As we head into the final stages of Recovery Movement Control Order (RMCO), the folks from Harley Owners Group Petaling Jaya or HOG PJ wanted to do something to show their support to all the hardworking frontliners who have been keeping us safe all this while. This morning, the Terima Kasih Front Liner – Tour Malaya Ride was flagged off at The Gasket Alley PJ, home of Harley-Davidson Petaling Jaya. (more…)
Members of the HOG PJ (Harley Owners Group Petaling Jaya) conducted their first Safe Rider Skills Program of the year at the Metro Driving Academy Headquarters, Puchong earlier today. Always striving for improved riding skills for their fellow Harley-Davidson owners here in Malaysia, HOG PJ is always focused on delivering the best riding experience in safe and controlled manner. (more…)
Motorcycle clubs (MCs) have been all the rage ever since the motorcycle was first introduced to the world. Case in point, the oldest motorcycle club in the world is the Yonkers Motorcycle Club of New York, which was founded in the year 1903, the same year that Harley-Davidson tried to sell its first models.
Since then, the world has seen the rise and rise of MCs either for leisure and socialization, or for criminal activities. Hells Angels, one of the most popular MCs in the world, immediately comes to mind when you put motorcycle clubs and criminal activities together in one sentence, but fact of the matter is, such MCs are the 1% of the world’s motorcycle riding community.
Malaysia too has a huge number of MCs, how many in total is unknown as there is no governing body that monitors and sanctions the MCs, but 100 clubs is easy if you consider the mopeds and scooter clubs.
One such club is the Heaven MC, a club founded in 2015 and is made up of predominantly Harley-Davidsons but is open to riders of all types of V-Twin powered motorcycles.
The club is headed by Nick Lum (top right), who took over as President in 2016 and is in charge of keeping the club’s 125 members occupied with weekend rides and such.
I had the pleasure of having a few brewskis with Nick last week to talk about the club he actively leads.
“The club only had 20 members when I joined with about 8 to 10 active riders. There was this one time where we organised a weekend ride but only me and this guy named Alex Locke showed up on Sunday morning. I remember us looking at each other and feeling clueless, and from then on Alex and I went out to actively recruit members,” said Nick that night at The Gasket Alley.
With a background in MNC marketing and the regional direct sales industry, Nick together with Alex, set out to to build and recruit members using the law of averages. “I knew that the more people we recruited, the higher the chances were of more people coming out to ride over the weekend. If we spoke to 50 people about Heaven MC and only 20% showed up over the weekend, that would be good enough for us as that is better than just two people showing up. These days we can easily get over 100 riders out for a ride, I would say we have done well,” explained Nick.
The 53 year old Nick is an active rider himself and owns a Harley-Davidson V-Rod Muscle, Road King Classic and a Street Glide CVO, and has gone through a number of Harleys in his riding career. “For me, riding a Harley-Davidson is akin to driving a Bentley or a Rolls-Royce. Not only are the bikes a symbol of status, but I also feel safe riding a Harley as I don’t need to ride fast to get satisfaction. Cars these days are way too expensive, a Harley on the other hand is also expensive for a motorcycle, but a lot more affordable and it changes your life.”
When asked about Heaven MC, the President says it is a fun, non-profit MC. The club’s most notables rides has been the inaugural ride to open the new Harley-Davidson PJ showroom where the club’s members were a part of about 500 Harley owners who rode together to celebrate the new showroom.
The club is open to all bikers who ride any type of V-twin motorcycle. There is no membership fees and everyone is welcome to join the weekend rides. The club actively supports events and community service and actively organizes fund raisers for any charity that needs it.
The club mostly organizes local rides, but also rides to Thailand up to three times a year. The club also recently held its annual CNY gathering to celebrate with their achievement and to share their upcoming plans. Harley-Davidson of Petaling Jaya also took part as a dealer to celebrate the annual event together with HOG of PJ to foster Harley-Davidson brotherhood. Anyone interested to join the club and its rides can get more information at the Heaven MC Facebook page.
Last Saturday was the first ever Iftar ride for the Harley Owners Group (HOG) Petaling Jaya chapter where they organised a day trip to Melaka. Around 40 members of HOG PJ joined the festivities supported by Harley-Davidson of Petaling Jaya (HDPJ) conveniently located at the Gasket Alley. (more…)
Petaling Jaya, 10th March 2018 – Along with the launch of the new Harley-Davidson of Petaling Jaya (HDPJ) dealership at The Gasket Alley on 9th March 2018 (for the media), it was also announced that the dealership will create the new Harley Owners Group (HOG) Petaling Jaya Chapter.
Please click on the link below on our coverage of the launch.
Harley-Davidson of Petaling Jaya Officially Opens for Business
Harley-Davidson of Petaling Jaya then called on Harley-Davidson owners to congregate at The Gasket Alley for the Chapter’s inaugural ride.
Harley owners began arriving at the dealership from as early as 7 am despite a morning downpour. They were seen wiping down their beloved steeds of steel soon after. But the owners started arriving en masse after the rain and they descended in droves –solo, with a passenger, in small groups, large groups.
As Harley-Davidson motorcycles appeal to a wide range of customers and fans, the riders were equally colourful in their demeanour, not to mention their bikes and clothing. There was a guy who arrived wearing a Red Indian bonnet (headdress).
Touring models were converted to baggers, Softails to show bikes, Sportsters to bobbers, Dynas to drag bikes, and anything else to the customers’ imagination.
Besides that, as with the saying, “No two Harley’s are alike,” many had been expectedly customized. There was one Street Glide with custom paint with a hog (since Harleys are also called “hogs”) as a fender ornament. There were others with tall ape hanger handlebars, drag bars, boulevard bars. The favourite modification is, of course, the exhaust, since almost all owners love to “liberate” the sound of that Milwaukee V-Twin. There were short (and loud) dual straight pipes, huge bazooka-like pipes, fishtails, and everything else in between.
The owners also showed up in their respective “colours,” as in which sub-Chapter or bike club or group they ride with. Thankfully, there wasn’t any who showed up with the “1%er” badge – denoting their outlaws.
It was apparent that they liked seeing their riding buddies – a familiar face or faces in a sea of people evokes a sense of belonging. Hugs, warm handshakes and secret handshakes were exchanged.
In the meantime, HOG’s Road Captain, marshals and PDRM Traffic Police outriders huddled for a briefing.
Soon, the emcee called for the owners to move into the hallway in The Gasket Alley, for the official launching of the dealership. By then, more than 500 bikers had shown up, inundating the compound and spilling out into the streets.
Mr. Juan Chow Wee, General Manager of DIDI Resources Sdn. Bhd., announced the Harley-Davidson of Petaling Jaya open and also launched the Harley-Davidson of Petaling Jaya HOG Chapter. Mr. Rewi Hamid Bugo, Chairman of DIDI Resources and Mr. Goh Kian Sin, Chairman of Goh Motorcycles Sdn. Bhd. would join the ride. Mr. Juan finally called out, “Let the good times roll and wished they participants a good ride.”
The massive convoy fired up to a heavy metal thunder and probably causing the Meteorological Department to panic in locating a mild earthquake in Petaling Jaya, to AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell,” nonetheless.
RELA personnel and the Traffic Police outriders controlled traffic as the Iron Horses rolled onto the road towards the sleepy town of Tanjung Malim in Perak. The riders pushed head in a smart two-by-two column.
The Police along with retired Traffic Policemen and HOG Marshals guided the long convoy along the North-South highway toward their destination with aplomb and professionalism, while signalling other traffic to pass, so as not to cause a massive traffic jam. As such, not one incident occurred along the way.
The group descended upon the small town, probably waking up anyone was still asleep during the hot morning and stopped at Sarang Art Hub for refreshments. The venue was an old bungalow and consists of a collection of antique wares. The hungry and thirsty (mainly thirsty) riders queued up for food and drinks.
The hosts put on a live band show, helmed by a singer who sounded uncannily like “Papa Rock” Ramli Sarip and backed up by an awesome band, in barefoot on the stage. He belted out classic hit after classic hit to the delight of the participants. A few started calling out a fellow biker to sing as he tried to hide away. He sportingly got up on stage and sang Guns ‘N’ Roses’s super hit “Sweet Child O’ Mine” and the ladies got up and danced. He even gyrated like Axl Rose, complete with a red bandana.
Soon, it was time to head back to Petaling Jaya, led again by the Traffic Police and marshals.
The ride back was brisk, but again, everyone arrived safely for more drinks and food for lunch. The Gasket Alley had also set up the Gasket Bistro, consisting of food and drink vendors in the compound. The party ran all the way to midnight.
Looks like Harley-Davidson owners in Malaysia have a great new Chapter and home.
The Harley Owners Group KL Chapter (HOG) recently organised its first ever riding clinic called HORSE, short for Harley Owners Riding and Sharing Experience.
HOG organised HORSE (couldn’t resist that one) to help new and experience owners to learn the basics of Harley ownership and riding the bike to its potential, and of course staying safe.
The clinic was held over two days with day one focusing on theory, and day two on practical with an organised convoy to Lemang To’ki (a popular biker hang out) in Bentong.
The lessons focused on rider preparation which included the basics of selecting a new helmet, wearing full gloves over half gloves. To put it simply, the message from this lesson was to ‘dress for the slide, and not just dress for the ride’, as the safety officer of HOG KL, Jaspal Singh so eloquently put it.
The other lesson focused on bike preparation. All bikes come with a standard setting from the factory, but because all riders have different riding style, it is important to customise the bike accordingly too. This included suspension set up, foot rest position, closing the right seat and others.
The third lesson was on managing the bike and getting the right body position and control set-up. It went along the lines as setting up the brake and clutch lever so that it is positioned in a straight line to the arm and shoulder.
The final chapter focused on bike set up – getting the controls like the foot pegs set up in a right position, selecting the right seat and understanding suspension set-up and static sag.
The first installation of HORSE attracted 20 participants with the instructor was from the HOG committee. Jaspal Singh (below in orange tshirt) serves as the safety officer at HOG and was in charge of lessons while members of HOG contributed to a safe and organised convoy during the second day by leading the bikers and serving as the sweeper.
HOG plans on holding more installations of the HORSE, and will be making an announcement in due time.
The Harley Owners Group (HOG) chapter of Malaysia announced that it embark on a specially organised “Rock & Roll” expedition up to Mount Kinabalu in Sabah. (more…)
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