Insurance Claim

Most Harley riders in South Africa have no experience of dealing with insurance claims on repairing damaged bikes (they don't drop their precious investments). However, occasionally riders like me, who use their Harleys as their basic transport, will end up claiming for damage.

No, I didn't fall, or even drop my bike. It was parked in the car park of a factory I was doing accounts consultancy work for. I was called out of the office to the car park, and found that their Hyster driver had ridden into the back of my Chrome & Blue Beauty, buckling the back mudguard into the tyre & knocking it over on the right-hand side. No biggie, you say. Hunh!!

I had to go to the local police station and fill in an accident report (to get a case number for the insurance). notify my insurance company, fill in their claim form, and show their claims inspector the damage for confirmation. Who are my insurers. They were a broker firm that was bought out by the international AON Insurance group. (Yes, the same one you see on Lewis Hamilton's McLaren in Formula 1, and the Manchester United Football Team. Apparently Hamilton needs insurance more than Alonso at Ferrari).

Also included was a visit to my local Harley dealership to get a quote for repairing the damage. 

Note the date - 1st June 2012

All the replacement parts required were available..........except the blue mudguard. This had to be ordered from Milwaukee, to match the original colour. After many visits, and phone calls, the mudguard arrived on the 7th of September 2012. SHEESH!!!! 

The bike went into the dealership on Tuesday 11th September, and I fetched it on Monday 17th September. I had to pay my excess (5% - R1198.00) & my delightful Dyna is back - rides & sounds great!! Insurance people all very pleasant & competent, as were all my friends at the Harley-Davidson dealership.

The only issue was riding a damaged bike for more than 3 months!!

Love my wife and my Harley!!

What Tyre?

We all need tyres replaced on our gleaming dream machines from time-to-time. It is one of the aspects of bike riding safety that we shouldn't compromise on. The advice we are given that a tyre needs to be replaced when there is only 1mm of tread left anywhere on the tyre, is good advice (unless you have dome kind of death wish). With only 2 wheels on the ground (unless you ride a woosie 'trike) & brakes that can never match those of a car, you need to make sure the rubber you have on the ground is good.

I have done about 130 000 km's of riding on my Harleys in the last 8 years, and have had tyres last as little as 9 000 km's and as much as 17 000 km's, but have had to replace quite a few.

Now most of us will just 'phone up our local dealership & arrange for a new tyre to be fitted when it can be done by the workshop. I did this myself for many years. We also see some of our friends at the breakfast runs with different looking tyres and invariably hear that they are much cheaper. I was always sceptical of fitting anything other than the official "Harley-Davidson Dunlop" to my bikes & coughed up between R2 000.00 & R3 000.00 for getting this done. Yes R3 000.00 for a standard back tyre on my Dyna Superglide Custom - because the dealer insists on replacing the tube and the tyre for safety reasons. Harleys aren't cheap!

In 2011, a few friends, my then fiance', Lila & I decided to do the 2 Passes Rally in Plettenburg Bay, which meant a 3 500 km round trip from Durban. Yes, I needed a new tyre on the back of the Dyna. The dealership had no stock, so a Michelin was obtained from another bike garage to keep me on the road. This tyre just didn't work for me. I was never comfortable with it (it felt like the back end was squirelly and lacking grip on the corners) & it only did a bit under 9 000 km's before being replaced.

This year, 2012, after a honeymoon trip to Knysna on the Harley, I needed a new tyre on the back again. I got a fright when I noticed how worn it was & contacted our dealership. I was told that they had no stock, & the official Dunlop suppliers had no stock in the country either, but I would be 'phoned when some stock arrived!! That don't work for me!!! The casual "lump it" attitude by the dealership staff turned out to be a blessing in disguise. I contacted the bike shop that sells second-hand Harleys at lunch-time & by 3 p.m. had a new Goodyear fitted for R2 145.00!! Great service, great price & what a good tyre. I was surprised at how good the grip felt, how solid it cornered and thus improved the ride. Probably won't last long, I thought. It is still on, & has done about 5 000 km's. The wear on it seems to be quite good. Whether it gets the 12 000 km's I like to get on a back tyre remains to be seen, but I think I will stick to Goodyear in future, even if it only gets 10 000 km's.

The attitude from the Harley dealership this time, it must be noted, is not the normal treatment I get there. On the contrary, many of the staff members have often gone out of their way to make my riding experience the best possible. Harley-Davidson tattoo's are commonplace, and while I don't believe I will ever see fit to deface my body with any kind of tattoo, I am pretty sure that logo is on my heart!

My "new" Dyna Superglide Custom

I have missed a couple of months of posting here. This is the reason!!

What an awesome Harley! I got it end November 2009 & have taken it on rides to Clarens (through Golden Gate - beautiful), St. Lucia (guards at gate wouldn't let me in the reserve with it - animals scared?), Howick Falls (a breakfast run) and can't wait to take it to Africa Bike Week. Extras are rounded chrome spoke rims, Screaming Eagle exhausts, touring seat, forward foot controls, flame handle grips, leather tassles, sissy bar and luggage rack. Rides like a dream cruiser. Not as fast on accelleration as my 1200 Sporty, but fast enough for my needs. Problems so far, nil - with 5000 km's done by me. More to come.

2010 Harley Road Test

With recognition to "Motorcycle USA", who I thank for the following Road Test.

"When you hear the name Harley-Davidson what do you think of? More than anything the answer matches the age of the person you ask. If you’re an older rider than there is a fair chance that you’ll feel this motorcycle marque is the de facto motorcycling standard. But for younger folks, the H-D brand usually conjures up images of under-performing motorcycles built more for posing in the parking lot than ripping around on the streets. After spending two days at the controls of Harley-Davidson’s 2010 model offerings, though, I have to admit there is something more to the brand than I pessimistically presumed. One of the coolest things about this coming year’s line-up is the broad range of motorcycling options afforded by the folks in Milwaukee. 

Harley Sportster For Sale - 2009 NEW

2009 Harley Davidson -Sportster for sale (Pretoria area)

Pearl blue paint job

Double seat with passenger foot pegs

(0km) Brand new - Chromed Machine

883 cc engine 2 year H-D Warranty

Asking only R79000.00 (unbeatable price)!!!

084-818-5373 or 082-841-8343   

 email: exportglobe@gmail.com   

Poker Run

The middle of September saw our HOG Durban Chapter have a sponsored "Poker Run" that had a good turnout and many compliments.

The prime reasons for its success were the sponsors, Primi Piatti franchise management (wonderfully represented by Gavin & his wife Melody). They personally put in a lot of time and effort to making it a fun event for all involved.

A record of my view of the event will give some idea of the effort put in. It started with my fiance', Lila, & I arriving at the adopted starting point for our breakfast runs at Primi Piatti Gateway, Umhlanga early (about 7.30 or so) on Sunday morning. The Primi staff, management & national franchise manager were all there already, ready with free t-shirts, coffee & energy juices for all the entrants. There were also some riders from our chapter, HOG 1000 Hills & Steel Wings (all Harley riders were welcome) there to take part. As the treasurer, all I had to do was collect the entry fees & hand out t-shirts, but it was gratifying to see the contact I had made with Gavin & Primi paying off with about 48 bikes & more than 75 entrants (lots of pillions) participating. With cards now drawn by all entrants, Gavin & his wife were off to Primi Hillcrest

to prepare for the arrival of our large pack of Harleys. Our road captain, Ronnie, gave all the briefing before the ride up to Hillcrest, and then led us in our normal staggered formation pack (excluding the Steel Wings members who rode in their own group) safely up to Hillcrest Primi.

Riding in a pack of more than 40 bikes is something to be experienced. First of all, riding a Harley is a very physical experience - the wind in the face, the vibration of the motor, the sensation of freedom - it's what riding is about; and then you have forty more riders with you, all sharing the same thing. The experience of the car passengers gawking at the pack of shiny examples of Milwaukee chrome, riding in a thunderous roar along the roads is also memorable. It's very provoking, hard to ignore, and gets many reactions; staring, envy, admiring, intimidated, irritated, inquisitive and many more. Mostly positive, in that it makes many more smiles than frowns. It's an unexpected event on a boring road that made the day more interesting.

Arriving at Primi Piatti Hillcrest was an event too. The staff from the surrounding restaurants clammered for a ride on a Harley (something everyone should do at least once). Some got one. Gavin had prepared all at the venue, and our second cards were were drawn and noted (to eventually make up a poker hand; with prizes for the best hands held); as well as coffee, sherry (for the cold) & muffins to build up energy.

2010 Harley Models Officially Released

The 2010 Harley Range has been revealed!! The details of new colours announced on this blogspot have been shown to be correct.

Shown on the left is the 2010 Dyna Superglide Custom (in Scarlet Red). This is the only Dyna available in the new "BlackIce Pearl" colour - and surprise, surprise - it's a DARK BLUE!! .........not Black. (See below). Can't wait to see it up close. Nothing else on this seems to be changed from 2009 (It aint broke)!

Why am I highlighting this model? I placed my order for a "Black Ice Pearl" Dyna Superglide Custom with the 1000 Hills Harley-Davidson dealer principal in June 2009. His queries with the Cape Town H-D office was just met with a quizical smile & "I don't know how the people find these things. More on this later.