Glory Road: Ride with the Chester family of Harley-Davidson dealerships

Glory Road is on the press!

Finally, after more than a year in the making, the first edition of Glory Road is on the press. Complimentary copies will be available at the Chester family of Harley-Davidson dealerships after February 1.

Here's what we were planning to run as the cover:

But you won't see this cover when you pick up your copy of the magazine. You'll see a different cover, one that we hope you'll find more eye-catching than this one.

The best made plans of men, mice and the editor don't always work in real life. The idea was a fairly good one. Find a spot out in the middle of nowhere where the road runs on forever. Add some dramatic lighting. Maybe throw in a mesa or mountain in the distance. Put a guy on the Harley enjoying his ride. Not bad for a cover shot, you'd say, in theory.

On the right below is the image from a Motor Company ad that inspired the idea.

We obtained a new Road King from Chester's Harley-Davidson. Contributing editor Scott Himelhoch scouted a number of locations. Photographers Roy Timm and Carole Bozzato Timm selected a stretch of road south of Sedona, in Arizona's Red Rock Country. As the light began to fade, Scott rode the bike down that stretch of road almost two dozen times. Roy and Carole shot him low, they shot him high, to the left and to the right.

Well . . . try as they might, it just didn't work out as the kind of dynamic photo we'd like to present on the cover of the new magazine.

When you see the cover we did actually use, let us know how you like it.

Kudos to the copywriters for Harley-Davidson

For 30 years now, the Motor Company's ad agency has been Carmichael Lynch based in Minneapolis. The agency's copywriters churn out consistently effective advertising to promote the mystique and the image of the Harley brand. One recent ad that we especially liked is shown above.

Screw it, let's ride!

Urban Ride

Vintage meets retro: A 1955 Royal Enfield is parked next to the writer's 2005 Springer Softail Classic at The Coffee Plantation in Tempe, Arizona.

Saguaro cactus, vast canyons, intricate switchbacks, and steep mountain grades . . . Just a few of the reasons I call Phoenix home. But on a Sunday morning, as the sun gently rises over the Superstition Mountains, a low speed meander through its desolate urban streets provide a unique perspective of the Valley of the Sun. 

Mill Avenue, recently named by the American Planning Association as one of the Great Streets in America for 2008, transforms itself form a bustling collection of bars, restaurants, and Arizona State coeds to a subdued Sunday morning acoustic café. The urban ride provides a suitable fix when a half-day excursion just isn’t feasible. 

I rolled onto Mill Ave. at about 8 a.m. The street was empty and there was ample parking in front of The Coffee Plantation, one of the few remaining coffee houses with large open spaces to encourage conversation and lounging. As I ordered my morning dose of caffeine, I heard a mid-pitched rumble from the street and turned to see a vintage motorcycle backing-in adjacent to my 2005 Springer Softail Classic. Vintage next to retro. 

As my drink was served, I asked the guy for the year and model. It was a 1955 Royal Enfield. We made small talk and chatted for a few minutes before I took a seat with a view of our motorcycles. As I typed the intro to this blog, a voice reached out from a nearby table. 

“That’s a beautiful bike, what year is it?”  I replied with the details and Mark came over to introduce himself. Mark rides a 2002 Dyna Wide Glide and recently moved back to Phoenix from Clearwater, Florida. We talked for a good 15 minutes or so about the riding in Florida, riding in Phoenix, motorcycle modifications and how bikers just have a knack for striking up a conversation.

The Urban Ride is as much about the people you meet as the ride itself.

—Scott Himelhoch

XR1200 Sportster in time for Christmas

The Harley-Davidson XR1200 Sportster, previously sold only in Europe, will be available shortly in America. Watch for the announcement and media blitz starting on December 1. Consider it an early Christmas present from the Motor Company.

The newest member of the Sportster family was inspired by the legendary XR750, the most successful American dirt track racing motorcycle of all time. The XR750 earned the Number One plate in an unprecedented 26 AMA flat track seasons. In fact, as a tribute to the XR750, there will be a pre-sale of only 750 XR1200 models from December 1 to December 15.

If you've been hoping and waiting for an all-American sportbike, here's your chance, provided you hurry to the Chester family of Harley-Davidson dealerships. Click here for locations in Arizona, Idaho and Wyoming.

Get lost for charity

105th anniversary celebrations in Milwaukee

Five days of parties and parades, concerts and factory tours, demo rides and other goings on are about the start in Milwaukee, the birthplace and home of Harley-Davidson. It's the 105th anniversary celebration.

Deb and Trav Metcalfe are two riders form Chester's Harley-Davidson participating in the celebrations. Here's Deb's report:

The 105th was great. Many folks said more people came for the 105th versus the 100th. The highlight was participating in the parade on Sunday. We arrived at the staging area (photo below) at 7 a.m. along with the 7,500 other participants. As we started the parade route, it hit us: The citizens of Milwaukee love Harley-Davidson! Many were holding signs that welcomed us home and thanked us for their jobs. Wow, this lifestyle affects people many different ways!

Trav put on a total of 10,600 miles in two months on his 2008 Electra Glide Ultra. After meeting up with him in Sturgis, we rode to North Dakota, Minnesota, Ontario, Quebec, Michigan and Wisconsin before heading home. I racked up 7,200 miles in a month on my 2005 Screamin' Eagle Electra Glide.

Interestingly, not everyone on the planet believes 1903 is the correct date to celebrate. The Motor Company certainly does, but others believe otherwise, most notably Herbert Wagner, author of At The Creation: Myth, Reality and the Origin of the Harley-Davidson Motorcycle 1901-1909. 

The year 1901 often is stated as the true beginning as that's when 21-year-old William S. Harley drew up plans for a small engine that displaced 7.07 cubic inches (116 cc) and had four-inch flywheels. The engine was designed for use in a pedal-bicycle frame.

The first Harleys powered by V-twin engines with the pistons placed at a 45-degree angle appeared in 1909. The engine design, which is covered under several United States patents, produces the signature sound of the Harley-Davidson power plant.

The crankshaft has a single pin, and both pistons are connected to this pin through their connecting rods. This design causes the pistons not to fire at even intervals. The V-twin runs like this: The first piston fires. Then, the other piston fires at 315 degrees into the stroke. There is a 405-degree gap until . . . the first piston fires again. This give the Harley-Davidson V-twin its unique pop-pop . . . pop-pop . . . pop-pop sound that some have described as "One potato, two potato, three potato . . ."

Sturgis Day 14: The long road home

The Sturgis Six: Ray Valle, Lon Carruth, E.B. Chester, Flip LeResche, Ed Leclere, and Matt Lenox, shown with their Harley-Davidsons at the start of the 3,000-mile ride. Photo by Roy and Carole Timm.

On Saturday (August 16), we were faced with a long road home. After a review of our options, we decided to take a more direct route to Phoenix that required us to retrace a few of our steps. With good roads ahead, 500 miles to travel and a desire to get home to our families, we started out with temps hovering at 60. 

We zoomed south and then west and then south again. Along the way, we encountered more incredible scenery, and some we missed along the same roads two weeks earlier. 

We stopped in anticipation of a major rain cloud on the horizon, donned our rain gear and headed out again. Before long, this rider’s goggles fogged inside and out so badly he had to just pull them down around his neck to see. Surprisingly, the rain lasted about 15 minutes and "on the other side," we slipped out of the rain gear and rode on. 

We made incredibly good time, thanks in part to Ed LeClere’s need for speed, traversing the more than 500 miles in about eight hours, including stops for gas and lunch. At our final stop for gas along I-17 about 65 miles out of Phoenix, all riders expressed their thanks to one another for the support given by each member of cast in seeing that we all made the trip safely. 

Your blogger was especially grateful since it had been more than two years since he had attempted a long ride like this. 

We have tales to tell about our experiences but a common thread we all share is our gratitude to EB for his planning and his generosity in enabling us to experience what he has known for a long time: There is a lot to see in this country and there’s no better way to see it than from a Harley-Davidson.

—Lon Carruth

Footnote:

You who have followed our journey have heard us use many words to describe what we've seen. From your perspective, it's kind of like going online to look at pictures of places like Buffalo in Wyoming, Monument Valley, Red Lodge in Montana, Yellowstone Park, Bear Tooth Pass and so many other places we've seen over the last two weeks. But to have an appreciation of what there is to see in this country, you owe it to yourselves to see it for yourself, preferably on two wheels. Thanks for following our journey. Here's hoping you'll create some memories of your own and share them with us.

Sturgis Day 13: At the end of a challenging day, cheese fries

Friday morning (August 15) started out cold for those of us with thin blood from living in the heat of the Phoenix area but as we left Rock Springs, Wyoming, we didn’t know that this would be the most challenging riding day of our trip. 

A last-minute change in our route gave us the opportunity to see what EB calls the badlands of Colorado. A fast-moving cold front from the north provided some added excitement to our ride this day. The scenery was once again remarkable.

The 320-mile ride included about 30 miles on a gravel road that called on each of us to be on our best riding behavior. Some of us were reminded that one slip can end in disaster. When we completed the gravel road portion of our ride, we were all exhilarated and ready to move on to the next bout of western American by-ways. 

The approaching cold front, predicted to bring snow to parts of Wyoming, Colorado and northeast Utah, provided cross-wind gusts from the west and northwest up to 30 miles per hour and put everyone in a watchful mood. 

When we reached the "fork in the road," it was time to bid EB, our gracious host, goodbye as he had to travel to his home in Colorado to take care of some pressing issues. The remainder of the group proceeded south and west to Moab, Utah, where we found temperatures in the low 90s. A quick shower and a walk to Woody’s Tavern for dinner was a perfect close to our day. At Woody's, you’ve got to try the cheese fries, served with raw onions: a gastric delight!

—Lon Carruth

Sturgis Day 12: The day starts and ends with eats

We began the day like all of our others, with breakfast, but this morning (August 14) we dined at Bubba's, a Jackson Hole landmark. Your faithful blogger was able to get one of his favorites, grits, which made for a great start for his day. 

Since we were only traveling 200 miles, we decided to spend some time in Jackson walking around the town and enjoying many of the museums and art shops that make up a large part of the commerce in the town. Jackson is very much alive during the months of June, July and August when the population grows with millions of tourists (That's right, millions) and, of course, bikers, as they work their way through the area headed for Yellowstone, the Tetons and other points of interest. In the winter, it’s a skier’s haven with ski facilities very close to the town. 

After spending time looking at the shops, we headed for Rock Springs and made great time. EB took us down a dirt road. Different things were running through the minds of all the riders, especially when we got to the worst part of the road construction. All of our bikes are in need of a bath but once we cleared the construction area, it was clear sailing to Rock Springs. 

We headed for the bar (What else?) and after deciding to have dinner at the bar, the rest of the evening was another enjoyable celebration of the day, the things we’d seen and, of course, the libation we were enjoying. Everyone headed to bed early as we plan to be on the road to Moab, Utah, at seven o'clock in the morning.

—Lon Carruth

Days blur across South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana and Wyoming again

After trying to wear out our welcome in Sturgis, we struck out on Monday morning in search of new scenery, winding roads and cooler temperatures and some history. 

After a great breakfast (Note the emphasis on eating on this trip) in Deadwood, we headed for Spearfish Valley (photo) and 30 miles of beautiful countryside, and more twists and turns. I've determined the the sides of the new tires on my ride will be worn out before the center of the tires. 

After successfully negotiating this piece of South Dakota highway heaven, we headed for an Interstate and a trip through Wyoming to Buffalo, Wyoming. After about five hours, we arrived at the Occidental Hotel and stepped back to a pre-1900 era facility, full of Old West memorabilia, complete with pictures, squeaky floors and a staff that was as friendly as I'm sure the staff of the hotel would have been in it's time.
Your blogger spent the night in the Herbert Hoover suite and the biggest adjustment was to the bathtub (no shower). Been a long time since a bathtub was in my house. After drinks, a round of cards complete with our own dealer, some pool and a delicious dinner, prepared especially for us by the staff (The dining room is usually closed but they brought in staff for us), we all headed off for a night's rest before our journey to Red Lodge, Montana.

On Tuesday morning, we were all at our bikes at 6:30 and ready to ride. Some of us, not too full from the previous nights repast, headed for a small diner accross the street from the Occidental and then we mounted our rides and headed toward Red Lodge.

The vastness of the territory is hard to describe but as we headed toward an elevation of 5,500 feet, things got a bit cooler and required some additional layering. The sun, like it has every day of this trip, shone brightly and the riders zoomed north and west across Wyoming and on to see yet another of our wonderful 50 states.

We traversed the distance quickly and arrived at the Pollard, another fine old hotel, completely restored, at one o'clock, several hours before being able to check in. An acquaintence of EB's and owner of the Rock Creek Lodge met up with us and we were all guests of Pepi Gramshammer for dinner of steaks, seafood and weinerschnizte.

Wednesday's journey would be a long one in terms of time but it would take us to 11,000 feet of elevation through Beartooth Pass, encounters with buffalo and a show by Old Faithful in Yellowstone Park and a ride by of the unbelievable Grand Teton Mountains. 

We again started at 6:30 (This is an early riser crowd) and most were dressed with leather, warm gloves, electric clothing gear and layers of warmth for what was expected to be a cold ride.

As we approached Beartooth Pass, trees were fewer, the road narrowed and became a bit more tricky to navigate, but when we arrived at the top, the views were breathtaking. Mountain goats greeted us along the way.

Then we headed down the south side of the mountain towards Yellowstone. The speed limit through the park is 45 miles per hour. We tried hard to stay to it but when we had a chance, we pushed it as far as we thought we could. 

Along our way, we saw what looked like thousands of buffalo and on several occassions, we were forced to stop to allow the huge animals to cross. One decided to stand in the middle of the road for about 20 minutes but like all the other vehicles in line, we had to wait until he decided to move.

After lunch and visit to Old Faithful, we headed out of the park and on a beautiful and scenic ride by the Grand Tetons. Words don't decribe the majesty of these peaks. 

We arrived in Jackson, had dinner with friends of EB's and retired after our 10-hour ride day, thinking about what the next day had in store for us on this amazing ride to Sturgis and beyond.

—Lon Carruth