FOLLOWING the success of last year's 1st Saudi National Harley Owners Group (HOG) Rally, Eng. Ahmed Halawani was given the task of organizing the second one. Already an experienced biker, he bought his first Harley-Davidson motorcycle in 2005 and in 2007 was elected as the Director of the Jeddah Chapter. Although he hasn't been to any HOG rallies outside the Kingdom, he attended a Harley-Davidson Rally Co-Ordinator training course on how to organize and direct one. “It was a great training program and I used all the skills that I learnt there,” he said. Working together with Monther Al- Mutlaq (joint owner of Harley-Davidson Saudi Arabia) and Lisa Schlensker (HOG Manager for Middle East & Africa) they decided on Taif city and Al-Baha province as the locations. Halawani's inspiration to suggest these towns came from his previous trips there. Because of the abundance of mountain roads, he persuaded them to make it a “riding” rally, as opposed to a more social one with biking games and activities. With Al-Baha around 550 kms from Jeddah, and 1100 kms from Riyadh, Halawani described some of the logistics in planning the event: “It involved a lot of traveling to Al-Baha as we had to make sure the roads were good enough, and that there were enough fuel stops, and to note any emergency stops. We also had to get permission from the Governor of Makkah Region, Prince Khalid Al-Faisal, and Prince Dr. Faisal Bin Mohammed Bin Saud Bin Abdul Aziz, the son of the Governor of Al-Baha province, and this required a lot of private meetings. We are very grateful to them for allowing us to hold this rally.” One hundred and thirty bikers were registered to arrive in Taif on 22nd October, so Halawani had to ensure safe riding principles were carried out during the Rally. Ten “Road Captains” were appointed to lead groups of around thirteen bikes each to ride between Taif and Al-Baha, along the Tourist Route. This winds its way along the top of the massive Al-Sarawat Mountain range, a harsh landscape that still has the remains of old stone settlements and watch towers. An important part of HOG events is the family involvement, and several buses had been laid on to transport wives and children. Schlensker is particularly keen to promote this aspect of Harley biking. “When you look at this Rally here and you see the family involvement, this for me is the highlight of the Rally. We all know that women can't ride motorcycles here, but that is not the relevant point – it is the activities that we do that bring families together.” As all the HOGs congregated in Taif and Al-Baha it was also interesting to note the wide age range of the bikers. After a few enquiries, David Joury aged 60, was found to be the oldest one there. He has been biking on and off for many years, but recently bought a Heritage Classic. He explained his passion for Harleys: “I grew up in Lebanon and the police in my day used to have fantastic Harleys – so it was a “must have” item from when I was a child – and it keeps me young!” A close runner-up was 59-year-old Torbjorn Nilo, a Swedish businessman on a visit to Riyadh. He has been riding with the Riyadh and Jeddah HOGs since 2005 and was very impressed with the roads. “I have been to Rallies in Europe and Sweden, but the road from Taif to Al-Baha is the best one that I have ever been on. It is 240 kms of non stop corners and hills – it is fantastic.” Nilo was lent a Harley for the event by a German friend, Wolfgang Endries, who rode on his BMW1200GS off road bike. “I have 14 bikes in all,” he told me, “Two here, the rest – including another Harley - in Germany.” Most Harley owners would dearly love to own more than one, and another man in this category is Jeddah businessman Amr Amawi. He has been biking for almost 20 years and bought a Harley for the camaraderie. However, he was sheepishly reluctant to tell me how many Harleys he actually owns: “I have got a few but I prefer not to say how many. I do love them and I love to customize them and show them.” He took three bikes on the Rally, all prize winners in the show. Nilo's sister, Anneli Dearing, is a nurse living in Jeddah and is a “Lady of Harley”. She is a very youthful grandmother and has been passionate about Harleys since she was only 12 years old. “My brother and his friends had bikes and I will never forget the first time I heard their Harleys come up the hill to our house. But I never owned a Harley before coming here. Then my brother came to visit us in June 2005 and we went to the Dealership and we made a decision right there and then to buy one. My husband, Doug, had never had a bike when he was young because he says he would have killed himself.” With the HOG, looks are everything, whether on the bike or at dinner after a ride – lots of black leather jackets and leather waistcoats with souvenir badges on them, and black jeans, and T-shirts with Harley-Davidson pictures on them. Bikers also individualize their look with a variety of weird and wonderful crash helmets, and after-biking Stetson-style hats, berets and scarves. During the first dinner at the Intercontinental Hotel, a few of us were enjoying the fancy dress show, and voted that one man in particular should be awarded the “Most Authentic Looking Harley Biker” (but such an award doesn't exist!) He was a tall, dark, handsome man, with very long “pepper & salt” dark hair, a beard, the pre-requisite leather waistcoat and black jeans, plus an impressive black Stetson hat. Ghassan Hourani has a contracting company in Riyadh and he was very amused at our summation of his appearance. “I have only been riding a Harley for about one-and-a-half years and have a Road King Classic. It is fantastic and a great adventure to ride a Harley. I had other friends who bought Harleys at the same time and we ride together. We have so far been to Sharm El Sheikh, Muscat, Lebanon and Fujeirah.” Harleys also appeal to the younger generation, and cousins Mohammed and Mishal Al-Mutlaq, aged 24 and 25 years old respectively, were the youngest at the Rally. Mohammed is studying finance at University and bought a Dyna Fat Boy earlier this year. “I prefer the Harleys to speed bikes because of the HOG. We don't have many activities to do here in Saudi Arabia, and the HOG arranges activities. I like the rides and gatherings and rallies. It is fun.” Mishal rides a Soft Tail Custom 2006 bike and he particularly enjoys being able to customize his bike and entering it for shows (it won two classes at the Rally, including the “People's Favorite”). “I enjoy working on my bike. And some people prefer to race bikes, but I like the safety courses the HOG gives.” Looking at all the different crash helmets, one in particular stood out as being different. It belonged to Colonel Haitham Attar. He used to fly fighter jets in the Saudi Royal Air Force and explained about his unusual helmet: “It has been with me for 20 years, so I am very attached to it. It is made out of very light weight Kevlar and is bullet proof. It also reduces noise levels – good when the bikes are going through tunnels! I like the team spirit of the HOG – they are really nice people and you see all kinds of different cultures here.” Once in Al-Baha, the Rally took the bikers on a challenging ride down the Al-Baha escarpment. This road twists and turns its way precariously down some 2000 meters of the rugged Asir mountainside, going through numerous tunnels on the way. On several occasions, as groups of growling Harleys were in the enclosed space of a tunnel together, one or two bikers couldn't resist unleashing more noise by reviving their engines. At the bottom of the escarpment is the ruin of the Marble Village and it was an incongruous sight to see so many Harleys against this peaceful, isolated backdrop. With the light fading behind the mountains, we sat cross-legged on carpets to enjoy a local dinner, followed by traditional sword dancing, all organized by Prince Dr. Faisal Bin Mohammed. Rallies elsewhere in the world usually hire rock bands, but everyone enjoyed the outdoor location and the distinctive Saudi atmosphere of this event, and the sword dancers encouraged the bikers to join in with them. The bikers then had another unusual challenge, a night ride back up the escarpment road. By international standards, the Saudi Rallies have been small, as I learned from Jamil Ayas, the General Manager of the Jeddah Dealership. He has worked for the company for 16 years, working in different countries including Scotland. “I did the Aviemore Rally – we had 10,000 riders show up!” Marwan Al-Mutlaq, who is a joint owner and Managing Director of Harley-Davidson Riyadh, was very pleased with how the Rally turned out. “I think this Rally is exploring Saudi Arabia in ways that have never been done before, and showing the opportunities for riding here. The participants get a chance to see first hand the special flavor of the country. I am very happy that by starting Harley-Davidson here, we have given people the chance to enjoy something they never had – when I see the smiles on their faces, and having a fun time, this is all about Harley.” The Rally also brought smiles to the faces of spectators along the route, young and old; they waved enthusiastically at the bikers and many used their mobile phones to photograph the unusual spectacle. With hundreds of further unexplored kilometers of twisting and turning mountain roads, plans are already afoot for the 3rd Saudi National HOG Rally in 2009. __
