Harley Hell Ride

 

I bought my Harley in February of 2005, a 1993 Dyna Low Rider. I came across a deal that I couldn't pass up and I had been in the market for a Harley for a while. First thing I had to do was peel of each of the gaudy "Live to Ride, Ride to Live" stick on badges that the previous owner had covered it with. Then I ordered some short shocks to lower it and found an awesome seat to replace the stock one.

In March, I traveled about 200 miles south to my buddy's place. He's a Harley technician and had some parts lying around to use (different handlebars and risers). We installed all the "new" parts and the bike was ready to go!

They had an uncommonly warm March that year, so we were able to ride right away. We met up with a couple of his local friends to ride with. I'm thinking that since these were Harley guys I'd be in for a nice leisurely ride. Was I wrong!

First of all, we pull up and I see these two behemoths. I'm not talking fat guys, they looked like young Arnold Schwarzenegger! We exchanged hellos and were on our way. Right off the bat, be were blasting down the road at about 90 mph! This was only my second ride on this bike, so I wasn't entirely familiar with the way it handled, but I tried to keep up.

Then we came up on a very twisty back road. This is the type of road I dream of when I ride my Ducati, but this bike was not really set up to take these curves at any speed. Again, I tried my best to keep up.

Another thing I haven't mentioned is that my girlfriend was on the back during all of this! She was (still is) a bit of a daredevil and she trusted me, so she was having a blast! I, however was sweating bullets. Then we came on the really tight curves. The frame was dragging on these corners (not the footpegs or the pipes, the frame!! Shorter shocks may have been a bad idea). Finally at a stop sign, my friend turned around and said, "We should be riding f@&$ing crotchrockets!" I couldn't have agreed more.

So, when our ride was over, we stopped at a local watering hole. I came to find out that both of the guys we were riding with were former motorcycle racers and they were very familiar with that stretch of road. I'm pretty sure the gained some respect for my friend and I, since we were able to keep up with them. Well, they might've thought we were idiots for even trying, but we'll stick with the first story!

“It’s better to be dead and cool, than alive and uncool.” – Harley Davidson from Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man