Diane and I were in the
CUBAN BIKERS
DESCEND ON THE
Vinales is a 3 hour drive
from
FEBRUARY 2008
WAS THE 6TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE
A group of motorcyclists
dedicated to searching, finding, restoring and riding classical English
motorcycles in
Some of the members of the
different Cuban Motorcycle Associations are artists, doctors, students; others
are from all walks of life but the love of motorcycles unites them.
The brotherhood of riding
together makes them strong, motorcycle touring and motorcycle events are
constantly in their dreams.
Most Cuban bikers dream of
going to a large motorcycle rally like they have in
One day we are wishing for
this large type of event to take place in
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Vinales: population
20,000. This is the downtown area. |
Getting ready to head out
to the |
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Kick starting the Harley
Panhead while the local town people watch |
The |
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TOUR SEE
Enjoy motorcycling in 15 or 22 day tours are
available. In 1982 multi millionaire
Malcolm Forbes paid millions of dollars to be the first person to drive a
Harley Davidson motorcycle across You can be one of the first
motorcyclists in Get a group of friends together for the
motorcycle trip of a lifetime. The agenda will include a meet and greet when you arrive in
Havana, you will visit Old Havana, the first micro brewery in Cuba, the Hotel
Nacional in Vedado that was built in the 1930’s and the American Mafia
operated a casino in the hotel in the 1950’s, bars and restaurants in Havana,
spend time at the beach in Veradero, a
pig roast party, visit the Valley of Prehistory in Vinales and the city of
Pinar del Rio, spend a few days in the historic musical city of Trinidad,
visit the Che memorial in Santa Clara and the Museum of the history of the
Revolution and lots more. I am now planning a 15
day ALL HARLEY TOUR that will leave from either A
maximum of 4 non riders are welcome and they can ride on the back of a
friend’s motorcycle, one passenger can ride in the support vehicle. I will do my best to
accommodate individual riders or small groups to help make up a minimum or
maximum size tour. You must take your
motorcycle to Cuba
because you can not rent motorcycles in Cuba, I will help to arrange the
shipment of your motorcycles to Havana Cuba and back to Halifax or Montreal. The
motorcycle freight, the hotel rooms, 3 meals a day, the pig roast party and
the flight to and from Cuba is included in the price of the tour. Not
included in the price of the tour - $25 Cuban departure tax, gas for the
motorcycles, water, beer, rum, and other drinks. Gasoline
in Cuba can be cheaper than gas in Canada. Prices for the tours will
be available by September 2008. Discounts are available
to groups of 6 or more HOG members. Any tours in 2010
will be able to accommodate up to a maximum of 14 motorcyclists and 4 non
riders and will be able to leave from I must have a minimum of 4 motorcyclists to guarantee a tour. All tours will be
accompanied and led by Cuban motorcyclists and there will be someone present
who can speak Spanish, English or French. The
Cuban motorcyclists will make sure your motorcycle is ready to go when you
get to Havana Cuba. The 15 day tour will stay
within a 4 to 8 hour one way driving distance from Havana; the 22 day tour
will take you to Havana and into the center and lower section of Cuba and you
will cover most of Cuba. An example of a 15 day
tour of Cuba would be 8 driving days, 2 rest days, 3 days in Havana, 1
arrival day and 1 departure day. You will stay in
classical Hotels in Havana, and while on the road you will be in luxury beach
hotels and the best local hotels. Your
motorcycle will be shipped in a container from Canada 3 to 4 weeks in advance
of your departure and it will return to Canada approximately 4 to 5 weeks
after your return. A
distance of 120 miles to 200 miles a day will be covered on most driving
days. The roads are in good condition and the roads are wide but the cities
can be traffic congested at rush hour. November, December,
January, February, March and April are the best months to travel in Cuba and
temperatures can range from 50F at night to 78F - 95F degrees during the day. You can travel at other
times of the year but in some months you may encounter heavy rains,
hurricanes, or very hot humid weather. Since the year 2000 I
have been to Cuba 8 times for a total of 17 weeks and I will use this
valuable experience to help with arranging the trip. You have to make sure
your motorcycle is in good running condition before dropping it off at the
port of departure. Once you have all the
necessary information on how many people and how many motorcycles are
interested in going just e-mail me and I will get started on your adventure
in Cuba. e-mail thunder.highway@yahoo.com Licensed riders
only and you must be fully insured. Click here for more information
on touring Cuba on a motorcycle. |
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Having a beer to wash
down the road grime. Beer also helps to
dislodge all the insects that get caught in the teeth while driving the
bikes. |
Carlos
Miguel Hernández Sallas holds up my 2008 motorcycle shop calendar that I had just given him. Carlos
owns a 1960 Harley Panhead and he is in the Havana Harley Club. A few weeks after this picture was taken
Carlos was in a bad accident with his Harley Panhead, Carlos had 3 operations
to date, plus he is waiting to be operated on for the 4th time to repair the
damage done to his hand and his foot.
The front end of the Harley Panhead didn’t survive the accident. |
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The official greeter at
the Mura of Prehistory in Vinales Town. His ride gets good mileage on grass
and weeds. |
I’m in the red tank top
and Lazaro William Gonzalez the Presidente of the Classical English
Motorcycle Club in Havana is to my left in the picture. “Pipi” is a member of the
Latin American Motorcyclist Association and he is on the left of Lazaro wearing
the Daytona T-shirt, the bearded LAMA member to my right is Julio. |
RETURN TO ALL TERRAIN CHARLEY’S INC.
Click here to see more
Cuban Classical motorcycles (click on the pictures) http://hobbiesenred.havanatrends.com/hobbiesenred/motociclismo.html
Click here to see more information
on Cuban Harleys and bikers
For good motorcycle
information visit www.thunderhighway.com