Police Harley

I encountered this rider in the parking lot of the Pisgah Inn on the Blue Ridge Parkway. He had become separated from his fiancee who was riding a red Harley. His helmet-to-helmet communication unit doesn’t work well except at short distances and apparently his fiancee was riding faster than he was. As I was making his picture, she rode into the lot and parked. She didn’t say a word to him. If you are going to ride together, better stay together.

He said the Harley was a parade machine and had only 5,000 miles on it when he bought it. It’s a wonder the clutch still worked. I was once walking around Alexandria, Virginia as a truck came by to pick up a disabled police Harley that had been in a parade. The mechanic was a full-time employee of the police department and his main job was to replace clutches. Slipping clutches is not good for any machine.

As I laid on the pavement to eliminate cars in the background other Harley riders asked if I was worshiping this fellow’s Harley. My response was no response. I didn’t acknowledge them in any way and just continued to talk to this genial veteran.

I did see the aftermath of one accident on the Blue Ridge. There was a bad spray of gravel that covered one lane and one Harley rider found it. His windshield was destroyed but he was not seriously injured. The gravel was very visible from quite a distance. I wonder what happened.