Destination Laconia: The motorcycle of ministry murals

Editor's note: “Destination Laconia” is a series featuring patrons of Laconia Motorcycle Week. 

LACONIA — To get the Christian Motorcyclists Association motorcycle to Laconia Motorcycle Week, Jerry Niver first picked it up from Hatfield, Arkansas, where it was on display at a CMA outpost. He then drove the 2006 Honda Goldwing  – white, and adorned with various mini-murals honoring the work of the CMA ministry – to his home in Chillicothe, Ohio in the first week of May. From Ohio, Niver brought the bike and its accompanying trailer to Americade, a week-long motorcycle rally in Lake George, New York, that takes place annually in the first year of June. From Americade, Niver, and the embellished ride entrusted to him by CMA, arrived in Laconia. 

The CMA, according to its website, is an evangelical biker outreach ministry with members and member outposts across the country. CMA partners with three other Christian organizations. Through its ties with Missionary Ventures International, CMA works to provide pastors around the world with transportation – including motorcycles as well as boat engines, boats, and even a camel – so that they can travel between ministries. CMA’s other partners, Open Doors – a non-denominational organization that supports persecuted Christians around the world – and the Jesus Film Project, an offshoot of Campus Crusade for Christ which aims to translate the 1979 film “Jesus” into every global language – along with MVI each receive their own spotlighted illustrations on the bike. 

Niver has been the Ohio State Coordinator for CMA since 2009. The Honda Goldwing was donated to CMA through a ministry partner and the illustrations on its flanks, front, back, and trailer were painted by Mike "Mountainman" Lamborne in Circleville, West Virginia.

Just prior to the outset of the pandemic, CMA’s CEO and Board of Directors Chair John Ogden Sr. told Niver, “Jerry, it’s time you brought one of our bikes to some rallies,” according to Niver. Niver then brought the 2006 Goldwing “out of retirement” from its place on display in Hatfield to bring it to the 2020 Laconia Motorcycle Week. Though the event was canceled, Niver came anyway, unable to get out of his lodging reservation. He returned this year to his, and the Goldwing’s, official Laconia debut.

Niver enjoys the backroads while riding, when it makes sense to take them, he said. For his journey to the Granite State, he found Route 3 particularly enjoyable, and said he did not enjoy the back roads of Vermont, because, though beautiful, they were in worse condition. For their 40th wedding anniversary, Jerry and his wife Becky rode the length of Route 66. He enjoys scenic drives and getting the chance to see the towns and people along back road rides. 

“When you’re not just looking at the road,” Niver said, “There’s quite a bit to see.”