It was, and soon will be again, a beautiful thing, all outfitted in golds, silvers and blues, every last inch of it quite personal.
It is The Warrior Bike, a 2008 Ninja ZX-14 by Kawasaki, Donald Harris’ tribute to the men and women with whom he served during three deployments to Iraq and, more specifically, to those who never returned home.
“It is just that I am in the Army, and I love this bike,” Sgt. 1st Class Donald J. Harris said. “The community loves it; soldiers and veterans love it. It is a great conversation piece.”
He cannot count the number of military shows, Veterans of Foreign Wars posts and veterans rallies he has appeared at with the motorcycle. He has stood with it at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., a replica M-16 rifle topped with a helmet propped in front.
The idea for The Warrior Bike just came to him one day, he said. He is a self-described motorcycle fanatic.
Customizing them has been his hobby for years. So when he finished with the Ninja, he took it over to his buddy, Mitch Diamond, at Diamond Auto Craft in Pueblo, for a paint job.
“It wasn’t anything, really, that was planned,” Harris said. “I think my daughter might have suggested it first, but somehow I decided to tell the story of my service in Iraq.”
It would take two weeks’ worth of fine, detailed painting. There were helicopters and tanks, insignias and the silhouette of a lone soldier carrying his rifle at sundown.
Last week he participated for a second year at Military Appreciation Day at the Pepsi Center, which the Nuggets sponsor before one game each February.
Harris loaded The Warrior Bike onto a trailer, off-loaded it at the main entrance to the arena and stood to take any questions from arriving fans.
“Sometimes you can really reach people when they see something nice,” he said.
Now an Army recruiter, he was deployed to Iraq three times since 2004, all with the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, then based at Fort Carson, just outside of his hometown of Colorado Springs.
He literally was born at Fort Carson; his father also was an Army lifer. Donald Harris, 40, is now serving in his 15th year.
He is a man who spends his off hours raising money for needy children. Last year he was named Lutheran Family Services volunteer of the year.
Harris had walked away from the bike for only a few minutes, he recalled. He had pulled it back up on its trailer and parked it on a side street.
When he returned, it was badly damaged, someone having bashed in the paintings on the right side.
“Who knows? I will never understand it,” he says of who might have done it.
He has refused multiple offers of money to get it repaired.
“It happened on my watch,” Harris said. “I left it unattended. Whatever insurance doesn’t cover is for Sgt. Harris to pay. The bike is my personal thing. I wouldn’t take anything to rebuild it.”
He figures it will be out of the shop in a couple of weeks. It has to be.
There are other veterans events he has agreed to attend.
Bill Johnson writes Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Reach him at 303-954-2763 or wjohnson@denverpost.com.
