As many Harley riders will know, the actual acquisition of your first Harley Davidson is akin to a passionate love affair! Time, care, attention & a whole lotta lovin’ goes into that first bike & the pride in the purchase simply cannot be measured. I know from personal experience that when Mike got his Softail just 4yrs ago, that a new passion showed in his demeanour. After a wait of over 30yrs, he had a new, noisy, gleaming ‘bitch’ in his life! Did I worry? Nah, I’m the daft bugger that cleans & polishes his bitch for him, but that’s another story!
Admittedly, there are differences between old & new riders of motorcycles – the older folk tend to feel real comfortable around & on their mount, whereas the newer riders tend to be a tad nervous when it comes to riding. As I mentioned, Mike only bought his first Harley 4yrs ago – however he’d had bikes from when he was a teenager & we had a bike shortly after we got married. I grew up in a family that had a love of big engine British bikes, so the love of bikes has always been in me. For as far back as I can remember, whether the memory has been of my dad, my grandfather, early boyfriends or even my brother as an 8yr old taking grandads 650cc BSA for a spin, each reminisence is of the rider being comfortable on the 2 wheels beneath him.
When my husband took me out for the first time on his Softail, I slipped straight back into the 16yr old rebel-without-a-clue mentality that I had at the time………..I felt so young again! I asked Mike to please tell me if he felt I wasn’t leaning enough of anything else that might make him uncomfortable. From that first ride, I know I slipped back into the comfort mode that I’d grown up with, as did Mike. As the weeks & months progressed, we made more friends & went for a ride whenever the opportunity arose. We bought an another Harley – this time an Ultra Glide – as Mike desperately wanted to customise his Softail & make it a single seater. When Mike bought the Softail, we bought decent (open face) helmets, boots, leather vests & full leather jackets, the latter which were only worn when we toured overseas. We were comfortable riding in jeans, T-shirts & vest. We were comfortable with each other & comfortable on the ‘Glide. All of our friends were the same – many were long time bikers – comfortable with & confident on the rides. In my humble opinion, we & they are real Harley bikers.
Fast forward a couple of years & we find ourselves back in our home country. The first thing we did, quite literally the day after we arrived, was to order a new Harley! Thanks to a dealer – whom at best could be described as an image conscious piss-poor excuse of a franchise holder - we had a very long 4mth wait until we got our new FLHTK. Despite the frustration of having to wait for so long, we were happy to be on 2 wheels again. We met other riders in the area & were invited on local rides. There were 3 others in town who were proud Harley owners, but the rest were riders of bits of plastic mounted on 2 wheels, containing an engine which held a foreign name & sounded like a mosquito on ‘roids. They looked extremely uncomfortable……………correction………….the majority of them looked downright silly. They were not bikers; they were adrenalin junkies, out to see who could go the fastest. (Despite this, I have to say that they made Mike & myself welcome, even if we did speak a different language.) To date, I’ve yet to come across a rider of a rice-rocket who actually goes out to enjoy his/her ride. They’re out for speed, absolute speed, with the silent wish that they make their ride with all body parts intact on their return. Maybe I’m missing something, because I don’t get the ‘fun’ in that kind of riding? Each to his own though – whatever floats your boat 
BMW riders are in their own world. ‘Nuff said!
Just recently, we met up with a small group of Harley owners from a neighbouring city, for a planned ride & overnight stay. We rode some 180km to meet them in great weather, with little traffic & a growing anticipation of a group ride.
I’m still patting myself on the back on how I managed to contain myself from displaying 2 prominent emotions – anger & hysterical laughter! I was angry because the convoy of less than 20 Harleys kept getting split by a rider who wouldn’t know a consistant speed if it smacked him in the arse. There is safe riding & there is stupid riding. During a particulalry great stretch of hairpin/switchback bends, one rider slowed down to such an extent he quite literally threatened to cause an accident, as he was riding with a leg out in anticipation of falling off! Fortunately, there were some real bikers in the group & once we’d overtaken those who were petrified of anything sharper than a 10% kink in the road, really enjoyed our ride.
My hysteria was aimed at those who were decked out from top to toe in squeaky clean leathers, to match their squeaky clean bikes. I admit there was pride, but it was an artificial pride – it screamed “Look at me, I’ve got money!”* Brown customised seat & panniers on a bagger warranted brown leather jacket & chaps to match. If that isn’t as camp as a row of tents, I don’t know what is! If one woman had a HD T-shirt or vest with a bit of bling on it, then the next sported a T-shirt, belt, necklace & rings, all in an attempt to possibly display her loyalty in supporting HD, but more like wanting/needing to be one up on a fellow pillion rider! It truly was funny. Top of the range clothing & the latest jewelled accessories do not make a confident rider or passenger. All those things do is show what a poser you are. I had a fleetingly brief self-conscious thought; ‘here we are, scuffed boots, well worn vests & obligatory HD T-shirts from different corners of the world – wonder what they think of us?’. Then I thought DILLIGAF! We were out for the ride – me & my partner in life – enjoying our amazing scenery on a bike that’s as comfortable to us, as we are to it.
* Retail prices for Harleys are 70-100% more expensive than the USA. If you can afford one of the bigger models here, it usually means you’re pretty well off.
