Have you heard of the Harley-Davidson Cow Glide?

Steve Cronan shares the story of his Cow Glide, which went on to become a billboard star

I have always owned sports bikes (and still have some). However, in 1992 my friend Andy bought a black Fat Boy^®, which looked absolutely fantastic – and suggested I get one too, so that we could ride out together. Curious, my wife Chrissy and I went to the old dealership in Dorking to look at one. When we got there, she spotted the Harley-Davidson^® 90^th anniversary FLSTN. It looked fantastic in black and white, with the cowhide seats and white wall tyres. So, off we went to see the sales manager, hopeful of purchasing the bike.

When we asked about buying it, he informed us that we could only get one if we had previously owned a Harley… we hadn’t. He also told us that the one on the shop floor had already sold, then mentioned that there were 10 dealerships in the UK which had each received four “Cow Glide” models and all were spoken for. Also nicknamed the “Moo Glide”, there were only 2,700 examples of this special edition produced. Disappointed, we left and thought that was the end of it. Little did I know, that my wife really wanted one for me and spent days calling every H-D^® dealership in the UK and Europe to try and find one!

Eventually, she found one at an outlet in Dorset. The salesman said she would be first reserve on their last bike, if the person who had already put down a deposit couldn’t get finance. One day, I arrived home from work to a fantastic surprise: the Cow Glide was mine and my wife had already posted the cheque for the purchase. It was delivered to us on Saturday 7 November 1992 (I remember it well) to our house in Kent, with a few additions courtesy of the dealership: spot lights and indicators, mirrors, toolbox and toolkit, turned out exhaust, sissy bar and lots of extra chrome bits just to make it unique to me. I was advised to keep all of the original parts too, and they are safely stored in the garage.

I’ve plenty of fond memories with my Harley^®. Some stand-out moments include it being used in a Lotus Route Planner software advertisement in 1994, produced by London-based advertising agency, McCann Erickson. It appeared as a poster around the UK and in the Evening Standard. After more than three decades, the bike is still part of our family and we love it. I try and keep it like new and service it regularly. We take it out as often as we can in the summer and get a lot of comments from other bikers, plus the general public. Sometimes, we just pick a place to ride to for a meal – I can’t tell you how many restaurants and pubs we’ve visited in the South of England over the years. We are very proud owners of a rare Harley-Davidson, and hope to be riding it for many years to come.

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