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Happiness is a Harley say bike enthusiasts


Peter and dianne Brodeur 2-222An important part of Peter and Dianne Brodeur’s lives for the past decade has been their regular adventures on their Harley Davidson motorcycles.

Peter (68) likens motorcycle riding as the “closest thing to flying ”and says his role as a road captain in the Harley Davidson club is both challenging and rewarding

Peter and Dianne, who live in Mangawhai, purchased their first bike, a Japanese model, 12 years ago, but quickly progressed to Harley Davidson bikes.

“It’s an amazing way to see the countryside. Totally different perception to being in a car,” says Peter, who prior to retirement last year was an international director for a Swiss-based dental supply company.

While in his work role he travelled to Asia, Europe and the United States regularly, he says that nothing can match the experiences of Harley Davidson riding.

“It’s often the senses of smell – the smell of hay and the smell of bacon and eggs cooking,” he says.

For many years Peter had two bikes; one a two-seater Ultra Glide touring model and a smaller bike he would take on quick local rides when only he would travel.

“That tied up about $80,000 in bikes,” he says.

Now Peter and Dianne only have one bike, a 2015 Harley Davidson Road Glide designed for short and long haul riding.

Peter and Dianne are often away for a day or a weekend travelling the country guiding the less experienced bikers.

Peter is assistant director and public relations officer for the Auckland chapter of the Harley Davidson club, and also a road captain, which means he often leads tours around the North and South Island with up to 40 bikes which can stretch up to eight kilometres behind him because of their staggered riding formation.

“A road captain is responsible for safety, keeping to the speed limit and navigating the route,“ he says. “The goal is to bring them all home safely.”

His 1600cc bike has visual display GPS built in ABS braking system, as well as intercom between rider and pillion passenger.

In 2013 Peter and Dianne were part of a group of Harley Davidson enthusiasts who spent 43 days travelling 14,000km from San Francisco, Oregon, through the Midwest to Sturgis (for the Annual Harley big bike 10 day extravaganza with over 600,000 bikes taking part) then on to Las Vegas and back to the West Coast.

Next year he and Dianne will again ship their bike to the American continent starting in Alaska and travelling down the Great Alaskan Highway to the Canadian Rockies and back into the USA. This trip will cover around 13,000km and include most of the USA not seen on their last trip.

“The tour next year will be a sort of swansong for me,“ he says.

“I think I have about another two or three years left riding. After that my reactions won’t be good enough to handle the traffic that we encounter in some of the busy cities,” he said.

Until then he says they will keep smelling the roses, enjoying the journey and hopefully keep the “shiny side up.”

ROAD CAPTAIN: Peter and Dianne Brodeur travel in style on their Harley Davidson Road Glide.

By Peter Nicholas

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