It’s not a motorcycle, it’s a lifestyle....

I’ve owned a pretty wide range of motorcycles over the years – Yamaha 200, Yamaha 350-LC, Norton Commando, Kawasaki Z1-900, a selection of Honda Fours, Norton Atlas, etc. – and all had their fans and detractors. But nothing prepared me for becoming a Harley owner. Once you cross that threshold you go from just being a guy who happens to ride a motorcycle to being a member of a totally different sub-culture.

Now you have to buy your riding gear fully emblazoned with corporate logos. HOG membership is a virtually requirement. Every male over the age of 80 stops you on the street to tell you how he rode “one of them” just after the war. Catalogues containing hundreds of pages of (very expensive) shiny bits to add to your ride start showing up in your mailbox. Vacation planning shifts from nudist resorts in the Caribbean in February to Sturgis in August (okay, perhaps that’s a bad example). And personal improvement moves out of the fitness clubs and into the tattoo and piercing parlours.

Resistance is futile.....