Taiwan Sept/Oct 2013, a little different kind of Motorcycle Ride! Tracey, my boss at the Harley Davidson dealership where I work part time, mentioned a ride that would take place in conjunction with the Harley Davidson 110th Anniversary festivities in Taiwan. Since she told me about it, I was sure she couldn’t say “no” to a couple of weeks off work for another adventure, so I called Corey (my erstwhile partner in previous adventures)

and asked him if he might be interested. He immediately said “I’m in”. He reminded me that his son has lived in Taipei for a couple of years and neither he nor his wife had been over there to visit, so they were both in. It turned out that his son would also join the group for the ride. This was going to be different than the other rides that Corey and I had done in that it was a group tour, complete with tour guide, a following bus to carry our stuff, prearranged hotels, prearranged meals, and pre-defined routes. It was also going to be part of the 4th Anniversary of the Taiwan Grand Riders Tour (old guys on scooters). Look in here to see more about the 2012 tour if you are interested. Grand Riders Taiwan 2012
What the heck, Corey and I both qualified as “old guy” riders so why not join up? Corey’s wife Danusia and their son, Reider would just have to fake it. :=) The ride would also end at Kaohsiung, Taiwan as part of the Harley-Davidson/Taiwan H.O.G. Chapter 110th Anniversary Bikertopia event.
As I said, a bit different kind of ride than our usual adventure but since Harley-Davidson Taiwan was willing to supply us all with Harley’s (gratis) for two weeks, it seemed like a good deal. 12 of us met at the airport and headed west to Taipei. From Taipei, we rode the High Speed Railway (HSR)

south to Kaohsiung. The railway is aptly named since we were traveling 180 MPH most of the way. This one wasn't that fast.

We converged on the Harley Dealer where we took 12 of the 15 bikes he had on the floor (I managed to get a brand new Road Glide)

and rode away (trusting guy). The 12 of us (I know there are 13 in picture, the guy to my left was one of the route leaders)

met up with the Taiwan Grand Riders

and participated in several media events.

Seemed like there was ALWAYS a camera in our faces.

We also managed a little sightseeing.

Finally finished with the mandatory publicity stuff, we were able to take off on our own for a little more adventurous riding in the mountains of eastern Taiwan. Western/southern Taiwan in fairly well built up with lots of small towns right next to each other which meant riding from stop light to stop light so the mountains were looking good to us and hopefully the Harley’s could cool down.
Riding in the mountains, around the lakes and along the beach was MUCH better than the “scooter combat” riding in the cities. Nice lakes,

excellent hotels

and local guides

made us almost forget the first few days of the media blitz. We finally arrived back in Kaohsiung, rested, relaxed and ready to party for a couple of days at the Bikertopia event.

Nursing our hangovers, we turned in the Harley’s, (thank you very much), got on the train and headed back to Taipei for a little more sightseeing

and then a flight back to LA.
There are a lot more pictures here if you're interested. Picture Gallery
Thanks for riding along on another adventure!
Rick