Like his bike, John is a tower of strength. You feel safe with him. He’s a former Army guy, big, burly, bearded – everything you’d expect a Harley rider to look like.

“Don’t move, just sit still,” he advised. “You will not fall off when the bike is moving.”

John is used to having novices on his bike. He’s been running Harley Rides in Melbourne since 1998 and most of his customers have never been near a bike before. Most have been given the ride as a treat or a dare by friends, or as part of an incentive outing. A lot are women.

I have been around bikes a fair bit – did a motorbike trip round Malaysia as a young girl and have been on scooters in Paris – but not one like this. It’s a super comfortable ride. You feel like you’re sitting on a big, steady horse except this horse doesn’t stop and pee at every tree (as a horse I had in Canada did and that’s because he knew he could, I was told).

It’s great to feel the wind in your face as you breeze through the streets of Melbourne. It wasn’t the best of time nor day though for this particular ride – Melbourne was having an unseasonably hot spring day and so I had chosen an early evening time which meant heavy city traffic.

But it was fun. I rather enjoyed weaving in and out of traffic – I think John did too – and when we stopped at traffic lights, I could feel everyone looking. “Silly tourist,” they were probably thinking.

As a tourist, though, it isn’t a silly thing to do – it’s a different way to experience Melbourne and we went out on the highway, out to Port Melbourne, stopped at the shoreline and watched the ships coming in. Being on a Harley gives an edge to the usually gentle Melbourne I know.

John spent 22 years in the Australian Army and retired in 1996 at the rank of Major. He took over the business in 1998. 

“Since I have been a passionate motorcycle rider all my life, and had always wanted to get involved in something that included tourism and motorcycle, this was an opportunity too good to miss. It has proven to be very enjoyable, and while not making me rich in monetary terms, it has given me much more than I could ever have dreamt,” he was quoted in an interview. 

I tried interviewing him during the ride but I felt rude shouting in his ear. Anyway, he can count on one big hand the number of customers from Asia. He doesn’t know why.

Perhaps it’s because he hasn’t really marketed to them specifically or it’s because it’s not the kind of thing most Asians would do, he wondered.

I think though there is a segment of traveller from the region who would love to do a Harley Ride anywhere. They just have to be sold to, and convinced.

Again from an interview he did – John said, “A Harley Ride is a very intimate experience, where the customer shares time with their individual rider. Most have no idea what it will be like, and its only after the ride is finished that they understand that it was nothing like they thought it would be. Most just want to keep going.

“Many of my customers come on referral. I have many regular customers and corporate clients. But, then again I have many more first timers.

“The range of people we take for a Harley Ride varies in age and background. They include celebrities, children, those over 100 years of age and everyone in between. Tourists account for around 15%. Film and Television work, we recently were part of a Bollywood movie, are things my company has been called on to do many, many times.”

Like many travel specialists at the longtail end of the distribution chain, John wouldn’t have a business without the Internet. “My business wouldn’t function without the Internet. My iMac allows me to create videos and upload photos to the Internet. It allows me to communicate with customers all over the world.”

Up to 60% of his business comes through the website, through search and enquiries. Very few actually book and pay online though. He’s not too concerned about that – so long as they show up and pay. He keeps a blog.

To supplement income, his company also operates as a taxi service and this is particularly lucrative during the Formula 1 race in Melbourne.

“Let’s face it though, if I wanted to make money, I wouldn’t be doing this. But this gives me a chance to have the lifestyle I want,” John told me.

His new passion is now photography and he’s taken several holidays abroad just to take photographs. His gallery can be viewedhere. He is proudest of this album he’s put together of Bali. 

Next time I return to Melbourne, I am taking the three-hour Great Ocean Harley Ride to take photographs with John.

Featured image credit (Harley Davison Motorcycle): Ockra/iStock