10 of the Most Hardcore Harley Riders
Daily Slideshow: Some guys only ride their bikes on weekends, some in the summer, but then there are the hardcore types who ride day in and day out, racking up the miles. Let's look at those serious riders who have hit a million miles, or been around the world, or from Alaska to Tierra Del Fuego, or to all 50 states, and even one rider who flew his Harley 500 feet above ground.
1. Avis and Effie Hotchkiss New York to San Francisco and Back in 1915
If you go back to the early days of motorcycling, many records were set by riders on Harley-Davidson motorcycles, like the coast to coast and back ride of mother and daughter Avis and Effie Hotchkiss. With mom and luggage in the sidecar, Effie piloted the 3-speed V-twin for more than 9,000 miles, round trip. If you want to read more about these two adventurous ladies, the first to ride across the country, there is a short write-up on this HD page. Wikipedia has a very informative list of long distance riders, what they rode and where they went on this page.
2. Harley-Davidson First to Circumnavigate the World
On the left is Svend Oluf Heiberg, a forestry researcher and Harley rider, who with Aksel Svane rode across Europe, Turkey, the middle easy, Malaysia, China and the United States, in the mid 1920's. That may or may not be a true around the world trip, but it certainly is close. The riders on the right are Zoltán Sulkowsky and Gyula Bartha of Hungary, who rode their Harley more than 90,000 miles, including around the world in 66 days. They wrote a book about it, which was published in 1937, and finally translated to English in 2008, so you can relive their journey with just a click on Amazon.
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3. Senator David Zien's Million Mile Harley
I don't care where you live, chances are you don't have any politicians as badass as David Zien, a former state senator in Wisconsin. A former marine and veteran of Vietnam, Dave has racked up more than 2.5 million miles on various motorcycles, and over a million on the 1991 Harley Davidson FXRT Sport Glide pictured above (now in a museum in Sturgis). Even after losing part of his leg in a near fatal crash he has continued to pile on the miles, now on a Harley trike.
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4. Mike Wright's 50 State Ride
Admittedly, riding in the 50th state is just a plane ticket and bike rental away, but getting to the other 48, and especially Alaska is an accomplishment. In 2015 Mike Wright, of North Carolina, was finally able to check off the last 4 states in his quest to do all 50. With 3 other friends from the east coast, including Mike Strauss who was also about to hit all 50, they set out on Harley touring bikes (Mike's is a 2011 Road Glide Ultra) to reach Alaska via Canada. This tour alone had then touching 25 different US states, and 4 Canadian provinces. If you plan on riding to Alaska, plan well; there are stretches of more than 200 miles without fuel stops, and some of the roads aren't paved.
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5. StrokedNBored 48 States in 10 Days
When it comes to hard core touring, HDForums' members are known to do some as well. Brian, known on HDForums as StrokedNBored, completed his first Iron Butt Saddle Sore 1000 in July of 2013, and hasn't looked back since. In September he set out to ride in all 48 states in 10 days, on his 2012 Street Glide, and he accomplished it easily, posting this report on HDForums.com. He then proceeded to ride 1,500 miles in just over 24 hours, barely missing a Butt Burner Gold certificate, written up here. Then traded the Harley for a more adventure friendly bike in order to ride from Austin, TX to the northern coast in Alaska, which he detailed here.
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6. Double Amputee and World Record Holder David Barr
David Barr may have lost both of his legs in combat, but that has not stopped him from riding. In 1994 he set a record by riding his Harley 83,000 miles, around the entire world, including across Siberia. In 1996 he set out again to set a record and hit all 4 corners of Australasia, which had never been done before, in just 45 days. Dave has a website, and several books with much more detailed stories about his riders, which you can buy here.
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7. Bessie Stringfield - Motorcycle Queen of Miami
Bessie Stringfield started riding when she was 16, and by the age of 19 had already rode across the country, in 1930. During WWII she volunteered as a motorcycle dispatch rider and racked up mile after mile on her own 61ci Harley between various army bases, crossing the country another 8 times. She also raced flat track and performed stunts at county fairgrounds all over the country. She rode until her death at age 83, eventually riding in Europe, Brazil, and Haiti as well. She is in the AMA motorcycle hall of fame, and you can read her entire profile here.
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8. Dave Willett - 700k Miles and Counting
Dave is not an internet celebrity, he is too busy riding, but from 1989 to 1999 he put over 400k miles on his 1987 Tour Glide. When the Motor Company heard about this they offered him a trade, and he got a brand new 1999 Electra Glide Ultra Classic for free, which became Ole' Charley II. But Dave had only just turned 656 and kept right on riding, and now has over 300k miles on the new bike, and as of 3 years ago was still adding to it.
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9. Albert Ver Cruysse 450k Miles
Here's another hard core biker who was rewarded by the Motor Company, this time for being one of the first to rack up 100k miles on an Evo, in 1987. Albert then proceeded to ride his 1988 Electra Glide over 450k miles until at age 87 he couldn't pass the DMV eye test. The bike, and the side car he added to it later, are now back in the hands of Harley-Davidson and displayed occasionally at their museum. Perhaps the most impressive statistics about Al? He only started riding at the age of 62, and still racked up over 750k before loosing his license! Harley-Davidson was so impressed they issued this press release in 2003.
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10. Highest Flying Harley
Stunt director Jared Willardsen of Virality Farm came up with the idea for the paragliding Harley-Davidson, telling GrindTV Outdoor in an email that "it was a natural for me to come up with something that had never been done before" for his friend who owns Timpanogos Harley. The new 1200 Sportster, weighing 700 lbs after taking on driver Steve Mayer and his paragliding gear, took flight near Mount Timpanogos in Utah and soared over 500 feet above ground. Despite some shifting winds, the ride was flawless. And he stuck a great landing, too. Check it out in the video.
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And if you need advice on helping to get your Harley to over 100k miles, turn to the How To section for maintenance and repair tips.
