Fourth time lucky

The 2024 ABCs of Touring winner, Paul Zaiglin, shares his experience with the challenge and encourages everyone to get involved

I’ve been an enthusiast since the start… I was born in Pennsylvania, US, on Thanksgiving in 1954 (making me a turkey baby!) and grew up in a small town. I loved it and found that the ’60s and early ’70s were a great time to be alive if you liked cars and motorcycles – and I certainly did.

I graduated from high school in 1972 and went on to study at Pennsylvania State University, where I learned about a lot of different things, but found I just couldn’t get cars and motorcycles out of my head. When I finished my course, I wasn’t happy at a desk job so I began an apprenticeship in mechanics at a GM Garage then, about five years later, opened my own garage with a friend. I enjoyed my time there, building and drag racing, eventually competing professionally.

As an American, I believe we all have an intrinsic desire to own or be around a Harley-Davidson^® motorcycle – it’s just the way it is. I’d ridden other makes of motorcycle before, but I haven’t stopped smiling since I got my first Harley^® in 1999: a Pearl White Dyna^® (nicknamed “Barbara”). I joined the Harley Owners Group^® the same year and am now a life member.

However, in 2006 I met my future husband and made the life-changing decision to move to the UK and get married in 2008. By that time I owned three Harleys – my original Dyna, a 2006 CVO^™ Screamin’ Eagle^® Ultra Classic^® (called “Betsy”) and a 2007 V-Rod^® – and I imported all of them along with me when I moved.

This is how, in 2010, I came to join the Deva Legion H.O.G.^® Chapter, based in Chester. About four years ago I set out to compete in my first ABCs of Touring; my chapter had a new director who was promoting the challenge, along with Ride 365 and the Harley app. I downloaded the app, looked into it and was impressed – I’ve been participating and promoting them ever since. I used to be the chapter’s safety officer, and am now the activities officer, so I have the chance to put these opportunities forward at each chapter meeting.

So far, I have won €50 each year I’ve entered and this is the first time that I’ve topped the league table. After more than 25 years, I still own my beloved Dyna, but I now prefer to ride Betsy so she was the main bike I used – with the Wide Glide standing by if I needed her. Deva Legion were very supportive, especially with taking photographs and stopping off even when there wasn’t a lot of time.

This isn’t my first long-distance riding experience by any means: stateside, I went took Barbara and Betsy to Sturgis quite a few times, also to Daytona, Myrtle Beach, Americade, Route 66 and many more destinations. Since moving across the Atlantic, I’ve been to lots of H.O.G. rallies up and down the UK, as well as heading over to Budapest and Senigallia for the European H.O.G. Rally. Last year, I went back to ride in the US with Deva Legion on their Wild West Tour, landing in Las Vegas and riding bikes from Red Rock Harley-Davidson before spending two weeks riding across the west coast.

For the 2024 ABCs of Touring, my rides took me to anywhere I could get a point! I would get up and look outside and think, that looks nice, I think I spotted a ‘V’ on the ride-out yesterday, and off I’d go hunting for that sign. The European rallies provided many points, both in getting there and at the events themselves, plus the trip to the US was also very good – I picked up lots of points in California. Every time I got to a point was a highlight – the riding was just a bonus.

Having this aim added another layer to riding my bike and having fun. I took some precautions when trying to get pictures with tricky locations, such as waiting until Sunday evenings, when it was quieter, and pulling over as safely as possible on busy roads. However, I highly recommend it and, as I tell my chapter all the time: H.O.G. is giving you this fun opportunity, don’t waste it!

Paul will be continuing with the challenge this year and is looking forward to collecting some more points on his way to the European H.O.G. Rally in Croatia.

FULL NAME	SCORE	COUNTRY
Paul Zaiglin Heiko Nehrkorn Camilla Bjørneli Ulrich Van De Weyer James McIntyre Margaret McIntyre Martin Schindler Stefan Maak Peter Wittbrodt Vicki Solanis Peter Southgate Kenneth Halley Pete Harris Rodger Dick Frank Grell Ramona Grell Mohit Khanna Gianfranco Carubelli Martin Wild Doris Stark Myrtha Davina Malcolm Seedhouse Jackie Wild Lorraine Seedhouse John Power Jan-Willem Lammers Manfred Haemmerle Andre Micheel Mickael Bertrand Sharon Halley Hermien Van Zyl Tina Lenders Denis Deconninck Sabine Dieu Anne Dick Alan Dunkley Alexander Glen Patrick Hayes Ian Keen Craig Stewart Mauro Vesconi Stefan Schroeter Keith Pears Max Solanis Ricki Benka Neil Marshall Bridgette Dyer David Schmid Michael Legris Mark Hall Neil Bartlett Stefano Greatti Luis Trilla Bausili Concha Rubio Buil Paolo Visintin Pantaleone Staropoli Patricia Neville George Markou Ian Airey Giuliano Barbiso Francesco Cagnazzo Cristian Bremec Anthony Batsford Janice Southgate Emmanuel Roch Mohammed Alhothali Pierre Di Nanno Pedro Javier Pinto Martinez Antonio Diaz Jimenez Xavier Costa William Miller Daniel Craddock Robert Kazmierczak Rabie Baghdadi Abdulaziz Alotaibi Jurgen Jonckheere Michel Leclercq Frank Eisenschmidt Zarko Jovanovic Maria Carbajo Leon Kevin Lebacle Michael Cooper Enrico Piacenza Eugenio Bove Bjorn-Steinar Johansen Artur Stanisawowicz	238 188 122 104 104 104 94 87 83 78 78 76 64 63 58 58 57 56 54 53 53 52 52 52 52 52 49 45 43 42 40 39 38 38 36 36 31 31 28 26 26 25 21 20 20 19 17 15 14 12 10 10 8 8 8 7 6 5 5 5 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1	United Kingdom Germany Norway Germany United Kingdom United Kingdom Germany Germany Germany United Kingdom United Kingdom United Kingdom United Kingdom United Kingdom Germany Germany United Kingdom Italy United Kingdom Germany Netherlands United Kingdom United Kingdom United Kingdom Ireland Netherlands Germany Germany France United Kingdom South Africa South Africa Belgium Belgium United Kingdom United Kingdom United Kingdom United Kingdom United Kingdom United Kingdom Italy Germany United Kingdom United Kingdom United Kingdom United Kingdom United Kingdom Switzerland France United Kingdom United Kingdom Italy Spain Spain Italy Italy United Kingdom Cyprus United Kingdom Italy Italy Italy United Kingdom United Kingdom France Saudi Arabia Belgium Spain Spain Spain United Kingdom United Kingdom Poland Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia Belgium Belgium Germany Germany Spain France United Kingdom Italy Italy Norway Poland

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