I have a couple of friends which I have had since we were all 14 yrs. old and riding bikes together. We all have bikes today. They have Goldwings, I am currently riding a Voyager. Sometimes we still ride somewhere together and sometimes we are joined by or join up with other friends & acquaintances we've acquired over the years. Harleys seem to be abundant among these acquaintances. These guys do not trailer their bikes and they don't ride slow, but they do have some strange riding habits. A couple of observations...,
1. If you are going on a ride with 3 Harleys, you can bet one of them is going to break down. Which explains,
2. A chase vehicle &
3. Harley riders seem to have their mechanic's phone number on speed dial in their cell phones.
4. They ride 90mph down the highway in formation and stop at every Harley shop to buy a T-Shirt.
5. They stop often.
On the most recent ride, we left at intermittent times on Thursday and Friday, but all met up at a campsite by Friday evening for a rally. On Saturday we were all going to ride the mountain roads, but 1st we had to go to the Harley shop, which was 40 miles away, to buy T-shirts, and neon, and do-rags (swag). Having already gone to "the Harley shop" on Friday, me and 1 of my Goldwing buddies decided that we would hang around camp, eat breakfast, and meet everyone at the 1st gas station East of the Harley shop in about 2 hours. East was the planned exit route and there were 10'000 people at the Harley shop and I did not need to experience it twice.
So, at about noon, me and my friend roll past the Harley shop traffic jamb and into the 1st Quicky Mart East. I pull out my cell phone and call my other Goldwing buddy, who was hanging with the Friday Harley arrivals at the Harley shop and he starts telling me the good news/bad news. 1 of the Harleys was broke down, still about 30 miles from the Harley shop and 1 of the other Harley riders has discovered threads showing on his back tire and decided now was a good time to buy a tire, since he was at the Harley shop. The good news was the guy buying the tire was only 2 bikes away from getting his new tire mounted. Since it was only about 100 yards from the Harley shop, there was a lot to see at the Quicky Mart and there was food & drink so 2 hours went by relatively quick. When I called my Buddy the 2nd time the Harley guy was next in line and it was only going to be about another 45 minutes. We were making plans to abandon the Harley bunch. As I see it, once you have seen your Harley riding companion safely to the Harley shop, you have fulfilled all obligations. On the 3rd phone call, after 3 or 4 hours at the Quicky Mart,
I was told that the Harley shop did have the guys bike up on a lift with the back end off and although there was not anyone in site, they were indeed working on it. Me and my 2 Goldwing buddies departed for the mountain roads with about 3 hours left in the day before the deer come out.
We rode around for awhile, stopped & had dinner, fueled our bikes up and got back to camp about 10pm. We were riding home the next morning. The Harley riders straggled in from the bar scene over the next 6-7 hours. We all got up the next morning, packed up the camping gear and assembled the caravan, now about 10+ bikes, everything except me and my 2 Goldwing buddies being Harleys. I thought I would be able to tolerate the 400 mile ride back to Texas if I could just hang back about 1/2 a mile, but as we pulled out of camp that plan did not materialize. I found myself in the middle of a loud pipe traffic jamb, potato potatoing itself up the road followed by the wives in the chase vehicle. Fortunately, most of the Harley riders had not had the presence of mind to fuel up the night before so we had to stop at the 1st gas station. That is where I bid them farewell.
My explanation was that it required far too much concentration for me to ride in a group that size, too much like traffic, and I hope you all understand. And that is the truth. I think you could say that I have had The Harley Experience and saved $50,000.