H.O.G. Members of the Month
January 2006
Mike and Donna Akens

Mike and Donna Akens are both longtime Grand Junction residents. Mike is a second generation native and Donna's family moved to Grand Junction when she was an infant. Mike and Donna were teenage sweethearts, married young and just celebrated their 32nd wedding anniversary. They have two grown children, A son Mitch, and a Daughter Melanie.  They have two grand children who love Poppa's Harleys. Mike and Donna own and operate Bookcliff Auto Parts the NAPA store together and have worked together for nearly 30 years. Mike and Donna started motorcycling together in 1972 on Mike's old Harley Davidson Sprint which was painted to replicate the "Then came Bronson" Sportster from the old TV show. Mike moved up to a new Honda 450 and Donna got her motorcycle license endorsement but soon children and mortgages pushed cycling to the back burner. The Akens clan spent numerous hours’ dirt biking in the desert north of town. When the kids were grown and gone and college was done Mike bought a new XL1200 Sportster in late 2001 and had so much fun that they bought a 2003 Heritage Softail and added a 2005 Ultra Classic for road trips. Mike has been a HOG member since 2001 and has enjoyed as many runs as work permits. Mike had a little bad luck in March of 2005 when his Heritage broke his ankle when he tried to save the chrome and lost about half of the riding season with surgery. Mike and Donna hope to go on as many HOG rides as possible in 2006 and are planning a long road trip this year.

Mike and Donna are interesting and fun and bring a lot to the club.  Mike was generous enough to allow us to use his large screen for our Christmas pot luck party presentation at Harold Wollard’s.  We are lucky to have them in our club and appreciate all they do for the club.

Jesús Guerrero Jr.