Harley Davidson + India Bike Week (Goa, India)
Early this year, I was given an incredible opportunity to travel to Goa, India to cover Harley Davidson for the 2nd Annual India Bike Week. I know people throw this phrase/expression around a lot, but trust me when I say this truly was a once in a lifetime experience. Bike culture is huge in India…massive. Everywhere you go, you see motorcycles…thousands of them. The sounds of bikes & their horns honking is like ambient noise you get used to on the daily…think of it like the constant chirping of crickets at night, something so routine, you pay it no mind. Now, add into that mix a Harley Davidson motorcycle and everyone & their mother are rubber-necking. A Harley in India cuts through that noise like butter and demands your attention. You can hear them coming from a distance before you even see the bike itself…shit man, you can actually feel them coming. So imagine what its like to bare witness to 1,200 HOGs driving in procession to kick off Bike Week in Goa?! I was hooked. I gotta say, never in my entire life have I once thought about owning a motorcycle. Never, ever. After spending 3 days in Goa with all those hogs & their awesome riders, its now on my bucket list to own a Harley. It probably helps that I got to spend most of the trip alongside the Managing Director of HD, India, Mr. Anoop Prakash and the industrial designer responsible for the newest Harley they were rollin’ out in Goa (Street 750), Mr. Frank Savage. I’ve known Anoop since our college days; in fact, we went to rival universities and had opposing Bhangra squads…he was at Standford, I was at CAL (yeah, we met facing each other off in dance competitions – for real). Our families vacation together in India, he’s a G. The most approachable C-level executive you’ll ever meet. It’s a true joy to watch the wheels turn in this man’s brain. He’s a savvy, calculating chess player. Anoop landed up in India, solo, with the enormous & seemingly insurmountable task of launching the Harley Davidson brand out there…all by himself. If you could see how much that brand has penetrated the Indian market & bike culture, you’d tip your hat to the guy. Screw that, you’d kiss his pinkie ring (if he wore one…but he doesn’t, because, like I said, he’s a G & pinkie rings are for suckaz). One of the nicest, most genuine people I know, with one of the greatest minds I’ve come across. We always have a good time together. But I had no idea the bond I would forge with Frank when I was first introduced to him outside the Hog Den during the 1st night of the festival. Frank is a savant…a genius. I don’t throw those terms around lightly, the dude is simply amazing. He lives & breathes art. His wife is a successful painter. I watched him with my own eyes sketch out designs for bikes & cars off the dome in a matter of minutes – both freehand & using his iPhone. It was mind-blowing & awe-inspiring. On top of that he’s a solid, honest, grateful human being. We need more people like him in this world; it would be a better place. Being around these two gents, their colleagues and all the HOG owners from all over the world gave me a greater appreciation for the product I was shooting. I was truly immersed in the culture and it was eye-opening to say the least. Harley’s are all about individual expression…be who you are, embrace it & share it with the world. At my core, I’ve always been that type of artist, so its no surprise the brand resonates with me. I could expand on this, but I really just want you to look for yourself. The video is a behind-the-scenes look at all the events from the festival; just a small slice of what it was like to be there. The crews, the jackets, the mustaches, the bad-ass-ness of these riders as they make those HOGs growl. It was just overwhelming. I don’t think words can accurately express what I experienced & felt over the course of those 3 days, so I might as well just show you…