Gen Y Are Going All Harley!

People subject to stereotyping may think that I’m a typical Harley-Davidson rider since I’m nearly 63 years old even though I didn’t take up motorcycling until two years ago.

Even most H-D enthusiasts are under the out-dated impression that enthusiasts of this American icon are older and getting older.

Not so anymore.  Matt King, the editor of HOG magazine (Harley Owners Group,) writes this month that beginning in 2008, Harley-Davidson took over the top spot in sales of new bikes of all engine sizes to the age group 18-36, or Generation Y.

Harley-Davidson is more popular with Gen Y than it was even to Baby Boomers when they were that age based on total sales.  Signaling the power of the brand, 94% of Gen Y riders who start with previously-owned Harley’s indicate that when they buy a new bike, it will be a Harley-Davidson.  The next most popular brand appeals to 15%.

Now what about that cross-country on the Cross Bones that I keep toying with?  For inspiration, I’ve been reading about Bessie Stringfield, an African-American woman who made eight solo long distance rides in the ‘30s and ‘40s covering every state.  And that’s during a period when roads weren’t as safe, nor was much of the country for an African-American.

She rode, according to a brief by Charles Plueddeman in HOG, for 63 years, owning 27 Harley-Davidsons after she switched from the 1928 Indian Scout she learned to ride on at age 16.  Ms Stringfield died in 1993 at the age of 82.

I think I can do it…now about that Liberty sidecar so Mugs can come along, “pink” doggles and all???  Sweet!

A Saturday On The Cross Bones Via GoPro Hero HD

The GoPro Hero HD is every bit as cool as videos, advertisements and store displays promise and after using it this past weekend on a motorcycle ride, I can see lots of other uses.

• The unit is very very small, less than 2” by 2”and comes with a variety of attachments. However several that are needed apparently must be purchased separately.  It can be attached on the side of the helmet, as I did this weekend for this video, or on the tank of the motorcycle with a suction device.

 

• It is very lightweight, takes video or snapshots and has a waterproof case which means I can also attach it to an inner tube next summer and catch my grandsons as they dive from the dock intro the tube at increasing distances.

 

• I can also see wearing it with an arm,  chest or head strap to capture other family events hands-free.  You can’t preview footage on the device like you can from much larger hand-held cameras but it easily uploads to a computer and into Movie Maker if you like or can be played directly through the TV.

 

• There is a firmware update that wasn’t installed on mine that makes it easier (one button) to turn on and start.  But it is easy enough to start it before putting your helmet on and then editing out what you don’t want.   There are several versions but they appear to only vary in the ways they can be attached.

I think it is well worth the price.

Where In The World Have I Been?

I intended to blog from the road when I set off spontaneously, a couple of weeks ago, on a 6,000 mile cross country road trip adventure, my first. I’m not really sure why I didn’t. I certainly had time to think and thanks to being able to listen to both local radio and satellite radio, I had plenty about which I could have blogged.

My only companion and a great traveler was my English Bulldog, Mugsy, soon-to-be three years old and aka Mugs, Mugger, Bubba etc. Mugs loves to ride and he got the ride of a lifetime on this trip. He ranged freely from his bed in the back of the Jeep Wrangler (one of many I’ve owned but the first four door version) and the passenger seat with stops with his front feet on the console to get a better view and give me nuzzles of approval. Mostly he snoozed as he does much of every day.

I’ll write a few more blogs about the trip including observations about the places I saw and the people I met and the things I learned. It took place over the last 12 days of October including stops for a few days to visit my daughter and two grandsons in Salt Lake City, Utah and my Mom and my two sisters in Mill Creek, Washington, several towns north of Seattle. We were driving 7 days in all, including one unplanned all-nighter, both because it was over a patch of very familiar terrain and I suspect to preserve the well deserved reputation I earned during my college days

A trip like this periodically crossed my mind during my during my two decades plus living and working in Durham, North Carolina, the only time I’ve lived on this side of the Rockies. The longest road trip I’ve had during my time here was to the Outer Banks and back and that was due to logistics like ferry rides, not mileage. By the way, the just-completed cross country trip was 2 1/2 times longer than my previous best, a 2,400 miler in 1978 down the Alaska Highway from Anchorage to Spokane. It also included non-stop segments that outperformed a 1,400 miler I did in an Austin Mini (one of several Mini brands preceding today’s BMW version) from Coeur d’Alene, ID to Reseda, CA. The real record on that trip was it included four female family members, each with a different idea of when we needed to make pit stops

I started pondering a cross country trip more often after my retirement on December 31, 2009, just 10 months ago. I even contemplated doing it via the Harley Cross Bones. I postponed it until I had learned to fly an airplane in late September/early October. I wasn’t certain about the actual timing or the day of departure or taking Mugs along until the day prior. It gelled so quickly that I hadn’t even voted early, so getting back in time to vote today became a bookend to the trip.

Acquaintances, new and old, often observe that they never thought I’d enjoy retirement. I clearly loved my 40 years of destination marketing for communities like Spokane, Anchorage and especially Durham but worked at it so intensely that even close friends and family who are familiar with my spontaneous side are amused now because they know how rarely it has emerged over that period.

It feels great and the timing is perfect but I’m still a homebody by nature! Still contemplating a similar trip by motorcycle but I’d definitely need a sidecar for Mugs, don’t you think?