What is it about Harley Davidson’s that makes them so appealing
IT SOUNDS like rolling thunder, has lots of chrome, swept back handlebars, low slung seat and even if Blind Pugh had also lost his hearing he would still have been able to physically ‘feel’ the sound this machine makes.
Capable of waking the dead, but not in the same manner as those ghastly sounding ‘hairdryers’ youngsters dart around in, when you open the throttle on a Harley, with its huge engine torque, you unleash a steroid-fuelled grizzly bear and, deservedly, this sound is called ‘the Grunt’.
Only a Harley Davidson motorcycle delivers this throaty, pounding and off-centred drumming beat. It’s a signature sound that defines this unique make and differentiates it from all its competitors. Harleys are also all chrome pipes and brushed aluminium, with curves in all the right places, so good looking they could almost double as a stylish giant Cappuccino machine.
But no coffee machine can, with a twist of the right hand, suck the road in front in like a piece of spaghetti. And that’s exactly what Patrick Dale did after Norla Peter, sales manager at VeeTwins, offered him a ride on one of their top-of-the-range bikes. “This bike scares old ladies,” he told me after returning from a ride to Polis. “It makes children cover their ears and cry and I loved riding it. I was grinning from ear to ear the whole journey. This bike certainly moves the soul, it’s what internal combustion ought to be. Anything less and you’re diving into the shallow end of the gene pool.
“It’s also a big piece of machinery, weighing in at 300kg, but the low slung weight means it’s easy to deal with and it felt very stable.
“In contrast to my sport bike, the seating position is great. Harley riders aren’t contorted into cramped crouches by designers required to reduce drag coefficients. Harley riders and their passengers sit up proudly like cowboys on their horses, with the result there’s no back, wrist, or bum aches. There’s also no gear juggling to keep the engine on the boil in its critical power band. This is not a sports bike but, it is still faster than most cars at junctions and lights, pulling away easily from 0-60. It really does have tons of power, it’s no speeding silver bullet and I would have been passed easily by one of the top of the range sports bikes but, on the roads in Cyprus this was plenty fast enough.
“A Harley will get you from A to B relatively fast but always in comfort and style and importantly, looking cool. Sports bikes get you there faster but, no-one will be frozen in admiration because you will be just a blur.”
Being seen with a Harley is indeed a status symbol and that all important status has attracted legions of successful adults who would never have felt comfortable on any other make of bike.
Louise, a youthful looking 57, is from Holland and has always had a passion for Harley Davidson’s. Now resident in Paphos, the first thing she did when hitting 55 was to fulfil her dream – ownership of the 100th anniversary limited edition 883 custom made Harley.
Dressed in her spangled, Harley-logo-emblazoned black top, she regularly throws her leg (exceedingly nimbly) over her bike. “I am completely in love with my ride, it’s marvellous that feeling of freedom and complete independence. When I open up the engine on a clear stretch of road, this is indeed the two wheeled equivalent of a Bentley Continental.”
I then stood and watched as people passing the VeeTwins showroom literally stopped in their tracks, to walk reverentially round the bikes on show, heads always slightly tilted to one side, like they were in an art gallery.
The names given to the 248,000 bikes sold around the world annually, with 34,000 owned by women, also have a special ring to them – Night Train, Fat boy, Screamin Eagle, Electra Glide, Road King. All conjure up images of Route 66 or a long straight road across the Mojave desert, of the young Marlon Brando, and even younger Dennis Hopper, of Peter Fonda’s memorable customised bike, sporting stars and stripes gas tank with an extended low hanging front which he rode in the 1960s Harley homage movie Easy Rider.
The stereotypical bad boy image of the bike is also there, ever since Marlon Brando rode into town in The Wild One movie. Riders still carry the outlaw heritage with their waistcoats, bandanas, and fingerless gloves albeit it with the essential trademark wrap round shades. Be assured when a sports bike takes off it’s somewhat petulant, when a Harley moves off its stand it’s thunder on vacation.
I asked Patrick if he had received many admiring glances during his ride. “All I can say is when riding the HD, the reaction I got was as if Kylie Minogue was my passenger and…she was stark naked.” Enough said.
Harley Speak
Grunt Power
Tank Slapping High speed wobbles
Knee Scrapers Fast, winding roads
Chucked it up the tarmac Crashed
l Check out your dream Harley at VeeTwins, Paphos.Or if you would like information about joining the HOG (Harley Owners Group) Cyprus Chapter West Coast Section phone Norla Peter for more information. 99 412 439, 26 943942. [email protected]
Katy the group pic taken by Barrie ARE members of the HOG Cyprus chapter west coast section.
