In the last few years, I have seen lots of changes in Harleys and in the people who ride them. Back in 1993 when I bought my first Harley, my perception was that I was either a Harley rider or ‘not’.

By the time you read this, you will be going to or at the 2023 National HOG Rally just outside of Tailem Bend and an hour and a half from Adelaide. Between the The Bend and Adelaide are a variety of Australia’s best Harley roads – we just call them the Adelaide Hills.

Hold on to your horses! The old Harley Touring frame is 15 years old, and now with the release of the new 2024 CVO models with an all-new frame and suspension along with a ‘future proof’ 121ci VVT M8 engine which will be competitive for years to come. My prediction is that the VVT engine is ready for the 2035 EU/California certification. Why? Because I believe it is designed to run on environmentally friendly, hydrogen carbon-neutral synthetic fuels. A VVT engine was patented by Harley in 2019; but this isn’t it. 

It’s been a long, long time since my first visit to Sturgis. And my first ride on a Harley and even my first overnighter on a motor bike. Thirty years ago in 1993. How time flies, and nothing ever really changes. I remember then all the talk was how the Harley rider demographics were becoming old white men on bikes. Harley was running out of old men to buy new bikes. Gee at 49, I was way older than the average age of Harley riders. I was even older than Chris, Doc, Brumby, Viv and now Mick. But don’t listen to the naysayers. Just ride, ride what you bought and ride what you brought to the party. 

So the big day for the Harley-Davidson Model Year 2023 and 120th Anniversary models came and went. But in the release video, Jochen Zeitz’s final words were the big teaser, “one or two” more models will be released at the 120th Anniversary Homecoming Festival in Milwaukee. Now it only seems like yesterday when 17 issues ago in 2020, I wrote that the Pan America 1250 and Bronx 975 Streetfighter would be released as MY21s. The Pan Am 1250 has made it. And the old 883/1200 Sportster’s replacement, the Nightster RH975 came out in 2022, while the updated Special RH975S was just now released. 

Harley-Davidson ended last year on a high note. The best, most profitable Third Quarter Financial Report in three years. The supply chain problem seems to be over. Dealer showrooms are full of Harleys with sold signs on most of the bikes. There are waiting lists to get your bike serviced. There is even talk that the dreaded computer chip shortfall is over. 

My Harley life began with me not knowing anything about what I was really getting into. In 1992, most Harley dealers in Australia and America didn’t have any new Harleys on the showroom floor – let alone any to test ride. I didn’t know the difference between a Sportster, Softail, Touring, or Dyna Low Rider. Let alone a Road King which I didn’t know existed until I picked up my new 1993 FXDL Low Rider at the factory in York, PA. I just knew in retirement I didn’t want my hobby to be golf.

You are now in the 119th year of the Harley-Davidson Motor Company. That means the huge 120th Anniversary year is 2023. So right now is the time to start planning for next year’s Anniversary parties. Whether your plans start here in Australia, Budapest, or in Milwaukee for the Harley-Davidson Homecoming festival, or ending in Sturgis in August, I suggest that you better start planning your year right now or chances are that you will miss the boat. It’s only every ten years that Harley puts on the big show in Milwaukee.

Back in the old days, Kelly Johnson, the designer of the Lockheed U-2 and SR-71 spy planes said to his engineers just keep everything simple. Don’t make things too complex for the maintainers. He told the eggheads not to be stupid, thus he used the acronym KISS, or Keep It Simple, Stupid (meaning the designers). That is essentially what the Motor Company did in 2020 by hiring Jochen Zeitz as the CEO, and boss of keeping it simple. 

In the beginning, there were only horses and pedal power. Then came along the story of four boys and a shed … and to the world’s greatest V-twin motorcycle. Like so many fairytales there are also many misadventures. This is my story on the detours and dead-ends of The Motor Company. From the original mission of building motorcycles to go further and faster than anyone else. To today’s mission of… “More than building machines, we stand for the timeless pursuit of adventure. Freedom for the soul.”