Meet The New Rider # 1266 Gregory Downar-Zapoliski

 

My name is Gregory Downar-Zapolski. I’m 58 years old and I was born in Poland. In the past year I became a proud US citizen. I have been married 38 years and have two adult children, Agata and Peter. My daughter lives in the states with her husband for the past 15 years and my son lives in Poland with his family. We are all enthusiastic motorcycle riders. 

 

 

I became interested in motorcycles at a very early age and started riding as a teenager. My father also rode and was interested in bikes. When I was a young adult, I finally bought my first Harley and became interested in the brand, which led to many more rides and trips. My initial long trips were around Europe. Some of my visits included Italy, Germany, Holland, Belgium, Hungary, Croatia, Norway and Sweden. I started to take interest in older Harley’s, and I started to attend motorcycle gatherings, one of which was the famous Chopper Bash in Belgium. In 2009 I decided to come the states as a tourist and to participate in the biggest meeting in the world in Sturgis. I bought a 2004 Softail Fatboy Twin-Cam carburetor upon my arrival in Chicago. This amazing machine took us from Illinois, traveling through Wisconsin, Minnesota and South Dakota. I met amazing people that had the same love and passion that I did for bikes. We exchanged stories and experiences. I had the opportunity to visit a museum that was being built and dedicated to the American Indian “Crazy Horse”. The statue dedicated to him was started by a Polishsculpture Szymon Ziulkowski. I had an opportunity to visit Mount Rushmore. After Sturgis we moved on to continue our much longer planned trip to Yellowstone, traveling through Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado. After Yellowstone we traveled back to Chicago. This was our first trip to the US which made me fall in love with the states. After this I took a deeper interest in the history of the US and Native Americans. In 2010 I discovered the Hoka Hey Motorcycle challenge. I connected this with my existing knowledge of my past trip to the US and the knowledge of crazy horse. After this moment I became very interested in this, following the group online. 

 

 

In 2016 I took another trip to the US; this time I sent my motorcycle to the states. Alongside 3 of my friends from Poland, we rode from Florida to California. Our goal was to participate in Born Free in California, and we made it for Born Free 8. While there, I met some amazing people who built bikes and other aspiring individuals. Among them were even the owners of TC Bros. I saw some amazing motorcycles such as Flat heads, knuckle heads, shovel heads, and pan heads. Before my trip I was invited to be featured in a Polish motorcycle magazine called ‘Custom’ where they wrote about my experiences and love of motorcycles. Some pictures from this magazine are featured.

Fast forward to 2018: my wife and I received our green cards and joined our daughter in the US. In 2024 we became proud US citizens. From the moment I found out about the Hoka Hey Motorcycle Challenge I knew this was for me. As a long-time athlete, I know the best calling for a person is the fight with oneself, to challenge oneself. It challenges your weaknesses, teaches humility, respect for oneself and others. 

 

 

All of these I recognized in this challenge, and I knew I had to participate and challenge myself. It’s like a calling for only the strong. You must stand up to a lot of adversaries. riding the bike which is dangerous in itself…the weather, which is unpredictable. You must have a strong personality to ride so many hours a day without stopping. All these factors remind me of karate, where you train for hours, repeating moves over and over again. It may be boring and hard, but it challenges you and rewards you mentally. This is why I decided to do the challenge, to start it and finish it happily knowing I can push through anything, push through my limits. 

 

 

Any donations will help raise money for the Boys and Girls Club of the Prairie Band of the Potawatomi Nation , which is the tribal nation in Illinois where the challenge begins. I love the theme that was chosen for the 2026 challenge, “Try to live a good life, or make a good life”. I want to continue making a good life for myself and give back my rewards to these most deserving children.