This is the Gumball 3000, and I’m here on a motorcycle.
Our friends at Harley-Davidson International (Harley’s primary non-US operation) wanted to find out why. So they got on board as a Gumball sponsor, entered a couple of bikes, and rang us up to find out if we wanted to tag along.
This year was the 19th year of the rally, and the course ran from Riga in Latvia to Mykonos in Greece—via Warsaw, Budapest, Dubrovnik, Tirana and Athens. The rally was book-ended by a pre-race day celebration in Riga, and a two-day party in Mykonos.
With celebrities like CeeLo Green, Major Lazer, Afrojack and Gumball founder Maximillion Cooper and his rapper wife Eve all in attendance, the Gumball parties are reportedly massive. I say ‘reportedly’ because I didn’t actually go to any of them. On average they start at 11pm…which is fine if you’re sharing driving duties in a car with a co-driver the next day, but not great if you need to ride large and unfamiliar motorcycles over great distances.
All was revealed at the driver’s briefing the next day—in between participants shaking off hangovers, or still drunk from the night before. Max Cooper delivered your typical route and safety briefing—including the small detail that we’d need to cross Albania in convoy and under armed escort.
A typical Gumball start is a massive spectacle. You get huge crowds, a European TV presenter in a pink suit covered in Batman logos, loud music and supercars revving their engines furiously—only to gingerly putter down the start lane one at a time, as the flag drops for each of them. It was noon before we rolled off the grid—rather late to start the 700km slog to Warsaw.
The riding itself was a pretty mental too. Within minutes of leaving the city center, the heavens opened and we pulled over to don rain suits. The crappy weather would persist all day—outdone only by the even crappier road conditions. Then there were the cars that would attempt to pass our group, only to have to duck into the middle of us halfway because of oncoming traffic (I almost became a trunk ornament for a Lexus on one occasion).
A few hours later, we rolled into the small Polish town of Augustów, still almost 300 kilometers from where we were supposed to be. It was already half past eight, and we’d heard reports of police patrolling the Belarus border further along the route, holding up entrants for silly reasons. Knackered, we booked into a cozy hotel on a lake and called it a day.
While I tucked into a steak and a bourbon, the Harley crew—Nik, Alex, logistics and transport whizz Josh, and Charlie (I’m not sure what her official job description is, except that she does ‘everything’) mapped out a route. The bikes would go to Wroclaw and Prague, where I was due to leave, and then on to Salzburg and Munich, before everyone flew to Mykonos for the Gumball finale.
We rode through dense Polish forests, gunned it on Polish highways, and found Poland’s dodgiest outhouse. Our first leg was still a bit of a reach, mileage-wise, but a decent start time meant significantly less stress.
The stint from Wroclaw to Prague was pretty short, and took us through some spectacular scenery on twisty—but rough—roads. We even found a motorcycle race start grid just outside one village, and marveled at how hairy it must be to race on the roads we were riding.
I spent my days switching between a Street Glide and Road Glide, both powered by Harley’s latest 107ci ‘Milwaukee-Eight’ big twin. I prefer the Road Glide with its fixed fairing, but both were pretty practical machines for the task at hand, with big, comfy seats, foot boards, storage space, cruise control, the ability to chug along all day, and a sound system hooked up to my iPhone via Bluetooth. If I had to attempt the Gumball again, I’d probably pick the same bike—with a few choice mods of course. I couldn’t get a solid answer out of Nik if Harley would be back the next year to give it another shot. But he had a look in his eyes that said if he did, he’d know exactly how to tackle it.
And the Gumball itself? Yes, it’s a little silly. But going cross country on a big ol’ bagger with a rad crew is something every motorcyclist should experience at least once. Or, as Nik put it when asked why Harley were there in the first place, “we just love riding motorcycles.” With thanks to Harley-Davidson International | Instagram | Images by 8 Seconds and Wesley Reyneke. via Blogger Ride Report: Inside the surreal world of the Gumball 3000
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A couple weeks ago, a friend shared on Facebook an opinion piece by David Brooks titled The Golden Age of Bailing. The first comment was someone saying it was futile to try to find a reliable climbing partner in the town where they lived, and a second person chimed in and said it was impossible in the town where they lived a few hundred miles away. David Brooks is not the first person to point out that we’re devolving into a culture that’s more and more accepting of bailing or flaking on plans we’ve made. People point at technology, or the fact that we have so many options of things to do, or the fact that we’re all “so busy” nowadays and it’s so easy to double-book yourself, but here’s the root cause of flaking: you do it because you’re inconsiderate. Which is bullshit. Call me old-fashioned, but when my friends say, “I’ll be there at 10 a.m. on Saturday to help you move that couch,” they show up, and that fucking couch gets moved. And I value that. Especially when it’s something more important than moving a couch—like showing up on time for an alpine start for a day in the mountains, being there with an avalanche beacon with full batteries, or keeping me on belay from the second you say “on belay” to the second you say “off belay.” I don’t know how the Fitz Traverse began, but I’m pretty sure it didn’t start with Tommy Caldwell waking up on the first day of their weather window and sending Alex Honnold a text message saying, “Dude, sorry to bail on you, but I’m tired from this week. I think I’m just going to stay in and watch House of Cards.” Big things get done because people show up to do them, not because they half-ass some plans, kind of commit, show up late, and get lucky. We live in a society where we get pissed and demand to be compensated if our flight is delayed, or if the food we ordered at a restaurant takes longer than acceptable, because we’re offended that someone is not doing their job correctly, and then we make an appointment to meet someone and show up 25 minutes late—or not at all. We treat our friends like we think airlines treat us, and somehow that’s OK. Yes, things come up, and sometimes they’re important things. Your kid fell off the monkey bars and you have to take her to the hospital to get stitches, so you’re going to miss coffee. Your boss called an emergency staff meeting at 4:30 and if you don’t go to it you probably won’t be on the staff anymore, so you’re going to have to reschedule your happy hour meeting. But everyone knows the difference between a reason and a bullshit excuse. Being late because of traffic is one thing, but being late because you scrolled through 20 more Instagram photos before you left for your meeting is another thing, and it sure as shit isn’t being “busy.” If you want to get shit done, it’s very simple: show up. Do what you say you’re going to do. And demand from yourself the same accountability that you expect from an airline. Your partners for climbing, skiing, biking, and moving furniture will appreciate it. —Brendan Subscribe via e-mail// /* Custom functionality for safari and IE */ (function( d ) { // In case the placeholder functionality is available we remove labels if ( ( 'placeholder' in d.createElement( 'input' ) ) ) { var label = d.querySelector( 'label[for=subscribe-field-458]' ); label.style.clip = 'rect(1px, 1px, 1px, 1px)'; label.style.position = 'absolute'; label.style.height = '1px'; label.style.width = '1px'; label.style.overflow = 'hidden'; } // Make sure the email value is filled in before allowing submit var form = d.getElementById('subscribe-blog-458'), input = d.getElementById('subscribe-field-458'), handler = function( event ) { if ( '' === input.value ) { input.focus(); if ( event.preventDefault ){ event.preventDefault(); } return false; } }; if ( window.addEventListener ) { form.addEventListener( 'submit', handler, false ); } else { form.attachEvent( 'onsubmit', handler ); } })( document ); //The post Flake On Me Once … Actually, Just Don’t Flake. appeared first on semi-rad.com. via Blogger Flake On Me Once … Actually, Just Don’t Flake.
That’s why engine, suspension and brake upgrades are common on classic custom builds. But if you’re working with a brand new bike—and your budget and time are both limited—isn’t it better to focus your energies elsewhere?
NCT have no trouble going to town on a build. But with a set budget—and their Feldkirchen workshop already overflowing—they had to do things a little differently.
So while NCT have left the Harley’s wheels, suspension and brakes alone, all of its bodywork’s gone straight into the bin. In its place are a hand-made tank, tail section, front fender and side covers, all designed to give the Street a radically different visual vibe.
A fair amount of fettling went down at the back too. NCT cut and looped the frame, touching up the paint along the way (rather than stripping the bike right down for a full frame powder coat). The new seat cowl includes a tidy LED taillight, with upholstery done in cow leather.
With everything nipped and tucked, the Street’s hefty exhaust system looked way out of place—so NCT trimmed the stock muffler for a more compact effect. As a final touch, they nudged the forks down a bit to tweak the angle of attack.
And complementing the new lines is an equally slick paint job—an eye-catching coat of brilliant turquoise. “We know the color is not to everybody’s taste,” the guys tell us. “But these days, with more and more good bikes driving around, you have to catch someone’s eye with a freaking color scheme and design!”
Round two, anyone? NCT Motorcycles | Facebook | Instagram | Images by Peter Pegam via Blogger Has NCT just built the best-looking Harley Street ever? |
Oliver Eliott
I'm Oliver. I'm an adventurous person. I love exploring the unknown. |