2010 HARLEY RANGE

LAUNCH U C REPORT O 2010 H-D RANGE 20 010 10 H -D DR ANGE AN WORDS: Big Dave PICS: Lou Martin for H-D

These are difficult times for Harley-Davidson but the local arm put on a brave face at the official launch of the 2010 range. Big Dave reports.

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Torquay – and I drew the Wide Glide.

LAUNCH REPORT 2010 H-D RANGE

With the sound of compatriot Kyle Minogue jangling round in his head, KR’s ‘Lucky’ Dave Cohen got to sample four different ’10 H-D models on the Great Ocean Ride.

Purrrrfect. This is what the machine revels in I thought as I admired the reflections in a passing fuel tanker. At freeway speeds the motor purrs, you can stretch your legs out on the forward controls and watch the 22-wheelers roll by in excellent comfort.

We did swap bikes regularly for the photo calls, and I did get an opportunity to put it through some of the twisty bits later on (and it handles tidily too), but for the most part the freeway was Wide Glide heaven. Ace number one.

Coffee at Torquay, lunch in Lorne and as the landscape changed, so did my bike.

ACES NUMBER TWO & THREE

I

wonder if you need a Deed Poll to change a pen name? Sure ‘Big Dave’ fits well enough, and has stuck tight since the Ed pinned it on me all those years ago. But the way things panned out on the 2010 Harley-Davidson model launch late last month, I should seriously consider establishing what exactly the protocols are for a change to ‘Lucky Dave.’

Because?

Because ‘you lucky …..(insert suitable expletive here)’ is the most common response from folks when I ‘casually’ mention the KR gig to start with. And the way the cards fell my way on the twoday blat up the Great Ocean Road out of Melbourne with a fleet of brand new Hogleys was really pushing the odds.

Originally, you see, the Ed was going.

He, after all, was the one invited. But literally minutes before the deadline for forwarding passport and ticketing/ accommodation requirement details expired, he realised that last month’s mag would never make it to the printer if he was to spend four days out of the office.

And so it was ‘Lucky Dave’ who got to board the big silver bird and ‘Lucky Dave’ who got to find out, first hand, HarleyDavidson Australasia’s plans for 2010.

The launch was a two-day affair based round Victoria’s Great Ocean Rode, hence the promo tag, The Great Ocean Ride.

LET’S RIDE! The plan was that a bunch of the region’s moto-noters would arrive in Melbourne, have a lovely meal in Swanston Street with the H-D folks, then an early night at the Mercure before boarding a van for a quick (yeah right!) trip to The Docklands Convention Centre for a briefing………and 34 KIWI RIDER

a day-starting croissant (or two!).

The destination for Day 1 was Apollo Bay, not a huge ride, but with numerous photo calls and refreshment stops along the way, it took most of the day to get there.

The ride was split into four sections, two in the morning and two in the afternoon, to provide a good ‘shift’ riding each bike.

So after the briefing from Ride Captain Chris Hughes, with two or more examples of each new model in tow, the convoy set off.

We had Chris, the journos, two ‘wingmen,’ two H-D staffers on bikes, a van with ‘the PR Lady’ and photographer Lou, and Mitch driving the company truck as back up.

If you want an example of how to conduct a group ride, these guys wrote the textbook. Lead and sweep are connected by intercom and all the photo calls are really well marshalled.

ACE NUMBER ONE However it was the luck of the ride order that had me looking for the nearest Lotto agency.

Melbourne traffic has its moments but on the whole the city is laid out in a grid on a wide, flat plain with little in the way of natural barriers. It’s not like Auckland with two harbours and seven volcanoes or Wellington’s mountainous landscape to navigate.

Big old four lane freeways fan out from the city centre from West to North to East.

So it was straight lines pretty well all of the first morning’s ride past Geelong to

Ace number two. The terrain changed from coastal plain and freeway. The escarpments got steeper at the beginning of the Great Ocean Road – which reminded me very much of East Cape – except with a lot more double lines, cars and people.

Still a truly spectacular ride nonetheless and it was my turn on the Sportsters for the twisties.

The 883 Iron comes with some of the longest hero pegs I’ve seen. They must project over 50mm from the bottom of the pegs proper. It’s good because it handles quite tidily and it is exceptionally easy to get them on the ground.

It was here that I did enjoy the character of the engine pulling out of the corners and the way it spooled up.

However after pleading ‘I’m really too big for this machine’ one of the factory boys handed over his XR1200X for the

Overnight at Apollo Bay was quiet after a nice meal in the town. It’s the kind of place that the TV soap Seachange (you know, the one with Sigrid Thornton as the burnt out big city lawyer who relocated to a sleepy coastal town) was written about.

OFFICIAL BUSINESS Next morning I was ‘officially’ on the XR1200X again and we headed into the Ottway range as the loop back to Melboune began.

late afternoon shift into Apollo Bay and I felt like I had three aces.

The glorious twisty road, and even the weather conditions, were starting to look like East Cape.

JUST DELIGHTFUL The XR1200X was just delightful. My knees were glad I was on the Wide Glide for the Freeway, but out here on the Big Hill the Sportie was quite joyous. It sounds unique, has the grunt where it’s needed on the road and has Showa suspension all round.

I was a little underdone on the pre-load and was off the pace of the lead bunch of riders when I first jumped aboard. But next morning the crew jacked it up for me (Oh yeah – us journos don’t adjust our own suspension any more dontchaknow!) and subsequently I was comfortable up near the front for the second morning.

More fantastic motorcycling ensued.

The roads were wet and occasionally muddy. ‘You Kiwi blokes seem pretty comfortable on wet twisty roads,’ photographer Lou Martin later remarked.

To be perfectly honest it was more that I was comfortable on the XR1200X. Properly dialled in, the XR made it a ride to remember and the conditions were very similar to a jaunt through the Waitakeres, only there were gum trees and about 80 kilometres of empty, prime road.

When we finally emerged from the bush and back onto the plains we stopped for lunch before heading back onto the superslap.

A FULL HOUSE Fourth Ace, four lanes of it and I had the Fat Boy. Footboards, a built-in back rest and a ton of torquey-ness. Not to mention feeling just a little bit bad-ass. It’s like there’s some Siren in the machine singing for me to do a burnout. But I resisted and we rode in formation back along

the freeway and to the city in the afternoon peak hour. Fat Boy perfect. ct.

Relaxed, I just enjoyed looking at the e machine.

It too pulls to the rev limiter without any hint of running out of breath along the way. The new lowness comes at the expense of some of the cornering clearance, but you wouldn’t buy a Fat Boy to do o anything but relaxed riding anyway.

LAUNCH REPORT 2010 H-D RANGE

It’s worth noting, in fact, if you are test riding a bike – make sure the shop dials in the suspension for you. It makes quite a bit of difference to the handling of this delightful machine.

I think that was one of the best things the ride demonstrated. There is now a range of Harleys that suit a wide variety of riders and conditions.

The Ultra Classic is at one end and the XR and Sporties at the other. With the V-Rod variants too the Motor Company has a wide range of vehicles, so it’s a matter of picking the one that suits your needs the best.

The ‘010 engines are the best stock Hogs I’ve ridden yet, with the XR the best of a very good bunch.

TO CONCLUDE The ride and launch gave ‘Lucky Dave’ a chance to use them in conditions for which they were well suited, and with stock on your authorised dealer floors now, I have no hesitation is recommending you play your cards right and go take one for a fang.

Thanks to H-D Australia Pty Ltd for the opportunity. Top Show.

But hey, I’ve got to go. That’s my song streaming through the computer’s speakers. You know the one, it’s a Kyle Minogue classic; can’t quite remember the name but it goes something like…… listen……that’s it; ‘ I should be so lucky… lucky, lucky, lucky…. KR

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