Harley-Davidson is a fixture in motorcycle culture, worldwide. As someone who is a new rider, seeing Harley’s out in the wild and hearing Harley’s pass me by while I ride my Moto Morini is a heart stopping experience. Even before I began my motorcycle career there were so many cultural opinions on Harley-Davidson that I really didn’t care for HD at all. In fact, I hated Harley. Maybe it’s the fact that an ex-boss of mine, who was an asshole, rode a Harley. I held onto the idea that the typical Harley owner is just a bunch of old white guys with too much money. My attitude came from a place of personal dissatisfaction of where I was in my life at that time. Unhappy. Drinking heavily. Battling an untreated bi-polar disorder. Not to make excuses, but I was a very unhappy person 10 years ago which created a strong hatred for Harley’s image, and the motorcycles.
Walking into Lowcountry Harley-Davidson on a crisp Saturday afternoon with still a bit of Harley hatred in me, quickly dissolved into shear motorcycle bliss. The motorcycles, the huge inventory of merchandise, and the showroom bikes telling the history of Harley-Davidson blew me away. It was part dealership, and part Harley-Davidson Museum. To be honest, over the past year, I have slowly began loving Harley-Davidson. The build quality, the customization, and the power engines that are mounted on their motorcycles is a thing of beauty. My salesperson met me after I start walking the showroom floor, was terrific. Funny, honest, and to the point. I liked his style. Originally, I had my eyes set on a Harley-Davidson Sportster S model bike. Please note it is very important that you don’t forget the “S” because that would mean a completely different bike. You learn quickly that the Harley-Davidson model names define that bike so don’t fuck that up LOL, like I did, a few times in speaking with my salesperson. Unfortunately, I couldn’t test ride any bikes this day due to an ankle injury, but the salesperson was more than willing to ride the Sportster S for me, in the parking lot. After hearing the Sportster S and watching the salesperson ride the bike a few laps in the parking lot, I decided very quickly this was not the bike for me.
The 2019 Harley-Davidson Softail Fat Bob 114 with over 1800cc engine was like looking at a movie prop from the latest Mad Max movie. Completely blacked out. Very comfortable seat. High handlebar setup. Big, meaty tires, and a killer exhaust with a deep throaty sound, I fell in love immediately. As part of my Harley-Davidson research for this blog post, I was not going to buy a new motorcycle this day. I didn’t have the money. And my heart and my savings were set to get my beloved Moto Morini fixed in two short weeks. What I wanted to do was drink the Harley Kool-Aid for a few hours. See that all the hype is surrounding HD. Once the salesperson let me roll the throttle of this Fat Bob while the bike was in neutral, that sound made me forget all about my financial struggles, my depression, my anxiety, and feel so damn alive! It truly is a life changing experience. And I didn’t even ride that damn bike LOL.
Maybe I have written about this a few times, that I have found my next bike, and in full disclosure, as a motorcyclist each new bike I fall in love with basically becomes my next bike. Yet the 2019 Harley-Davidson Softail Fat Bob 114 is a bright light that will not go out for me. I will definitely keep this bike on my radar over the next few years as I work towards saving enough money for a downpayment and insurance, as well as cleaning up my financial mess I am currently in. Trust me, the Harley Kool-Aid is delicious.
Rolf