1916 Harley-Davidson
The Race of the Century’s rider #25, Scott Byrd, is everyone’s favorite jokester. As a cigar-smoking, tobacco-chewing dentist from Arkansas, this guy had made quite a reputation for himself well before his first Cannonball back in 2014 when riders made their run from Florida to Washington. With his tongue-in-cheek, smartass posts on the Motorcycle Cannonball social media pages, Scott started a pre-race 100-day countdown roast of every rider registered with the run and continued the engaging commentaries for the 2016 run, as well. The comical satirical narration served as a great ice-breaking introduction for the competitors and by the time tires met the starting line, everyone knew who the guy from Arkadelphia was. And yes, that is a real town: population 10,714.
Scott’s efforts to make his machine sound paid off and the 1916 H-D ran very well. He rode every mile and ranked 14th in the top 52 perfect scores. As riders rolled into a lunch stop towards the end of the run, a little boy spied #25 and the child was instantly elated. He ran towards the bike, jumping up and down and screeching, “It’s pink! That motorcycle is pink!” And indeed it was. As the excited child ran to keep up, I offered to introduce him to the rider and told him the jockey was a dentist. The kid stopped dead in his tracks as his mouth fell open in an expression of shock. The disgusted boy threw his hands up in the air in frustration when I asked if he still wanted to meet Scott. His answer was a flat, “No,” and he walked away, proving that while the world may fear dentists, you just can’t hold that against a guy.
Time spent with Scott Byrd is always a giggle and his infectious smile is hard to ignore. For the 2018 run, our favorite comedian won’t be a rider but will join the ranks of his buddies on the Team White Trash as support of new rider Joe Burch, who will now carry the #25 badge, and returning rider Jon Neuman, both from Texas. Everyone is on the edge of their saddles, waiting to see if he’ll carry on the traditional 100-day countdown of creative commentaries on the Cannonball page. Oh, and about the color choice on his beloved Harley… Scott painted it that striking, less-than-masculine color to raise money for breast cancer research.
