What is cooler than a motorcycle?

Perhaps a motorcycle that was free, or at least, almost free.

In 2003, Clayton Ferguson purchased a $5 raffle ticket on a whim at an American Bikers Active Towards Education event.

A week passed and Ferguson had forgotten about the raffle. Out of nowhere, he was notified that he was the new owner of a 2003 100th Anniversary Edition Harley Davidson.

“I couldn’t believe it,” Ferguson said. “It is a beautiful bike and to just be handed the keys was unbelievable.”

At the time, Ferguson was out of a job because International Paper shut down. While he apprecia

ted the gravity of winning a brand new motorcycle, he already had a perfectly good one.

“For a while I tried to sell it,” he said.

“Then Landon came around, and I thought it would be pretty cool to hand it down to him.”

Landon, 7, is Ferguson’s son.

“I don’t have much to give him, but this is something really cool and special that I can give him for when he grows up,” Ferguson said. “I want him to go on his own adventures.”

Ferguson is a single dad. His life and free time revolve around Landon. He has had to give up several things for his son. Riding motorcycles is chief among those sacrifices.

Luckily, a love for motorcycles runs deep in the Ferguson blood.

“I started riding with my dad when I was about (Landon’s) age,” Ferguson said. “And Landon already seems to like it.”

According to Ferguson, when Landon has friends over, he takes them into the living room to show them ‘his’ motorcycle. He gets on top of it and climbs all over it.

“I like a lot of things about them,” Landon said.

“They go fast. They are loud. They’re fun.”

Ferguson has been exposing him to motorcycles since he was a year old and he even takes Landon on rides with him.

“I don’t ride like I used to, but I am able to put him in front of me on the seat and we ride around the neighborhood,” he said.

“I think he has a lot of fun riding like that, but I am really looking forward to when we can both ride bikes together.”