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Prague goes H.O.G. wild

Annual rally revs up its engines to celebrate Harleys in all their glory

By Jana Donovan
For The Prague Post
June 6th, 2007 issue

LARISSA MUELLER/The Prague Post
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LARISSA MUELLER/The Prague Post
New members to the Harley Owners Group are "baptized" and doused with Pilsner Urquell.
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JENNIFER ROSS/The Prague Post
"Harleys are a symbol of freedom," says a Harley owner. "We are all people with different incomes and living standards, but when we sit on the bikes, we are equal."
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LARISSA MUELLER/The Prague Post
Enthusiasts deck themselves out not just in the requisite leather, but also with branded rings and other accessories.
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Most have real jobs as lawyers, businessmen, doctors, even artists. But on weekends they change into leather and silver chains, exposing tattoo-covered arms and chests. Then they hop on Harley-Davidsons and zip across the countryside.
Last weekend, they invaded Prague.
In a camp at Džbán in Prague 6, about 150 members of H.O.G. — the Harley Owners Group — gathered to share their passion for the legendary bikes, and the philosophy that Harleys represent.
“Harleys are the symbol of freedom,” said Milan Podkonický, a Harley owner. “We are all people with different incomes and living standards, but when we sit on the bikes, we are equal.”
In the empty parking lot at Džbán, Harley engines roared while new H.O.G. members were christened. One fresh member, Ivo Troníček, was “baptized” with a splash of Pilsner Urquell.
“I had to keep the family tradition,” Troníček said, emerging from the crowd drying his sticky hair with an even stickier and smellier shirt. “My grandfather bought his first Harley in 1927.”
That year, the world’s first Harley-Davidson club was established in Czechoslovakia, according to the club’s Web site. Four years later, in 1931, the first Harley-Davidson race in Europe took place on the road between Prague and Poděbrady.
Under communism, Harleys were considered an indulgence in American culture, and club members were forced to take their bikes underground until the 1990s.
Prague’s H.O.G., a separate group, was founded in 1993. The national chapter currently has around 150 members.
The weekend rally included a ride through the city accompanied by police, who controlled traffic. At the camp, bikers and their families enjoyed acrobatic performances, games for kids and even a strip show later at night. The stands were filled with classic Harley leather jackets, and insignia items such as silver chains and rings were on sale.
“I found all these things a bit kitschy at the beginning,” said Simona Jandová, whose boyfriend, Podkonický, gave her a Harley three years ago. “Now I am into it.”
“We are all just grown-up men who act like little boys,” added Podkonický. “We were born with hearts that race for revved-up engines.”

Jana Donovan can be reached at news@praguepost.com


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