Heavy Duty – July-August 2019

Road Rave

LIVING THE LIFE WITH DOC ROBINSON

WORDS OF WISDOM

“A bike on the road is worth two in the shed.”

DAVID & GOLIATH

A news release came through

just as I sat down quoting the

fact that KTM had outsold

Harley-Davidson by 30,000

bikes in 2018. Which on the

face of it sounds like bad news

for The Motor Company – until

you read a bit deeper into it.

You see ‘unit’ sales are not

equal between the companies

and to do so is like comparing

apples with oranges. Consider

the purchase cost of a CVO

compared to a lightweight

KTM. So while unit numbers

read KTM’s way, the important

numbers do not. Not by a long

shot.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Businesses are in business to

make a profit. According to the

news release Harley-Davidson

tripled KTM’s revenue figures

with five billion in bikes and

related merchandise, plus

another $750 million from

Harley’s financing wing,

versus $1.75 billion for KTM.

So don’t give up on Mother

Harley just yet.

DELAYED AGENDA

Circumstances beyond my

control have delayed the SA/

Western Australia/Northern

Territory/SA section of my

charity ride for Lifeline.

However, the plans for my

Tasmanian ride are powering

ahead. I’ll be in Tassie from Sat

23rd November until Saturday

7th December and look forward

to catching up with any HEAVY

DUTY readers. I’ll be posting

updates on times and places

on my facebook page http://www.

facebook.com/docrob69 or you

can catch me via my personal

email address at docrob-

[email protected].

BEST BIKE?

In almost three decades with

HEAVY DUTY mag I’ve ridden

a lot of motorcycles and done

a lot of miles. And I’m often

asked which bike I’ve enjoyed

the most and which ride. The

answers may surprise you.

Well, my favourite bike is

my 1948 Royal Enfield, which

was my first motorcycle, and

one I chose over an AJS that

was selling for the same price

because the Enfield came with

a lap rug. Yeah, that either

seriously dates me or we lived

well out of the big smoke. But

that bike preceded my first

driving licence so I had to keep

it hidden from my folks. For

the first two or three nights

I stashed it in a schoolmate’s

shed but then got sprung by

my old man who spotted me

riding it.

My second favourite bike

was my 1991 Springer that was

the first new Harley I had ever

owned, and my third favourite

was Orange Betty the 2004

Screamin’ Eagle Electra Glide.

But I guess it’s true to say I’ve

loved ‘em all along the way.

BEST RIDE?

If you’d asked Hugh Hefner

that question, I figure he’d

scratch his head for a long

time before answering, and

even then most likely would

not be able to pick a favourite

Playmate. Yeah, well me too.

Essentially the best ride is

the one that you are doing at

the time. But it would be hard

for me to top the 2003 HEAVY

DUTY Homecoming Tour for

Harley-Davidson’s 100th Anni-

versary. My bike at the time

was a V-Rod, and that wasn’t

going to work, so I bought a

used Electra Glide Sport, not

a pretty bike, but one that had

the required luggage capacity.

In company with wife Jane

we did many thousands of

kilometres, from San Francisco

across America, through parts

of Canada and ‘Old Blue’ as

I had nicknamed the ‘Glide

did not miss a beat. Sure, at

times the Evo struggled up

hills, loaded up as it was, but

we made it. So, it was a bit like

meeting an old friend when I

encountered it again, after some

16 years, at the local dealership.

STURGIS 2019

It’s nearly that time of year

again. I’ve said it before and

I will say it again; Sturgis is a

must event for every Harley

rider, young or old, male or

female. There is nothing like it

on the planet! HD

It’s not long now

until crazy town

rolls around again.

Lost somewhere in a California oilfield in 2003.