Hogs in Havana: Harley aficionados keep American classics on Cuban roads

Hogs in Havana: Harley aficionados keep American classics on Cuban roads
Mon Jan 22, 2:20 PM

HAVANA (AFP) - Unable to get original parts because of a 45-year-old US
embargo, Harley-Davidson aficionados resort to ingenuity and Soviet
truck parts to keep the decades-old US classics on Cuban roads.

Cuban fans, said to include Ernesto Guevarra, a son of the famed
revolutionary leader known as "Che", estimate there are about 100
Harleys left in the communist-run state, all of them pre-dating 1960 and
most still running.

"It's a struggle keeping them alive; you have to invent parts and invest
a lot of time and money," says Sergio Morales, covered in grease but
glowing with pride as he looks over a shiny 1949 Harley-Davidson Panhead
restored to its former splendor.

Working in a Havana backyard that serves as a clandestine Harley garage
he and three other mechanics fine-tune the 750 cc engine, which still
has all its original parts.

As they work, the bike's owner chats with a fellow enthusiast who parked
his 1947 military-green Knucklehead in the yard. A couple of kickstarts
gets the 1,000 cc engine running with the distinctive roar that is music
to the ears of Harley-lovers, known here as "Harlistas."

A couple of loud bangs send flames through the exhaust and cause a
neighbor's pigs to squeal loudly, a fitting cacophony for the legendary
motorcycles often referred to as hogs, a nickname that is also an
acronym for Harley Owners Group.

The Knucklehead sports a headlamp that once belonged to a Soviet truck,
a 1950 Panhead parked nearby runs with a piston cannibalized from a
Moto-Guzzi motorcycle, and a custom three-wheeler was put together from
a variety of parts, some home-made and others adapted.

Because the US embargo against the Caribbean island state makes it
impossible to import spare parts, Harlistas have learned to make do with
what is available, modifying parts from other bikes, cars, trucks and
farm machinery, and using plenty of imagination,

"Tourists who see our bikes, including members of Harley clubs abroad,
sometimes tell us we are heroes," says Morales.

But for the local bikers the true star was the late pioneer of Cuba's
own Harley preservation methods, known as "Pepe Milesimo" -- which
translates as "Minutia Pepe" -- for his mechanical precision. Every
year, a handful of bikers ride to the Havana cemetery where he is buried
to pay homage to the Harley hero.

The enthusiasts try their best to preserve their rides' original engine,
and speak in awe of those Harleys that have kept running for more than
five decades with little more than careful maintenance.

They also point out their passion for the classics is not just a hobby
in a country struggling with a severe shortage of both public and
private transportation.

"Cuba is a natural laboratory for Harley-Davidson, since the bikes are
still running even though no spare parts can be had," said Morales, 56,
who sported a grease-stained T-shirt proclaiming, in English:
"Gentlemen, start your engines."

Harlistas tend to be well-mannered middle-aged men with little in common
with the bad-boy image of bikers elsewhere, but say they do face some
prejudice.

"Many people believe the US-made bike is a symbol of US policy. We try
to demonstrate this has nothing to do with politics," said Morales. "We
are serious people; it is not like other places where people use their
bikes to cruise and get drunk."

Cuba stopped importing Harleys after the 1959 revolution that brought
the now-ailing President Fidel Castro to power.

But Harlista legend has it that as many of 100 of the motorcycles, once
used by dictator Fulgencio Batista's police force, were buried decades
ago and are waiting to be discovered.

"It could be true, we don't know," says Morales, who rides a 1950
Panhead with a sidecar rebuilt over a Soviet chassis to resemble the
original three-wheeler.

His wife says she is comfortable behind the handlebars, but bursts out
laughing when asked if her husband lets her borrow his bike.

"There is a little machismo here," says Morales. "In our group, we don't
like women to ride."

"It's not the tradition in Cuba," he says, grinning.

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/afp/070122/oddities/afplifestyle_cuba_auto