It was my first-ever Harley-Davidson ride. And I loved every second of it. So far, I had only had a distant glimpse of the Harley Owners Group (HOG) as they zoomed away on the Bengaluru airport road. Now, I got to examine close up, the bar-and-shield logo and marvel at the shining bronze-black-steel stallion-like design.
But this time, I was with one of the seniormost Ladies of Harley (LOH) in India, Shirley George, 47, architect and contractor. I clung on to her for dear life as she rode down a street in Bengaluru’s Banaswadi neighbourhood, equal parts exhilarated and terrified at the bike’s (and Shirley’s) sheer power. Shirley’s Harley is a ‘Fat Bob’ with a 1600cc engine—that’s more than my car and costs more too, at ₹15 lakhs (ex-showroom, Lavelle Road, Bengaluru)!
Riding the American bike almost seems like a superpower. It transforms you, the moment you ascend it, making you feel like an Amazonian warrior princess, Xena, if you will. Or Wonder Woman. Or a rockstar! That’s partly what Shirley loves about riding her Harley.
“Initially, on my way back from rides, when I’d remove my helmet near the toll-booths, people would get so excited that it was a woman on wheels. Later, they started recognising me each time I rode out of the city. That recognition made me feel like a rockstar,” grins Shirley, who is one of the first women in India to own a Harley (‘I’m probably the second woman to buy a Harley in India’). Being a Harley owner automatically makes one part of the HOG and if the owner is a woman, one is subsequently a part of the LOH. The Indian LOH chapter recently went on its first ride together to Dandeli, Karnataka.
“There were three ladies from Bengaluru, including me. It was a 490-km ride in warm weather. But we did quick time: we left at six in the morning and reached by one in the afternoon. Dandeli was beautiful, with its lovely flowing river.” Harley often organises adventure and group sports, games and cultural programmes for its members.
“Owning a Harley means different things to different people. But I’m passionate about mine, as I feel part of a big family. I started riding because of the sense of freedom I experienced. I feel peaceful and powerful at once, and I feel like I own the road. The bike is so big, it has so much presence. It makes me inexplicably happy,” explains Shirley, who started riding bikes at the age of 15, ‘out of necessity’ because she lived in a neighbourhood that was far from the city. “Most bikers will tell you that they don’t know why riding makes them happy, but it does.”
Besides, the 47-year-old entrepreneur points out, ageing does not prevent one from biking, as much as it prevents one from attempting other adventure sports. She has attempted several long rides across the country, including Nashik, Aurangabad, Kochi, Ooty, Delhi and Chandigarh.
Shirley finds India among the most dangerous countries to ride in. “The mountain precipices here are safer than the highways. People cross highways at will and they don’t follow regulations at signals. Even worse, cars tail bikes on the highways—a life-threatening situation for riders. If a tailing car touches a fast-moving bike, the rider can get thrown off the bike and it can be fatal.”
Another challenge while riding in India is safety. She believes South India is safer than the North. “I am more sceptical about safety there. I have interacted with villagers in both regions and I see the difference in their mindset. The villagers in the south are proud of us.” She has had several ‘adventures’ in North India, mostly in Rajasthan, where parts of the bike were almost stolen at a dhaba and a villager spat down at her in response to her query for directions (she responded by blowing a kiss). But there have also been pleasant encounters. “An old doorman once blessed me at a halt in Jaipur. He called me the ‘Jhansi rani’ of today and told me that if every woman in the country was as brave as I was, it would be making more progress,” she recalls.
“I realised that, on one side, there are men who don’t appreciate ‘forwardness’, or what we call ‘forwardness’, and on the other side, there are men who want us to be strong and brave. They understand that that’s where the strength of the country lies.”
Shirley hopes that in the coming years, the ratio of riders to non-riders in the LOH goes up to 50%. Currently, there are only 27 riders in a group of a few hundred. Some day, I hope to be one of them, fulfilling Shirley’s dream to see more women in the saddle; and my own, to find balance and be free.
