Reflections on riding to the 2025 European H.O.G. Rally and beyond

Suz Paterson speaks to why riding together with husband Al is so important to them both, and why H.O.G.^® has proven to be the ideal social network

My husband Al and I live in Dalkeith, just south of Edinburgh, along with the third member of our team – “Betty”, our black and chrome Road King^®.

Al and I work hard all week, and we’re both parents and grandparents, so our time away from work is precious to us. We both feel we would rather travel as much as we can for as long as we can, partly because we have lost friends who have passed away too young. No one knows what lies ahead, so our philosophy is to make the most of what you have, and what you can do, while you still can.

I had actually never been on a bike until 2013 when I met Al and he took me on a ride down the coast to Dunbar. I found that first ride to be just amazing – exhilarating and thrilling at the same time. I’ve taken riding lessons myself, but I decided I didn’t want to go any further with them simply because I love riding pillion with Al and he is more than happy with me being there as companion and as another set of eyes and ears. Since that first trip as a pillion rider, we have travelled together through so many countries and states, covered so many miles and I get that same feeling every time – I just absolutely love it.

We tend to travel by ourselves rather than in a large group, partly because juggling work schedules makes it difficult to coincide with H.O.G.^® chapter activities, and partly because we just prefer it that way. I work in social care in Edinburgh as well as being one of the regional Ladies of Harley^® officers for the UK and Ireland, while Al – who has been riding for 16 years – is an overhead lineman and works on the railways.

What we love most about touring together is that it allows us to spend as much time as we can with each other, sharing the same experiences, and making memories on every journey we take that we will speak about forever.

The social aspect of riding a Harley^® and being in the Harley Owners Group^® is a big part of the draw for us. One of the first rallies I attended was Thunder in the Glens. I loved the atmosphere there, all the bikes, the riders, the mass ride-out, the bands, everyone having that one thing in common, which was their shared passion for everything Harley-Davidson. It was something completely new to me, and everyone was so friendly and welcoming. We now have friends all over the world who we would never have met, had it not been for touring on our bike and being a part of the wider H.O.G. community.

We started to plan our recent trip to Croatia for the European H.O.G. Rally as soon as it was announced last year. The trip there and back was fantastic of course but, for us, the people and the rally itself were the highlights. For example, we stayed for two nights in Germany with a friend we met at a petrol station on the way to the rally in Saint-Tropez, then we joined up with them again at the rally. It is one of those connections that is only possible through our mutual love of Harley-Davidson^® motorcycles.

The chapter connections are great, too. On the morning we were leaving Slovenia to ride to the rally in Medulin, Croatia, we got a message from the Geordie Chapter saying they were nearby if we wanted to meet and ride in with them. We both had a fantastic day riding from Ljubljana to Medulin with Chapter Director Allen Glasper, Maggie, Sam, Jem, Davie, Anna and Mancunium Chapter Director Steve Spencer. It’s not often that we ride in a group, but this was fantastic and made a nice change – the girls and guys can really ride, made us feel very welcome and it was lovely to spend some time with them.

Harley-Davidson is even responsible for Al and I getting married! We travelled Route 66 in 2014 and got married immediately afterwards. When you travel four weeks together on the road, have the absolute best time with not a single argument, sharing all those amazing experiences, you know it is meant to be. We were married in a wedding chapel in Las Vegas in our jeans, Harley T-shirts and bike boots and our wedding meal was a burger and a beer in the old Harley-Davidson Café. It was perfect.

We still have Thunder in the Glens planned for this year and we are hoping to make Cascais next year. We’re also renting a bike from EagleRider at Black Hills Harley-Davidson and going back to Sturgis. We both absolutely loved riding there when we visited before – the Black Hills, Iron Mountain Road, Needles Highway, Mount Rushmore National Memorial and Custer State Park are all incredible.

It doesn’t all stop in the winter either – we have thousands of photos of all our trips and like nothing more than putting them on the iPad on slide-show mode during the dark, cold evenings and reminiscing with a glass of wine or two!

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