Mode Or Bikes
Sydney Morning Herald
Thursday October 17, 1996
The original outlaws' motorcycle is now the Australian male's favourite automotive fantasy. Bill McKinnon looks inside the heads of the men astride the Harleys.
What do Rene Rivkin, Richard Morecroft, Darrell Eastlake and the lads from the Hell's Angels have in common?
They share a passion for Harley-Davidson motorcycles. These big, basso Wurlitzers with wheels continue their worldwide roll. Some new models command a two-year waiting list.
Harleys are, according to psychology professor Joseph Forgas, not unlike four-wheel-drives - "completely irrational in objective terms, but possessed of a rugged, macho appeal which many men find attractive, especially as they open up the prospect of playing a different role".
"One way to send messages about yourself to the rest of the world is by consumption. People buy things for their symbolic value," said Professor Forgas, of the University of NSW, "and Harleys have a macho romanticism about them which corresponds with the image buyers want."
In common with 4WDs, Harleys boast significant market share. Four-wheel-drives account for 12 per cent of Australian vehicle sales; Harley-Davidson holds 40 per cent of the over-750 cc bike market, which is more than the combined share of the four Japanese manufacturers. The marque's glamour status is a far cry from the 1950s and 1960s, when riding a Harley was evidence of dubious personal hygiene and criminal intent.
The new breed of Harley-buying bloke (women account for less than 5 per cent of customers) is nearing 40, in a white-collar job, married with kids and has the mortgage sufficiently under control to afford the $12,000-$30,000 ownership fee.
Laurie Keets, marketing manager for the NSW distributors Fraser's Harley-Davidson, says the buyer is looking for "more than a motorcycle ... basically the adventure of a lifetime".
Detractors suggest this means easy-ridin' relief from a mid-life crisis, shedding the corporate/family man persona on weekends, leaving the Falcon in the garage and hitting the road looking, and feeling, like someone else (until Monday).
"The outlaw image is the thing," says Chris Beattie, publisher of Heavy Duty, a magazine for riders devoted to the marque. "Under every suit, there's a bad-ass biker waiting to leap out."
Radio, TV and now advertising man, and a long-time motorcycle addict, Doug Mulray takes the iconoclastic view. He sums up the Harley's popularity among the thirty-to-fortysomethings as "an obvious if slightly tragic attempt to express those things sacrificed on the way to success".
Mulray, who has owned Nortons and Ducatis, prefers go-fast thrills (currently on a Triumph 1,200 cc Daytona) to the lazy rhythm of the American twin.
"The choice of machinery is a bit of a mystery to me. The Harley is an idea, not a motorcycle, and these days the individuality thing has almost gone, because everybody's got one."
In TV studio car parks - accurate indicators of what's desirable on wheels - Harleys now occupy spaces once filled with European sports cars. Morecroft, Eastlake, Tim Webster and Cameron Williams unwind on Harleys after a hard day in the studio. John Laws and Wayne Gardner are also owners.
Rivkin rides a customised Harley trike, usually with a few mates. "It's classified as a car, so legally I can ride without a helmet and enjoy the wind in my hair," he says. "Harleys are all about nostalgia, and the retro look is fashionable. So are American products - just look at the Jeep Cherokee. If Harleys were made in Japan, they wouldn't be as popular."
The young, single R.U.B., or Rich Urban Biker, a recent addition to Harley ranks, is primarily interested in the motorcycle as a fashion statement. This tribe favours profiling outside Darlinghurst or Balmain cafes on Sunday morning rather than putting serious kilometres under the wheels.
The full narcissistic R.U.B. experience requires accessories: a genuine Harley T-shirt and leather clothing, wraparound shades and an open face helmet - all black, of course. The preferred bike would be one of the long, low retro or custom-styled models, the Bad Boy, Fat Boy or Heritage Softail, dripping with chrome and attitude.
According to Beattie, the long-time Harley faithful are dismissive of the new arrivals, but not antagonistic. "The full-on Harley club guys, many of whom are now in their 50s, basically ignore the cappuccino outlaws," he says. "Many Harley buyers today are coming back to motorcycles after a break of 20-30 years, and they like the fact that the current Harley has a direct connection with the 1950s and 1960s.
"A Harley is the 1990s version of the '57 Chev, and has much more appeal for these blokes than a high-tech, multi-cylinder Japanese rocketship."
Harley-Davidsons are all powered by the company's signature 45-degree air-cooled V-twin Evolution engine. At the bottom of the line-up in price and status are the Sportsters, which use either an 883 cc or 1,200 cc "Evo" motor and start at $11,750 for the base 883. The big twins use a 1,340 cc version, and include the Fat Boy, Bad Boy, Softail and Low Rider, priced from $23,500-$27,500.
These models are the hot items among the style conscious, and it's common to wait several months for delivery. The 1,340 cc motor also powers the top of the line Road King and Electra Glide, the latter a fully equipped tourer, with stereo radio cassette, pannier bags, electronic cruise control, CB radio intercom and a protective fairing and windshield.
The Road King and Electra Glide Ultra Classic are both available with optional fuel injection (other models use a single carburettor), and a fuel-injected Electra Glide Ultra with all the touring gear is, at $29,250, the most expensive Harley you can buy.
New for 1997 is the Heritage Springer, which takes the retro styling trend to new extremes. Designed to resemble the all-time classic 1948 Panhead, this $27,500 nostalgia trip has deeply valanced guards, fishtail exhausts, whitewall tyres and a tombstone tail-light. The next deliveries are expected in December.
Resale values are outstanding, especially on popular models. A 1990 Softail Custom, for example, sold new for $15,300 but now fetches in excess of $19,000 in clean, original condition. The worst you'll do after five years of big twin ownership (as long as the bike is original) is recoup its new price.
Running costs are high, and insurance is expensive, but this is true of large capacity motorcycles in general. Rumour has it that some late model Harleys are stolen specifically for export to South-East Asia, where they are rare and extremely valuable.
Harley security is big business, with products ranging from bolt and chain sets which lock the bike to your garage floor to sophisticated alarms.
The big twin Harley experience starts as soon as you climb into the soft, low-slung saddle. Hit the starter button and motorcycling's most charismatic engine erupts into life, then settles down into a rumbling idle which causes the world to shake. On the move, rubber engine mountings (on all models except Sportsters and the Softail Custom) smooth out most vibrations, and in its power delivery the big twin is equivalent to a lazy, low revving, large capacity V8 car engine.
Outright performance and acceleration comfortably see off all but the most powerful cars, but many 250 cc motorcycles are quicker. The Harley's strength is prodigious, old-fashioned grunt combined with long highway legs.
Still, a 1,340 cc Harley is not the bike on which to try Mick Doohan impersonations. The trick to enjoying a Harley is to head out of town on a sunny day, sit back, take it easy, and ride away the stresses of a busy life. Nothing else on the road does it better.Life's a Bike
That's the title of Brolga Publishing's book about bikers and their steeds, which features better known Harley riders, Darrell Eastlake and Tim Webster (pictured).In the beginning
u Harley-Davidson was founded in 1903 by William S. Harley and three Davidson brothers, William, Walter and Arthur, in the Davidsons' shed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The first Harley was a 3 hp (2.25 kW) single-
In the beginning
u Harley-Davidson was founded in 1903 by William S. Harley and three Davidson brothers, William, Walter and Arthur, in the Davidsons' shed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The first Harley was a 3 hp (2.25 kW) single-
cylinder, the Silent Gray Fellow.The V twin
u Harley's first 45 degree V-twin engine, the same design used today, was produced in 1909. Knucklehead (1936-1947), Panhead (1948-1965), Shovelhead (1966-1984) and Evolution (1984-today) are popular
nicknames for the engine at different stages of its history.
hat do Rene Rivkin, Richard Morecroft, Darrell Eastlake and the lads from the Hell's Angels have in common?
They share a passion for Harley-Davidson motorcycles. These big, basso Wurlitzers with wheels continue their worldwide roll. Some new models command a two-year waiting list.
Harleys are, according to psychology professor Joseph Forgas, not unlike four-wheel-drives - "completely irrational in objective terms, but possessed of a rugged, macho appeal which many men find attractive, especially as they open up the prospect of playing a different role".
"One way to send messages about yourself to the rest of the world is by consumption. People buy things for their symbolic value," said Professor Forgas, of the University of NSW, "and Harleys have a macho romanticism about them which corresponds with the image buyers want."
In common with 4WDs, Harleys boast significant market share. Four-wheel-drives account for 12 per cent of Australian vehicle sales; Harley-Davidson holds 40 per cent of the over-750 cc bike market, which is more than the combined share of the four Japanese manufacturers. The marque's glamour status is a far cry from the 1950s and 1960s, when riding a Harley was evidence of dubious personal hygiene and criminal intent.
The new breed of Harley-buying bloke (women account for less than 5 per cent of customers) is nearing 40, in a white-collar job, married with kids and has the mortgage sufficiently under control to afford the $12,000-$30,000 ownership fee.
In common with 4WDs, Harleys boast significant market share. Four-wheel-drives account for 12 per cent of Australian vehicle sales; Harley-Davidson holds 40 per cent of the over-750 cc bike market, which is more than the combined share of the four Japanese manufacturers. The marque's glamour status is a far cry from the 1950s and 1960s, when riding a Harley was evidence of dubious personal hygiene and criminal intent.
The new breed of Harley-buying bloke (women account for less than 5 per cent of customers) is nearing 40, in a white-collar job, married with kids and has the mortgage sufficiently under control to afford the $12,000-$30,000 ownership fee.
Laurie Keets, marketing manager for the NSW distributors Fraser's Harley-Davidson, says the buyer is looking for "more than a motorcycle ... basically the adventure of a lifetime".
Detractors suggest this means easy-ridin' relief from a mid-life crisis, shedding the corporate/family man persona on weekends, leaving the Falcon in the garage and hitting the road looking, and feeling, like someone else (until Monday).
"The outlaw image is the thing," says Chris Beattie, publisher of Heavy Duty, a magazine for riders devoted to the marque. "Under every suit, there's a bad-ass biker waiting to leap out."
Radio, TV and now advertising man, and a long-time motorcycle addict, Doug Mulray takes the iconoclastic view. He sums up the Harley's popularity among the thirty-to-fortysomethings as "an obvious if slightly tragic attempt to express those things sacrificed on the way to success".
Mulray, who has owned Nortons and Ducatis, prefers go-fast thrills (currently on a Triumph 1,200 cc Daytona) to the lazy rhythm of the American twin.
"The choice of machinery is a bit of a mystery to me. The Harley is an idea, not a motorcycle, and these days the individuality thing has almost gone, because everybody's got one."
In TV studio car parks - accurate indicators of what's desirable on wheels - Harleys now occupy spaces once filled with European sports cars. Morecroft, Eastlake, Tim Webster and Cameron Williams unwind on Harleys after a hard day in the studio. John Laws and Wayne Gardner are also owners.
Rivkin rides a customised Harley trike, usually with a few mates. "It's classified as a car, so legally I can ride without a helmet and enjoy the wind in my hair," he says. "Harleys are all about nostalgia, and the retro look is fashionable. So are American products - just look at the Jeep Cherokee. If Harleys were made in Japan, they wouldn't be as popular."
The young, single R.U.B., or Rich Urban Biker, a recent addition to Harley ranks, is primarily interested in the motorcycle as a fashion statement. This tribe favours profiling outside Darlinghurst or Balmain cafes on Sunday morning rather than putting serious kilometres under the wheels.
The full narcissistic R.U.B. experience requires accessories: a genuine Harley T-shirt and leather clothing, wraparound shades and an open face helmet - all black, of course. The preferred bike would be one of the long, low retro or custom-styled models, the Bad Boy, Fat Boy or Heritage Softail, dripping with chrome and attitude.
According to Beattie, the long-time Harley faithful are dismissive of the new arrivals, but not antagonistic. "The full-on Harley club guys, many of whom are now in their 50s, basically ignore the cappuccino outlaws," he says. "Many Harley buyers today are coming back to motorcycles after a break of 20-30 years, and they like the fact that the current Harley has a direct connection with the 1950s and 1960s.
"A Harley is the 1990s version of the '57 Chev, and has much more appeal for these blokes than a high-tech, multi-cylinder Japanese rocketship."
Harley-Davidsons are all powered by the company's signature 45-degree air-cooled V-twin Evolution engine. At the bottom of the line-up in price and status are the Sportsters, which use either an 883 cc or 1,200 cc "Evo" motor and start at $11,750 for the base 883. The big twins use a 1,340 cc version, and include the Fat Boy, Bad Boy, Softail and Low Rider, priced from $23,500-$27,500.
These models are the hot items among the style conscious, and it's common to wait several months for delivery. The 1,340 cc motor also powers the top of the line Road King and Electra Glide, the latter a fully equipped tourer, with stereo radio cassette, pannier bags, electronic cruise control, CB radio intercom and a protective fairing and windshield.
The Road King and Electra Glide Ultra Classic are both available with optional fuel injection (other models use a single carburettor), and a fuel-injected Electra Glide Ultra with all the touring gear is, at $29,250, the most expensive Harley you can buy.
New for 1997 is the Heritage Springer, which takes the retro styling trend to new extremes. Designed to resemble the all-time classic 1948 Panhead, this $27,500 nostalgia trip has deeply valanced guards, fishtail exhausts, whitewall tyres and a tombstone tail-light. The next deliveries are expected in December.
Resale values are outstanding, especially on popular models. A 1990 Softail Custom, for example, sold new for $15,300 but now fetches in excess of $19,000 in clean, original condition. The worst you'll do after five years of big twin ownership (as long as the bike is original) is recoup its new price.
Running costs are high, and insurance is expensive, but this is true of large capacity motorcycles in general. Rumour has it that some late model Harleys are stolen specifically for export to South-East Asia, where they are rare and extremely valuable.
Harley security is big business, with products ranging from bolt and chain sets which lock the bike to your garage floor to sophisticated alarms.
The big twin Harley experience starts as soon as you climb into the soft, low-slung saddle. Hit the starter button and motorcycling's most charismatic engine erupts into life, then settles down into a rumbling idle which causes the world to shake. On the move, rubber engine mountings (on all models except Sportsters and the Softail Custom) smooth out most vibrations, and in its power delivery the big twin is equivalent to a lazy, low revving, large capacity V8 car engine.
Outright performance and acceleration comfortably see off all but the most powerful cars, but many 250 cc motorcycles are quicker. The Harley's strength is prodigious, old-fashioned grunt combined with long highway legs.
Still, a 1,340 cc Harley is not the bike on which to try Mick Doohan impersonations. The trick to enjoying a Harley is to head out of town on a sunny day, sit back, take it easy, and ride away the stresses of a busy life. Nothing else on the road does it better.
Life's a Bike
That's the title of Brolga Publishing's book about bikers and their steeds, which features better known Harley riders, Darrell Eastlake and Tim Webster (pictured).
In the beginning
* Harley-Davidson was founded in 1903 by William S. Harley and three Davidson brothers, William, Walter and Arthur, in the Davidsons' shed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The first Harley was a 3 hp (2.25 kW) single-
cylinder, the Silent Gray Fellow.
The V twin
* Harley's first 45 degree V-twin engine, the same design used today, was produced in 1909. Knucklehead (1936-1947), Panhead (1948-1965), Shovelhead (1966-1984) and Evolution (1984-today) are popular
nicknames for the engine at different stages of its history.
The bikes
* The 1,200 Sport is the fastest Harley, the 883 is the cheapest at $11,750.
FX Dyna models
* All 1,340 cc. Wideglide, Superglide and Low Rider. The best handling of the big twins, thanks to a new, stronger Dyna frame. The Dyna Superglide, at $18,750, is the cheapest of the
1340 cc models.
Softails
* Easy Rider (Custom, Bad Boy
and Springer) or retro (Heritage Special and Fat Boy) styling and a 1,340 cc engine. Prices start at $23,500, and there's a waiting list for some variants.
Tourers
* Electra Glide and Road King. Both 1,340 cc. Electra Glide is a loungeroom on wheels; the Road King takes a
minimalist approach. Fuel injection optional and worthwhile. Priced from $21,750-$29,250.
© 1996 Sydney Morning Herald
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