Country Club just below McCalla, Alabama to join up with others to ride in memory of Kelsey Hunnicutt.

Austin, TX – Locally owned Top Dawg Electronics announced today that it will be releasing the latest technology in motorcycle camera systems.

President and CEO Jared Jolly expects this dual camera system to revolutionize the safety of motorcyclists and disrupt the Moto Vloging world. The MotoPro system will deliver high quality videos for either day or night time riding.

  On Saturday, July the 7th, 2018, a group from the Birmingham H.O.G jumped on their bikes and headed out for the Blue Ridge mountains in north Georgia, encountering rain along the way, but hey, they needed to rinse the bikes anyway! 

This poker run was a non-escorted ride using the 50/50 split format, where the winner took 50% and the remaining 50% went to The Autism Society of Alabama.

Daredevil Extraordinaire Travis Pastrana recreated 3 of Evel Knievel’s most memorable jumps.

The jumps recreated were:

• Evel jumped 50 smashed cars-Travis attempts to jump 52 smashed cars.
• Evel jumped 15 Greyhound buses-Travis attempts to jump 16 Greyhound buses.
• Evel jumped the Fountains at Caesar’s Palace- Travis attempts to jump the Fountains with 200 feet less take and landing room.

  July the 9th, 2018, marked the start of the Motor Maid convention, where hundreds (final count of 423 plus 150 guests) of women from all over the country converged on to the city of Montgomery, Alabama. Motor Maid membership currently stands at 1323.

***HARLEY-DAVIDSON TO MOVE SOME OF THEIR MOTORCYCLE MAUFACTORING TO OTHER COUNTRIES DUE TO E.U TARRIFS.

Just thought we would share a few shots from the Run For The Wall, the Southern Route!

Close to 4000 H.O.G members converged on the city of Maryville, Tennessee on May the 31^st for the Great Smokey Mountain H.O.G Rally.

On June the 16^th, 2018, the Saints of Cullman County and friends of the Miracle League hosted the 2nd Annual Miracle League Benefit Ride.

             In 2008, the small town of Grady, Alabama awoke to the rumble of Harleys roaring through their township. Marvin Askew had opened the gates to the local bikers to come and do what they do best, which is to-PARTY! Add live music and games to the mix and they did just that. With people showing in the hundreds; Shine in LaPine Bike Rally quickly grew to be known as the “Best Little rally in Alabama".