Biker Report II

By Ed Moyer

Biker Report II

Ed Moyer - elrociam@filthypikers.com

It almost seemed to be a celebration of the cattle industry. The weather was chilly, and overcast. People turned out in the masses, to be a part of history, to take a look back over the last 100 years of a company. Thousands of bikers road thousands of miles to be able to be part of history in the making. It was the Harley-Davidson Open Road tour. It was the last weekend in October, when the event pulled up to its final stop in the contential United States. From here they will be making stops in Orient, Australia, and various ports in South America.

There were no “biker game” events this time. Too many riders to attempt to do something like that. This was more of a celebration of “This is where we were, and this is where we are going!”. It was a mobile museum, displaying the different incarnations of the bike that almost everyone loves, a bike so famous that almost everyone knows by the time they are eight what the terms HOG, Harley, or biker mean.

There were many educational booths set up. Some showed the process of the bike building. Some focused on the advancements that were made, starting from the little woodshed in 1903, where three brothers and a friend decided to experiment with an internal combustion engine. Others showed the first ever v-twin engine, a brainchild of the Harley Davidson Motor Company, the different body shapes, or the customization that had been done to several of the models. There was also a mounted police specialty-riding group that displayed their ability to maneuver their massive bikes in a tight formation.

This event was also an opportunity to help the MDA. The Muscular Dystrophy Association has partnered with Harley Davidson to raise funds for their research and to aide in their fight against this terrible disease that can strike young and old alike. This disease does not see age, race, color, creed, or religious affiliation. At the time of the writing of this article, over 3.5 million dollars has been raised for research and development.

Outside of the chance to help the MDA, and a chance to eat some good food, and drink good drinks, and look at beautiful machines, and visit with good friends... well, besides all that to do, there were also the concerts to attend. There were the Doobie Brothers, Jonny Lang, and the now legendary Aerosmith.

The event was a chance to see history; it was a once in a lifetime opportunity. In the summer of 2003 there is a huge blow out celebration party scheduled. Even if you are not a biker, I encourage you to stop by and take a look at all that is going on!