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These are diffi cult times for Harley-Davidson but the local arm put on a brave face at the offi cial launch of the 2010 range. Big Dave reports.

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WORDS: Big Dave PICS: Lou Martin for H-D

34 KIWI RIDER

I wonder if you need a Deed Poll to

change a pen name? Sure ‘Big Dave’

fi ts well enough, and has stuck tight

since the Ed pinned it on me all those years

ago. But the way things panned out on

the 2010 Harley-Davidson model launch

late last month, I should seriously consider

establishing what exactly the protocols are

for a change to ‘Lucky Dave.’

Because?

Because ‘you lucky …..(insert suitable

expletive here)’ is the most common

response from folks when I ‘casually’

mention the KR gig to start with. And the

way the cards fell my way on the two-

day blat up the Great Ocean Road out

of Melbourne with a fl eet of brand new

Hogleys was really pushing the odds.

Originally, you see, the Ed was going.

He, after all, was the one invited. But

literally minutes before the deadline

for forwarding passport and ticketing/

accommodation requirement details

expired, he realised that last month’s mag

would never make it to the printer if he was

to spend four days out of the offi ce.

And so it was ‘Lucky Dave’ who got to

board the big silver bird and ‘Lucky Dave’

who got to fi nd out, fi rst hand, Harley-

Davidson Australasia’s plans for 2010.

The launch was a two-day affair based

round Victoria’s Great Ocean Rode, hence

the promo tag, The Great Ocean Ride.

LET’S RIDE!

The plan was that a bunch of the region’s

moto-noters would arrive in Melbourne,

have a lovely meal in Swanston Street

with the H-D folks, then an early night at

the Mercure before boarding a van for a

quick (yeah right!) trip to The Docklands

Convention Centre for a briefi ng………and

a day-starting croissant (or two!).

The destination for Day 1 was Apollo

Bay, not a huge ride, but with numerous

photo calls and refreshment stops along

the way, it took most of the day to get

there.

The ride was split into four sections,

two in the morning and two in the

afternoon, to provide a good ‘shift’ riding

each bike.

So after the briefi ng from Ride Captain

Chris Hughes, with two or more examples

of each new model in tow, the convoy set

off.

We had Chris, the journos, two

‘wingmen,’ two H-D staffers on bikes, a

van with ‘the PR Lady’ and photographer

Lou, and Mitch driving the company truck

as back up.

If you want an example of how to

conduct a group ride, these guys wrote the

textbook. Lead and sweep are connected

by intercom and all the photo calls are really

well marshalled.

ACE NUMBER ONE

However it was the luck of the ride order

that had me looking for the nearest Lotto

agency.

Melbourne traffi c has its moments

but on the whole the city is laid out in

a grid on a wide, fl at plain with little in

the way of natural barriers. It’s not like

Auckland with two harbours and seven

volcanoes or Wellington’s mountainous

landscape to navigate.

Big old four lane freeways fan out

from the city centre from West to North

to East.

So it was straight lines pretty well all

of the fi rst morning’s ride past Geelong to

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Torquay – and I drew the Wide Glide.

Purrrrfect. This is what the machine

revels in I thought as I admired the

refl ections in a passing fuel tanker. At

freeway speeds the motor purrs, you

can stretch your legs out on the forward

controls and watch the 22-wheelers roll

by in excellent comfort.

We did swap bikes regularly for the

photo calls, and I did get an opportunity

to put it through some of the twisty bits

later on (and it handles tidily too), but

for the most part the freeway was Wide

Glide heaven. Ace number one.

Coffee at Torquay, lunch in Lorne and

as the landscape changed, so did my

bike.

ACES NUMBER TWO & THREE

Ace number two. The terrain changed

from coastal plain and freeway. The

escarpments got steeper at the beginning

of the Great Ocean Road – which

reminded me very much of East Cape –

except with a lot more double lines, cars

and people.

Still a truly spectacular ride

nonetheless and it was my turn on the

Sportsters for the twisties.

The 883 Iron comes with some of the

longest hero pegs I’ve seen. They must

project over 50mm from the bottom of

the pegs proper. It’s good because it

handles quite tidily and it is exceptionally

easy to get them on the ground.

It was here that I did enjoy the

character of the engine pulling out of the

corners and the way it spooled up.

However after pleading ‘I’m really too

big for this machine’ one of the factory

boys handed over his XR1200X for the

With the sound of compatriot Kyle Minogue jangling round in his head, KR’s ‘Lucky’ Dave Cohen got

to sample four different ’10 H-D models on the Great Ocean Ride.

KIWI RIDER 35

the freeway and to the city in the

afternoon peak hour. Fat Boy perfect.

Relaxed, I just enjoyed looking at the

machine.

It too pulls to the rev limiter

without any hint of running out

of breath along the way. The new

lowness comes at the expense of

some of the cornering clearance,

but you wouldn’t buy a Fat Boy to do

anything but relaxed riding anyway.

I think that was one of the best things

the ride demonstrated. There is now a

range of Harleys that suit a wide variety of

riders and conditions.

The Ultra Classic is at one end and

the XR and Sporties at the other. With the

V-Rod variants too the Motor Company has

a wide range of vehicles, so it’s a matter of

picking the one that suits your needs the

best.

The ‘010 engines are the best stock

Hogs I’ve ridden yet, with the XR the best

of a very good bunch.

TO CONCLUDE

The ride and launch gave ‘Lucky Dave’ a

chance to use them in conditions for which

they were well suited, and with stock on

your authorised dealer fl oors now, I have

no hesitation is recommending you play

your cards right and go take one for a fang.

Thanks to H-D Australia Pty Ltd for the

opportunity. Top Show.

But hey, I’ve got to go. That’s my

song streaming through the computer’s

speakers. You know the one, it’s a Kyle

Minogue classic; can’t quite remember

the name but it goes something like……

listen……that’s it; ‘ I should be so lucky…

lucky, lucky, lucky…. KR

ct.

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late afternoon shift into Apollo Bay and I

felt like I had three aces.

The glorious twisty road, and even the

weather conditions, were starting to look

like East Cape.

JUST DELIGHTFUL

The XR1200X was just delightful. My knees

were glad I was on the Wide Glide for the

Freeway, but out here on the Big Hill the

Sportie was quite joyous. It sounds unique,

has the grunt where it’s needed on the road

and has Showa suspension all round.

I was a little underdone on the pre-load

and was off the pace of the lead bunch

of riders when I fi rst jumped aboard. But

next morning the crew jacked it up for me

(Oh yeah – us journos don’t adjust our own

suspension any more dontchaknow!) and

subsequently I was comfortable up near

the front for the second morning.

It’s worth noting, in fact, if you are test

riding a bike – make sure the shop dials

in the suspension for you. It makes quite

a bit of difference to the handling of this

delightful machine.

Overnight at Apollo Bay was quiet

after a nice meal in the town. It’s the kind

of place that the TV soap Seachange (you

know, the one with Sigrid Thornton as the

burnt out big city lawyer who relocated to a

sleepy coastal town) was written about.

OFFICIAL BUSINESS

Next morning I was ‘offi cially’ on the

XR1200X again and we headed into

the Ottway range as the loop back to

Melboune began.

More fantastic motorcycling ensued.

The roads were wet and occasionally

muddy. ‘You Kiwi blokes seem pretty

comfortable on wet twisty roads,’

photographer Lou Martin later remarked.

To be perfectly honest it was more

that I was comfortable on the XR1200X.

Properly dialled in, the XR made it a ride to

remember and the conditions were very

similar to a jaunt through the Waitakeres,

only there were gum trees and about 80

kilometres of empty, prime road.

When we fi nally emerged from the

bush and back onto the plains we stopped

for lunch before heading back onto the

superslap.

A FULL HOUSE

Fourth Ace, four lanes of it and I had the

Fat Boy. Footboards, a built-in back rest

and a ton of torquey-ness. Not to mention

feeling just a little bit bad-ass. It’s like

there’s some Siren in the machine singing

for me to do a burnout. But I resisted

and we rode in formation back along