Harley-Davidson..You can go almost anywhere in the world and most everyone will know what that means, and almost everyone thinks they are cool. Oh, there those who just don't like motorcycles and the few who just don't like Harleys, but they are certainly the exception to the rule and I don't understand either mindset. I own 2002 Heritage Softail Classic and my wife has a 2004 Sportster 883 Custom. I am always amazed at the attention and adoration the general public has for Harleys. When riding in large groups people in cars and trucks wave, flash the thumbs up and their lights and honk their horns. Kids in back seats grin and point. People in yards and on the sidewalks stop and wave. People at stoplights check you out and smile. When you are parked somewhere people stop and look at your bike. They want to have their picture taken sitting on your bike(which is not a problem as long as they ask!), women ask if you'll take them for a ride, and all the hoopla always makes my day. Don't get me wrong..I love bikes. ALL bikes. I rode dirt most of my life and have owned Honda fours and a multiude of dual-sport bikes over the years, but you have to admit that a group of Gold Wings just doesn't attract the attention a group of Harleys does. The thunder of a group of Harleys is almost irresistable! If you'd told me ten years ago that I would someday own a HOG, I'd have laughed at you. Not that I ever had anything against them, it just wasn't my thing. I always thought Harleys were cool and had friends who rode them, but I was a racer, not a cruiser.

Some folks still associate Harleys with Hollywoods early portrayals of dirty, drunken, brawling trouble makers tearing towns apart and ravaging young impressionable girls as they rampage across the country instilling fear in all they encounter, or rival gangs shooting it out in casinos over crank turf. As a member of the general public, you are more likely to be struck twice by lightning than to ever encounter such people. Sure, they are around, but you are much more likely to encounter a group of Harley riders on a charity ride collecting big bucks for the MDA, a cancer charity or Toys for Tots, riding perfectly prepared HOGs in which they have invested tens of thousands of dollars. The riders will be from every walk of life from Aldermen to zoologists. They will have their wives or, in many cases, their kids riding on the back with the wife on her own along with the many thousands of single women who ride their own bikes. The days of beat up old Harleys ridden by people without visible means of support is a thing of the past, even in Hollywood. Harleys range in price from around $10,000 for a Sportster to $35,000 for a factory Screamin' Eagle. Custom bikes can be worth over $100,000.

No other group in America raises more money for charities than Harley riders. Almost every weekend of the year there is a charity event being held by one Harley group or the other. Just locally there are over a dozen a year and I don't bat an eye at donations from $25 dollars up, and that is just the entry fee. Many ask for food or toys. There are raffles of all sorts involving businesses who want to be associated with Harley riders because it is good for business. Harley riders, in general, love to spend money and if someone can get you in their place by donating a dinner or a shirt, they know it will pay off down the road when a group rides to their restaurant for dinner to redeem a cupon ONE of them won in a raffle. There are 50/50 drawings with half the money going to the winner and the other half to the charity. In some case the winner will donate a chunk of their winnings on top of that!

So the next time you hear the thunder of an approaching group of Harleys or see one on the road somewhere, don't jump to the conclusion that they are headed for the nearest town to take it over or are on their way to beat up some hapless college kids or meaning to steal your wife and daughter. Just give them a wave or a thumbs up. I promise you, it will make someones day!