Till I got the phone call to join in a HOG event, I had only seen Harleys in the movies and imagined their riders as tattooed men who wore leather jackets. And I also didn’t know what HOG meant. As it turned out it was an acronym of Harley’s Owners Group. Then came the hype that “it is the ultimate in motorbiking” when I told my colleagues that I would be Harleying up to Taif.
This fueled my passion as I tried to envisage how the trip would turn out with a group of Harleys thundering toward their destination. What I had dreamt and what I was transported to were one and the same — with the underlying theme of fun evident in a disciplined yet adventurous ride on the freeway.
On a recent Thursday, 10 members of the Hog-Jeddah Chapter rode through the mountains of Taif and Al-Shifa. Myself riding the pillion, I was on air at where this trip was taking me. With the wind in my face and the countryside whizzing past me, I was in pure bliss. The roaring of the posse was music to my ears. I only knew one thing, that I was enjoying this newly discovered passion.
Harley Davidson was established in 1903 by William Harley and the Davidson brothers William, Walter and Arthur. Harley Davidson grew from a small American motorcycle company which survived both World Wars I and II as well as the Great Depression, and the company’s product became one of the world’s most talked about motorcycles.
Harley Davidson’s innovative V-twin engine and trademark rumbling sound makes it a favorite among millions of motorcycle enthusiasts and has spawned an underground subculture of bikers.
In 1997, Al-Mutlaq Co., introduced Saudi Arabia to Harley Davidson by opening the first Harley Davidson branch in Dammam. Later openings in Jeddah and Riyadh followed.
Prominent Saudi businessman and owner of Al-Masa Pest Control Services, Mousaied S. Al-Shieshakly says, “I was visiting my parents in Dammam in 1997 and I saw a Harley sign going up. My immediate reaction was wow! Harley is here, I have to get one.”
Harley is not just a “buy-once-and-forget” motorcycle. As is evident if you step into any Harley showroom. The purchasing of a bike is only the beginning. Harley carries a great deal of tradition and that tradition is spread by its riders. And a good job they’ve done!
The Harley Owners Group (HOG) in the Kingdom is growing and proudly boasts over 1000 members. “The name itself sells the bikes,” said Marwan Al-Mutlaq, one of the co-owners of Harley Davidson in Saudi Arabia. “Sales continue to climb; some months we sell up to 13 bikes. There is a constant stream of customers, buying, trading and upgrading their bikes or accessories,” he added.
“Since Harleys are cruising bikes, we conduct HOG rallies, which are activities that provide an organized way for Harley riders to share their passion and show their pride,” explained Marwan.
HOG proudly boasts a whopping 900,000 active members worldwide. From Texas to Kuala Lumpur to Jeddah, HOG members and rallies are found in every corner of the globe. Cross-country trips, sometimes spanning weeks, allow riders to explore themselves and make oak-solid friendships that last for a lifetime.
This month, Harley riders broke away from tradition and invited an outsider, Arab News, to come along and see what all the hype was about.
The trip was one of Harley’s smaller expeditions but was still filled with as much enthusiasm and fervor as any HOG Rally anywhere. It started early in the morning at the Harley showroom in Jeddah and went all the way up into the picturesque mountainous regions of Taif — Al-Hada and Al-Shifa.
With a Harley, there is no differentiation — businessmen, doctors, lawyers, teachers and even university students meet, not as Saudis or expats or rich and poor or young and old but as a group with one common goal: To cruise and have a good time.
The thundering produced by a gang of Harleys is something one has to hear. And everywhere these bikers were, whether a traffic light, a gas station, or even on the road, the gazes — puzzled, intrigued and awed — followed them. “I get this all the time, thumbs up, honking, cheering and even racing offers,” said Kamal M. Kazi, a young Saudi motorcycle aficionado.
Why Harley?
Everyone had a different answer when asked this question.
“I’ve tried Suzuki, Kawasaki and Honda but nothing gave me the same exhilaration and sense of freedom that Harley does,” said Kamal.
“Age is not a limiting factor; you feel young on a Harley; it takes the pressure off the biker’s chest. It is for everybody who is stressed, an energy booster. Every Harley owner uses his bike to depict his personality,” explained Mosaied.
“Some add mufflers for more noise, leather seats, custom paint jobs, custom designed pants, bandanas, lighters and even helmets, thus making both bike and rider unique.”
All were unanimous that Harley brought “the guys” together to do something as friends.
“Harley is the Rolls-Royce of motorcycles and we are its promoters,” summed up Ahmed Halawani, assistant general manager of special flight technical services at Saudi Airlines.
Ambassadors of Saudi Arabia
Next month, 14 young enthusiasts will represent Saudi Arabia in the European HOG Rally in St. Tropez, France. They will join an army of perhaps 20,000 riders from all over the world. Four riders in particular are prominent in the Saudi group, Marwan Al-Mutlaq, Tariq Al-Mutlaq, Diamond Robyn and Shams-uddin Kazi. They have chosen a different way to go to France: By road.
The trip will take over 2 weeks, starting at the border north of Riyadh and will take them through the deserts of Jordan, across the mountains of Syria and into Turkey. Once there, they will go to Bodrum and ship their bikes to Italy. From there they will proceed to Geneva and later enjoy the Swiss Alps. Finally they will join the other riders in St. Tropez.
“For the past four years I have been attending the European Hog rally; it’s a great way for Harley owners to express themselves. The last day of the rally is my favorite as there is a huge parade in which riders carry and wave their countries’ flags. I carry the Saudi flag with pride and wish that more Saudis would come and represent our country,” said Marwan.
“I have lived here all my life and only recently discovered all the beauty Saudi Arabia has to offer, riding encourages residents to visit other cities and see what their country has to offer,” said Abdelmonem Addas, division chief of financial resources at the Islamic Development Bank.
Evel Knievelists?
Harleys are commonly mistaken for speed bikes and their riders as “Evel Knievels” or “thugs.” Harley riders ardently protest this misconception. “I’d like to see someone pop a wheelie (a maneuver in which the motorcycle is balanced on the back wheel) on a 300Kg Harley,” joked Steven Beddoe, a Canadian dosimetrist at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center.
“Harleys are NOT speeding bikes,” reiterated Mousaied.
“The police do stop us often but it’s mostly due to curiosity,” explained Marwan.
Safety: No. 1 Priority
“Harley Davidson in Saudi Arabia has one policy; buyers must have a special istimara (vehicle registration), driving license and helmet in order to take the bike out of the showroom,” said a sales consultant in the Harley Jeddah showroom. Reckless driving is a menace on Saudi roads, with drivers ignoring basic rules. The systematic organization and discipline that Harley drivers follow when riding should nominate them for one of, if not the best, drivers in Saudi Arabia. “Riding as a group” has a whole different meaning for Harley owners.
“The group depends on two people — the leader and the sleeper. The leader is the most experienced rider and the sleeper is the tail of the group. The sleeper constantly keeps an eye on the leader and if the leader signals to change lanes or stop, the sleeper then signals accordingly to cars behind him,” explained Ahmed.
Special hand signals are used to communicate with the riders — for example, a fist means stop.
“The sleeper has a lot of responsibilities; there are cars who are often anxious to speed ahead or just reckless drivers and if this happens, I inform the other riders to be more vigilant.”
The precise and calculated turning, acceleration and slowing down is a skill very few in Saudi Arabia have but Harley riders are among that few.
Marwan said, “My dream is that the younger generation will be guided properly to take up hobbies, not necessarily having a Harley but just some kind of hobby to keep busy and away from things which could lead them into trouble.” Perhaps his dream is being realized as more and more Saudis are buying Harleys.
