MY HOG MAGAZINE ARTICLE IS PUBLISHED !!

"Writing is easy. All you have to do is cross out the wrong words."

~ Mark Twain

"To me, the greatest pleasure of writing

is doing the things you write about."

~ Ron Hadfield

One of the joys of riding a Harley-Davidson motorcycle is being a member of the Harley Owners Group (HOG). It's a little difficult to explain to someone who doesn't ride, but when you're on two wheels, no matter where you are, you're really never riding alone even when you're riding solo. There is a special connection with other Harley riders when you're on the open road, or meet at your motel or restaurant while traveling, or attend a membership meeting at your local Harley dealership. In addition to that special "feeling" there are specific benefits like the annual Touring Handbook, Roadside Assistance, Members Website, the periodic HOG Magazine, Rallies, and Chapter Activities including things like Safety Instruction. World wide there are over 1 million members of the Harley Owners Group.

When I created my Updated Bucket List for YEAR 77, one of the key items was to design and do a HOG $100 Challenge Ride and submit the story to the HOG Magazine for publication. I did the ride in April and described the ride in one of my earlier Year 77 blogs (you can check it out at Harley Ride - $100 Challenge Ride). I don't know how many HOG members submit stories to the magazine, but the magazine reportedly has a circulation of approximately 650,000. A $100 Challenge Ride article appears in every quarterly magazine, so I assume quite a few stories are submitted. The guidelines are that the story most be kept to 750 words or less, and the expenses of the ride must be under $100. I submitted my story to the HOG Magazine in late April and to my extreme delight was notified in June that my article was accepted and would be published in the upcoming magazine. They sent me a copy of the 2-page article as it will appear in the magazine and I have reproduced it below.

==========================================================

=================================================

Since I'm not a professional writer, I must admit that I'm quite proud that my story was selected by the staff at Harley-Davidson and published in their magazine.

As a matter of interest I've shown the cover of the last few issues of the HOG Magazine below, and the issue that convinced me to purchase my current Harley.

HOG Magazine, Volume 046 2018

Includes $100 Ride - "Trip to the Tram" - Story by Ron Hadfield

HOG Magazine, Volume 045 2018

Includes $100 Ride - "Our Sweet Home, Alabama" - Story by Kristi Marson

HOG Magazine, Volume 044 2018

Includes $100 Ride - "One for the History Books" - Story by John Smith

HOG Magazine, Volume 022 2013

The issue below included a special article called Project Rushmore. This project represented a comprehensive refresh of Harley's iconic lineup of Touring motorcycles, including years of research of riders experiences plus extensive enhancements from decades of engineering expertise. As I read the article I was thinking mostly about the enhancements from a Control and Safety aspect, but also Styling and "Gadgets" i.e. among other things, the audio system is connected to the helmet allowing use of telephone (connectivity through Blue Tooth to a cell phone), radio, and UBS, plus a touch screen with GPS. There was a photo of a new Street Glide Special (see photo below) which I immediately purchased from our local Harley-Davidson dealer.

New 2014 Street Glide Special I purchased in October 2013

=================================================================