So having now passed my test, what now? Well I had originally envisaged (and promised the wife) that I would not be looking to buy a bike until next spring at the earliest and perhaps not for a year or two and that I would just get the test out of the way first.
Life has a habit of not working out the way you planned though! I am in need of a replacement car, my current car is very modest (a ten year old Chrysler Neon) and is high mileage at 120,000 miles. Having said that it is running well and I am inclined to ‘run it into the ground’ for say another two or three years yet. I could of course sell my share in the plane, but that is a step too far at the moment. So if I postpone the car, I could afford to buy a bike for around £10,000 to £13,000 max.
I did really enjoy riding while I was training for my test and now really want to get riding, so a bike it is for next spring at the latest.
But what sort of bike and what sort of riding do I plan to do? That isn’t too tough a question to answer. I have no aspirations to tear around on racing bikes, the sort of biking I had in mind was cruising / touring, taking it easy, with a ‘sit up and beg’ seating style (no hunching over or legs bent back for me thanks).
There are of course many brands that make touring bikes, with Honda and BMW springing to mind. But the marquee that I have always been drawn to is the iconic Harley Davidson. So I have decided that for once I will not do the ‘smart’ thing with my head, but that I will go with my heart on this one and look at a Harley first.
So I got in touch with my ex-instructor who had offered to help and arranged to meet him at the Harley Davidson showroom in Cheltenham in early October. He is a touring bike rider and has ridden Harleys, so knows a lot about them. He said he would also have a chat with the guys at the showroom and allay any concerns they might have at a novice rider who has just passed his test taking a monster Harley out for a test ride!
I met up with Keith and we had a brief chat. I had been doing a lot of reading up on the various models and before I had even ridden one, had decided that probably the broad ‘Dyna Glide’ range was the one for me. I decided against the smaller Sportsters as they wouldn’t cut it as two-up tourers (which Keith quickly agreed with) and I had at this stage precluded the top of the range Electra Glide partly as I think it is probably unnecessarily big for myself and the wife and on price grounds. But there is a bewildering array of models in the middle. Street Bob, Fat Bob, Dyna Glide, Softail, Road King – the list goes on.
I explained to Keith and the showroom guy what I had in mind. That is a decent two-up touring bike with a proper ‘King and Queen’ separate saddle arrangement, complete with sissy bar (back rest), front screen and panniers / saddle bags. Given my inexperience, we opted to go for a test ride first on a basic Road King – no frills, just as it comes without the extras, to see what that felt like, then I could compare the handling with a similar bike with all the goodies.
The Road King has a huge 1584cc air-cooled V-twin engine and looked enormous. I tried it on for size with Keith holding it securely. It was comfy and I guess the only way to get a feel for it was to go for a ride! I spoke to the Harley guy and he explained the conditions of the road test and that I was insured on their insurance, but with a £1000 excess which I would have to pay in the event of any damage – best not drop the bike then!
He showed me the controls and explained how to start the bike and how the proximity dongle worked (all clever stuff, I was impressed). I was happy, so off I went to change into my riding gear. Back on the bike and I started her up. What a fantastic noise! That is the thing I love about Harleys is the iconic burble of the monster air-cooled V-twin! I got the hang of the clutch biting point with a few short hops and confirmed to Keith that I was ready as he would be driving in front of me in radio contact like we did when I was learning.
With that off he went and I followed. I swear I saw a couple of the Harley guys in my mirrors watching my progress nervously, but hey, I knew I was going to be fine! So far so good. We would drive down Hesters Way to GCHQ. I was handling it gingerly, but felt comfortable. I was already grinning hugely under my full face helmet – good job I had a helmet like that as other road users would have thought I was simple or something riding along with a huge grin on my face!
For a bike this size it handled easily and was no problem at slow speed. I think my Canadian buddy was right, the secret of the bigger bikes is that they are easier! It felt a bit different on the corners as I got a feel for it. We rode along the A40 dual carriageway across the motorway and turned into Churchdown by the airfield. I managed to get up to a good speed and top gear. The gear change was quite a ‘thunk’ every time, I am certain it wasn’t me, it was a very big ‘clunk’ and felt like a huge piece of machinery. It was great giving it a twist of throttle as the bike surged forward with power to spare. The brakes felt heavy but adequate.
In no time, we were coming back in to the showroom. I coasted her in and parked up in the nearest space without trying any fancy slow speed stuff, just ride straight in and stop!
The bike felt great and I enjoyed the ride hugely. But I did find the stock saddle seemed to press on the small of my back and if I started to feel it after a 25 minute ride, I am sure it would drive me mad touring.
Well that was fantastic. I had a further chat and a look at the various bikes to point out the sort of bike I would be looking at if I were going to buy. We agreed that I could try a second ride on a ‘fully loaded’ Dyna Glide tourer. This was a bike that had everything I was looking for, except the price (about £2000 too much). But the saddle was the separate ‘King and Queen’ that I was looking for.
Keith was also going out on a trial ride on another Harley, so he couldn’t keep in touch on the radio as this was hard-wired to his existing bike. I agreed to follow him as normal.
Away we went again. Much the same route. This bike felt even bigger, but again, the size just seemed to melt away once you got going. The screen made a big difference. We goosed the bikes a bit on the A40 dual carriageway and I took the bike up to 80mph. The screen made it feel solid as a rock and more comfortable at speed than without. I did however notice windblast off the top of the screen against my helmet. When I crouched down and lowered my head, it disappeared, then when I sat up again, it came back. It wasn’t anywhere near as bad at 60mph and it occurred to me that this was a cruiser, not a racer and that 60-65mph was probably the right speed for the biking I wanted to do. Same comments regarding the gear change and brakes.
We finished the ride all too soon. I found the saddle on the second bike much better and really enjoyed my ride. I mentioned the gear change to Keith and he said that was normal on new or low mileage Harleys and that it softened over time.
Well this is the bike for me. The question is the money and whether to buy new or secondhand. Harleys seem to hold their value amazingly well and secondhand prices are not much off the price new. Also Keith mentioned the obvious to me, that dealers were going to be VERY keen to sell bikes and deal on price between now and March next year as this is the annual ‘slow season’ on bike sales, so I shouldn’t worry about putting in a cheeky offer and shopping around various dealers.
So I left it there with the dealership for now and that I wanted to bring the wife back and try her for size and comfort on the saddle. But I now think that if I can negotiate a good deal, say in November to January, I could buy it then, or if not, I would wait for spring as planned.
The problem is that I will have to get a move on and take my ‘kitchen garden’ wall down, as that is where I plan to park the bike under a bike tent if I do get one. Life would be so much easier if I had my own garage, but I don’t.
