On February 16, over 3,000 Harley-Davidsons are going to descend upon the quaint state of Goa to celebrate five years of their annual pilgrimage to the state. Over 26 chapters are set to be in attendance and it is going to be a grand celebration of food, music and motorcycles. If you have a Harley (or even if you don’t), here’s why you should pack your saddle-bags and head down to Goa..
1. The Customisation Contest
Harleys are synonymous with customisation — your bike can truly embody you because you have the liberty and the options to do so much with it. The contest allows you to showcase your customised Harley-Davidson motorcycle and the best one is awarded the prize of the H.O.G. custom. You can expect to see some really cool motorcycles on display.
2. You can meet like-minded enthusiasts
Harley owners pride themselves on putting miles on their bikes, and get patches for doing so. This year itself, 130 members have completed all five H.O.G. rallies — the Western H.O.G. Rally, Eastern H.O.G. Rally, Northern H.O.G. Rally, Southern H.O.G. Rally and one National rally — H.O.G. India Rally. Doing so gets you into a club called the Big Five. In addition to that, eight H.O.G. owners are on their way to joining the Triple Five club — meaning they have nearly clocked a lakh kilometres on their Harley-Davidson Motorcycles.
3. Chapter of the Year award
Chapters are groups of localised Harley-Davidson owners who come together and form a group, go on rides together, share knowledge and stories and all the other things that come with being a part of such a brotherhood. The Chapter of the Year award goes to the chapter that has been the most active and has made the most contributions towards the entire Harley-Davidson community over the year.
4. Vir Das and Alien Chutney are going to be there
Vir Das is pretty damn hilarious. Now, he’s gone and made a rock band with a bunch of other hilarious people who have called themselves Alien Chutney. With great tunes and even better lyrics accompanying them, you’ll have an evening of head-banging and holding your sides from laughing all at one time.
5. It’s Goa!
And that’s all the reason you’ll ever need to make a trip down there, really. After all the music and motorcycling is done, you can kick back at your favourite shack with a pina colada (or beer, if cocktails aren’t your thing) and just watch the sun tuck itself behind the sea. Life doesn’t get better than that, does it?