Shanghai HOGS | Chinese HOGs Ride America

Palm Springs scenic overlook on Hwy 74

Up-close and Personal

Finally sitting down to dinner and spending time with the riders, I was captivated by their enthusiasm and was fortunate to meet Jun and Zhang Yi. Jun grew up sharing a bicycle with his father who made $30 a month to clothe, feed, and house his family. At 39, Jun is the sales manager of a large marine paint company. Zhang, 36, is a doctor of traditional medicine and a teacher; both actively raise their eight-year-old daughter, Shelly. When I queried how he first learned about Harley-Davidson, Jun replied, “Terminator 2.” But it wasn’t until the movie Armageddon, some eight years later, that he knew what the brand-name was. “I freeze-framed the DVD until I could read the logo on the tank, and it said Harley-Davidson.” As the economy and his family grew, that image of his dream freedom machine never left his mind. Jun calls it “his first eye,” translated to “love at first sight.” Now a successful businessman, he recalls the evening dinner with his family when he broached the subject. “I want to buy a Harley-Davidson motorcycle,” he proclaimed. Zhang looked at him quizzically and replied, “I saw the Harley-Davidson sign, it’s a new store, and we can go there and look at motorcycles tomorrow.” To his surprise, not only was Zhang informed, she wholeheartedly supported the idea and they purchased an 883 Sportster. Paying the equivalent of $18,000 dollars (double the U.S. price), he waited four months for a motorcycle he never even got a chance to testride. Purchaser #60 at the Shanghai Harley Dealership, Jun described his first ride home as “a nervous groom on wedding day.” He rode only to work and home for a month to gain his confidence and control. Zhang had absolutely no reservation about hopping on back and riding the shiny new Harley with her husband. In fact it wasn’t long before they both decided to sell the Sporty and purchase a more spacious Dyna. The couple just glowed while recounting their story. Zhang is learning to ride the Dyna herself—a very rare sight in China.

Viva Las Vegas

Jim Rice and Craig Franz

The next morning we rode through Joshua Tree National Park, and the scenery was surreal. The rocks take on a strange liquid-like form as if floating gravity free. It’s incredibly diverse, filled with tall wispy Ocotillo, Cholla, and Joshua Tree armies that loomed before us as if defending their arid empire. It was an absolutely beautiful ride. Yeah, there were a few spills along the way. The Chino-tourists just didn’t realize that straying 1-inch off the pavement into desert sand meant no recovery, but no one was worse for the wear, and a few battle scars make for good stories back home. The back way to Vegas via Amboy is probably one of the most iconic rides in Southern California. Between the small two-lane roads, sweeping desert panoramas, and a stop at Roy’s on Route 66, it just doesn’t get any better…until Vegas. As much as I loved riding with the Shanghai HOGs, I knew they would disappear into the pulsing electric fabric that is Vegas, and we bade farewell. I felt a sense of loss as they rode off into the sunset—the Shanghai HOGs changed me. I had been to China in the early ’90s, visited the Forbidden City, the Great Wall, and Summer Palace, but I was an outsider, a curiosity. I now felt a connection to the human element; the faces and lives of these Chinese were no different than my neighbors next door. They, like me, want nothing more than to ride freedom dream machines into the wide-open expanse.

There’s much debate about China’s role in our global future but that’s generally between big government and big politics. The heart of China is people; people who want better lives for themselves and their children. I admire how the young Chinese businessmen and women embraced growth and opportunity. Jun’s brand-new Harley-Davidson Dyna Wide Glide cost twice as much in China than in the country it’s made. In China he and Zhang eat pastries at their local Starbucks imported from CSM, the very company their Shanghai HOG road captain is the CEO of. These Shanghai HOGs are willing to pay more as consumers for Western products and culture. Competing with price isn’t necessarily a solution, competing with quality, innovation, branding, and compelling media is marketable, and that’s what we in the West do best. B