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BIKES: 2009 Harley Davidson Ride In California
Written by: Neale Bayly   
05/08/2009
Charlotte, NC
 
Rolling past the high bluffs outside Big Sur as we made our way north on Highway 1, the view of the Pacific Ocean relentlessly pounding the rugged coastline is breathtaking. (Photo: Kevin Wing) ยป More Photos

Rolling past the high bluffs outside Big Sur as we made our way north on Highway 1, the view of the Pacific Ocean relentlessly pounding the rugged coastline is breathtaking and thought provoking in equal measures. It’s not one of the quintessential American landscapes that comes to my European mind when considering this great country I call home as a geographical location though. And after nearly a quarter of a century I am still a comparative stranger in a foreign land, the song lines of my soul created to travel over hill and dale, not forge this rugged land. Always vast and mystical to me, today from the seat of the new 2009 Harley Davidson Road Glide perhaps I am closest to feeling at home. The sweet smell of the pines in the crisp, chill air stirs memories of riding here before. The once strange trees and plants that line the road are no longer unfamiliar, and the vast hills that stretch away beside me bathed in the warm afternoon light appear
as old friends accompanying me on a journey.

Sitting back into the luxurious, sculptured seat, my feet are extended comfortably onto the broad floorboards. The wide bars bend back to naturally fall into my hands, and I realize this is the motorcycle that was born from this great American landscape. Beneath me, the big, laconic V-twin is loping along with around 2,500 rpm registering on the analogue tachometer. Relaxed, smooth, and hypnotic, the fundamentals of the experience are little changed since the early 1930s. Like the surface of the roads, the modern buildings, and high tech electronics that accompany us, we have moved on, but the visceral experience from the twin cam 96 HD is fundamentally just the same.

See the Harley-Davidson Photo Album

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