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When Harley-Davidson celebrates its 120th birthday next year, people are not predicting a quick death for the motorcycle that four young Americans once assembled in Milwaukee in the Midwest state of Wisconsin in 1903.
On the contrary: the legend lives on! Harley-Davidson has made the leap into the modern age, survived all the ups and downs and has long since become a "Legend on two wheels". As cool as Peter Fonda in Easy Rider, Bruce Willis in Pulp Fiction, or Arnold Schwarzenegger in Terminator 2. It’s no wonder that film directors almost always put Harleys under their international stars. No one looks cooler than they do riding a Harley.
That's probably what Austrian acting stars like Christoph Fälbl (Kaisermühlen Blues, Dolce Vita & Co) and Jürgen Maurer (Vorstadtweiber) thought as they sat on a chopper at the opening of Austria's oldest and largest Harley-Davidson dealer, Fischer's Harley-Davidson in Vienna. In Triester Straße, Kommerzialrat Ferdinand O. Fischer has conjured up a veritable "American way of life" - a biker centre with an adjoining steakhouse and classic car workshop.
EVERY TOY HAS ITS PRICE, AND THESE ONES ARE SIGNIFICANT…
Someone needs to spend between 18,000 and 60,000 euros to be able call a motorcycle made by Harley-Davidson their own. However, everyone who does wants something unique, says Ferdinand Fischer. for privilege, customers will often shell out up to another 100,000 euros. The bikes are lowered, made wider, more luxuriously equipped or they get tuned for more power.
Here, a global opinion is self-evident. There is only one motorbike brand in the eyes of it’s owner, and it has a massive V-engine under the tank! A Harley-Davidson is not just a motorbike, a Harley embodies legend, tradition, culture and lifestyle.
FISCHER'S HARLEY DAVIDSON MOTORBIKES "INSPIRING FREEDOM"
Florian Macho is one of those proud Harley-Davidson riders and also customer at Ferdinand Fischer. He describes his riding experience as if a transformation takes place:
"I immediately feel free and it conjures up the frame of mind of being on Holiday. It's like slipping into a costume at a carnival and suddenly becoming someone else, or when I put on a dinner jacket or tailcoat at the opera."
After only a few kilometers the serenity of the engine reflects in his mood. His gaze wanders over the landscape. The pleasant pounding of the two pistons beneath him are like background music.
The "Harley lifestyle" really does seem Idyllic. But one question always arises: Why do Harley riders always have such grim looks on their faces while on their rides? Is it possible that this is just a natural requirement of the transformation of a true Harley rider? …
