Harley heaven around the Mother City

Put your ass on some class and rent a Hog for a day or two. With a mighty V2engine between your legs and the open road ahead, you are bound to catchyour dream. Dieter (words) and Elke Losskarn (photographs) experienced the ultimate Harley bike rides around the Mother City.

With Harley-Davidson motorcycles generating record sales in South Africa and around the world of late, these grand beasts aren’t a rare sight anymore. But driving one is still special. It’s exactly as it has always been: you can either ride a motorcycle, or a Harley. And the southwestern Cape offers some of the best Hog trails in the world.

Signal Hill and Tafelberg Road
What makes the Mother City so special is that it virtually merges into a national park and has open roads that you would never expect to fi nd on the doorstep of a place where millions of people live. Swinging up Signal Hill Drive or along Tafelberg Road – right under the towering, and often rock-spewing, sandstone crags – early on a Sunday morning feels like being light-years away from the hum-drum of 21st century city life. Smooth blacktop and numerous curves make both roads delightful starters for an enjoyable Hog day.

Bain’s Kloof Pass
For the company’s founders, Mr Harley and Mr Davidson, who used to battle mostly mud-covered dirt tracks on their bikes, a road like this would have been pure bliss, a little like an autobahn that grew out of the natural curves of the Cape Fold Mountains. Nowadays, depending on the driver’s physical condition, it might be advisable to book one or two sessions with an experienced chiropractor to realign the spine afterwards. Bain’s Kloof is a journey back in time – the entire pass is a national monument – and a very bumpy one, too. But the natural rock pools at Tweede Tol are an absolute boon on a hot summer day and big enough to dive into.

Du Toitskloof Pass
It may be tempting to use the Huguenot Tunnel, especially if your Harley is fitted with one of those Screamin’ Eagle exhaust systems that’ll give you unfiltered, amplified aural pleasure – a genuine audio wellness treatment for your senses. But the old pass over the mountain offers not only better air, it also has lots of enjoyable curves on recently resurfaced smooth blacktop. Just beware of baboons at the bottom of the pass. It gives them great pleasure to stone passing Hogs.

Franschhoek Pass
An absolute classic and, thanks to the province’s Department of Transport, it’s been provided with a brand-new deep black surface and a lot of grip. Tight turns and beautiful wide ones alternate through a stunning alpine setting. It is strongly recommended to drive the pass in both directions, as it will give you a completely different perspective and new curve combinations on the way back. Going up is even more fun, as you don’t have to use your brakes that often. And don’t forget to stop at one of the village bistros in Franschhoek to have a hot cuppa between the runs. (But please, keep the revs down for the poor exhaust-assaulted burghers along the main drag.)

Houw Hoek Pass
Th is two-laned section of the N2 is an oldtime favourite with breakfast runners armed with super-bikes, but the wide turns will also give Harley bikers a high. E-Glides, Fat Boys and Heritages will definitely lose some of the metal on their footboards while screeching around the curves. Watch your rear-view mirrors and use both lanes – it’s more fun.

Clarence Drive (R44)
An amazing stretch of coastal road with stunning curves between Gordon’s Bay and Rooiels. Be sure to stop at some of the brickpaved parking bays with their attractive natural stone walls. Enjoy the view over False Bay or watch the whales during season. This trip is best enjoyed during the week when it’s not too busy.

Steenbras Dam Road
Coming from Rooiels, just on the outskirts of Gordon’s Bay, the private, unmarked road, which is open to the public, branches off to the right and up the mountain towards Steenbras Dam. It is pure Southern France. ink Corniche de Crte and Cte D’Azur. It’s no wonder that numerous car commercials, ranging from Jaguar to Aston Martin, have been filmed there. There is a great lookout point at the end of the road.

Red Hill Road
One of the less frequented roads on the Cape Peninsula, connecting Simon’s Town with the Atlantic side. Like the Steenbras Dam road, it is a favourite for car location scouts. On this narrow mountain pass, you actually expect a car chase at any moment. Chapman’s Peak Drive Despite the sanitation and ridiculous toll rates, Chappies is still South Africa’s mother of all curvaceous pieces of tarmac. The light for photos is best in the late afternoon and the preferred direction is coming up from Noordhoek, on your way to Hout Bay. Despite being rather ugly, the new half tunnel nevertheless does a wonderful job in reverberating the sound back to your ears. The solid white line in the middle of the road and the 20 km/h speed limit tends to diminish the fun a little bit. But those rules are most probably intended for traffic on four wheels. There are several cameras installed along the drive. If you are wearing an open-face helmet (which you defi nitely should on a Hog), give them a heart-felt smile or some sign of peace and love. Four parking areas along the route allow for repeat runs, just in case a couple of cars ruined your curve combinations.

Victoria Road, Camps Bay
Judging from the number of bikes cruising around here at any given weekend, this is probably the most popular Hog haven in Cape Town: the ideal place to show off what you’ve got. In this ‘Miami Nice’ ambience, your piece of American iron will definitely feel right at home.

The legend reborn
The ultimate American success story began in 1903, when William S Harley and Arthur Davidson produced their first motorcycle in a wooden shed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

But towards the end of the 1960s, Harley-Davidson was just about done. The oldest motorcycle manufacturer was about to follow the same route as their once famous Indian. In 1969, American Machine and Foundry (AMF) bought the company, streamlined production and slashed the workforce. This tactic resulted in a labour strike and a lower quality of bike.

The bike design remained basically unchanged for many years. The motorcycles were expensive and inferior in performance, handling and quality compared to the new generation of Honda 750 four, water-cooled Suzuki 750 and other Japanese superbikes. Sales declined as quality plummeted.

But the Hog rose again like a phoenix. In 1981, AMF sold the company to a group of 13 investors led by Vaughn Beals and Willie G Davidson, the grandson of the company founder, for $80-million. Rather than trying to match the Japanese, the new management deliberately promoted the retro-appeal of the bikes, building motorcycles that adopted the look and feel – and sound – of their earlier machines. Up until today, this recipe has guaranteed them success.

Rent a Harley
At Cape Town’s official Harley-Davidson dealer, you can hire new bikes online and check current rental rates. Tel 0761-HARLEY (0761 427 539) or http://www.harley-davidson-capetown.com.