by Geoff Hill from https://www.mirror.co.uk/ Another icon of the American dream It weighs as much as a small tank, goes like stink and handles very nicely for such a beast, so even though it costs more than an average UK hatchback, for Harley fans it’s a metal and rubber incarnation of their mythical aspirations I was having a beer one night in Los Angeles in 2013 with the head of Triumph USA when we got to talking about Harleys. He’d been sent to LA in advance of that year’s launch of the Thunderbird LT, an extremely capable cruiser which Triumph hoped would convince American riders that there was more than one type of bike in the world. On his first weekend there, his Harley counterpart took him to an open day at Bartels, the city’s biggest Harley dealership, where hundreds of riders and their families were enjoying a free hog roast, burgers, raffles, gifts, music, beer or soft drinks and test rides. “See? This is what you’re up against. It’s not just about the motorcycles,” said the Harley guy. I was reminded of it in 2018, when I rode a Harley from Oxford to Prague for a three-day bash to celebrate the company’s 115 th anniversary to find 60,000 Harleys and 100,000 riders and partners, all with leather waistcoats, tattoos and chains, proclaiming their particular allegiances with patches saying Naples Military Chapter, Hanoi Chapter, Jeddah Chapter and so on. It is, of course, all harmless fun – middle-aged men who during the week are Reg in Accounts, but at the weekends become Rebel Reg, King of the Road, riding west on his iron steed into the setting sun for a burger and beer with his sweetheart in a Route 66 diner. And while non-Harley fans who have never ridden one
