Bikes we’ve loved

The Enthusiast® caught up with Bill and Karen Davidson to talk about the bikes that have meant the most to them

INTERVIEW BY JEREMY PICK

DO YOU REMEMBER YOUR FIRST TIME RIDING A BIKE?

Bill: Mom and Dad took me, Karen and our brother, Michael, to Blue Mound State Park. We had a 1963 Harley-Davidson® M50, slightly customised by Willie, and we spent all day there. I was seven, so we were all very young. That was a neat day.

Karen: That was a really fun experience! I remember Dad was on the back of the bike briefly, then he said, “Take it away!” and we were off. So even before we got our bike licences we were messing about on motorcycles. Our parents would take us camping to different states in the motor home with dirt bikes so we could experience ‘the roads less travelled’, and that has given us both a lifelong love of off-road bikes.

Bill: After the M50, we had a Shortster and then an X90 that we all shared, riding on trails and in the fields. When I was 16, I had an SX175, which is what I got my licence on. The off-road bikes led me to racing motocross – I raced amateur motocross for about five years and loved it. I’m actually restoring my Harley-Davidson 250MX H-D® motocross bike as we speak.

WHAT WERE YOUR FIRST ROAD BIKES?

Bill: The first bike I bought after joining the company in 1984 was a 1983 XR-1000. I love that bike and rode it just about every day back and forth to Juneau Avenue. I didn’t take it on long trips as it didn’t have any luggage capacity and wasn’t as comfortable as some of the other bikes, but it was important to me because of its racing influence. I still own and ride it. You don’t see XR-1000 models anywhere these days, and that dual carburation setup is pretty unique. It’s a very collectible bike today.

Karen: My first career was in fashion, and I was in New York, the West Coast and Los Angeles. When I had to commute, I rode a variety of bikes, mainly FXRs and FXTs, and then a 1997 Bad Boy. After joining the Motor Company, I got into Touring bikes and fell in love with the Road King®.

WHICH HARLEY-DAVIDSON MODELS HAVE HAD PARTICULAR SIGNIFICANCE FOR YOU?

Bill: The first Big Twin I purchased was a 1990 Fat Boy®, the original year of production. It attracted a lot of attention because of what it was and how Dad styled it with the aggressive front end, silver frame and highlights like the rocker box with the yellow stripe and the little yellow circle in the logo. It’s a beautiful bike, and I still ride it when I have time. There are so many significant bikes, but if I had to pick just one it would be ‘Serial Number One’, the first bike our relatives and Bill Harley made. They didn’t have much, and this was the dream – a dream they realised when they delivered that bike in 1903. It was a huge success, and the start of this great company and brand. That bike has special meaning to the family for sure.

Karen: Bill and I both have the XLCR café racer. It was such a rebel bike in 1977; I thought it was the sexiest, coolest, most badass bike with that squared-off tank. I just love the sound of an Ironhead motor, and that bike still looks so rad to me.

FAMILY FAVORITE: XLCR CAFÉ RACER

Bill: I remember Dad and I were sitting on the couch talking about this ‘blacked-out’ bike (which was not a thing back then); a café racer with a little quarter fairing and an XR-750-style tank. It was very ‘racerly’ and maybe a little bit before its time. I recall him saying he wanted to put the Bar & Shield logo on the tank – and it was the first motorcycle to have that. It launched a few years later, and when I graduated from high school Mom and Dad presented me with a little box, and inside was a key I recognised. They said, “C’mon, you’ve got to see what’s in the garage!” We walked outside and there was this beautiful XLCR. That was an emotional day. What’s cool is that we all have one (Dad has serial number one), and I keep telling my brother and sister we should get them out and ride to Bike Night at the Museum – it would probably be the only time you’d see three of those bikes side by side.

WHAT MAKES A PARTICULAR BIKE/FEATURE SPECIAL?

Bill: I’m very lucky to own several motorcycles, including a 1936 Knucklehead with the foot clutch, tank shift and kick-start, which I love to ride. In total contrast, I also have a 2022 Street Glide®, and when you get on that after the Knucklehead you’re in awe of the advances in technology we’ve applied over the years. When you look at one of the H-D V-twins, it’s like a jewel and performs so well. It’s so responsive, plus the way it looks and sounds is awesome. It’s all about ‘look, sound and feel’.

Karen: Being in the design world for so long, you draw from many different levels of inspiration – the bikes, the tanks, the colours – our bikes are a never-ending source of inspiration. From the springer front end to the Knucklehead engine – our legacy and history of iconic design detail continues to inspire all who are drawn to H-D.

A TRUE ICON: THE FIRST V-ROD® IN ALUMINIUM

Karen: We were all intrigued by the radical departure that Harley-Davidson made with this bike. Stylistically and aesthetically, it’s pretty radical. And when you think about H-D’s treatment of aluminium on the tank and fenders, we knew it was one that wouldn’t be repeated. It’s absolutely iconic in its own right.

Bill: When we introduced that bike at the Dealer Show, Dad and I rode up from each side of the stage on one. Later the family got together for lunch, and somebody said, “I just got off the phone with my dealer and ordered a V-Rod”; the next person said, “I did the same thing” and so on. We’d all ordered one separately!

WHAT BIKES HAVE YOU TAKEN ON SIGNIFICANT LONG RIDES OVER THE YEARS?

Karen: The 95TH and 100TH Anniversary rides were amazing adventures with family, friends and the community of riders that came back to Milwaukee with us. Sharing the road with our customers is so significant; there’s a bond that forms and strengthens as you ride through beautiful areas of the country together. For the 95TH, I rode the cool Anniversary Edition Heritage Springer Softail, and I still have my 100TH Anniversary bike that I customised – a 100TH Anniversary Road King.

Bill: My 100TH Anniversary bike was a 100TH Anniversary Road Glide® in black and silver; a truly beautiful bike, which I still have. To this day, the 100TH Anniversary paint is still one of the most amazing paint schemes we ever did. A lot of thought, hard work and technology went into it; the way the silver looks like a mirror and then the added details, it’s just so impressive.

WHAT ARE YOU CURRENTLY RIDING?

Karen: The Pan America® Special! I took it on a round trip to Sturgis and then a ride in California on more challenging roads recently. You get on it and think, “What can I tackle now?” It’s a very impressive bike that has made me think about going off-road quite a bit.

Bill: I also have a Pan America and love it. It’s so versatile and can cope with anything from dirt roads to highways and everything in between. And it attracts a ton of attention. Every time I stop at a fuel station someone comes up to me and asks, “Is that a new Harley®? What is it? It looks really cool!”

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