26 Nov On Yer Bike: Ducati Multistrada

This month, FMM Curator Wayne Harley catches up with a report on his recent hog ride on the Reef, where nothing was finer than riding a Dyna…

As promised in last month’s column, I would like to share my recent Sunday Breakfast Run with an old school friend and proprietor of the Henderson Racing Product in Gauteng, Mark Henderson. Regular readers may recall I had actually gone to visit Mark to take him up on his offer to ride his Ducati Multistrada 1260s, which I covered in the September newsletter. However, as things often go with motorbikes and good friends who enjoy riding, it didn’t take too much coaxing to get me up and ready early that spring morning for an extra adventure…

For this extra ride, Mark pulled out a couple of Harley big boys, a 103 ci (1 687 cc) Fat Boy for himself to ride and a 95 ci (1 557 cc) Dyna Wide Glide for me to enjoy for the day. Both bikes had uprated exhausts fitted: the Dyna Wide Glide was now sporting a Vance & Hines Long Shots exhaust, so in true neighbourliness spirit, Mark asked me as soon as I’d fired up the big V-twin to leave asap in order to keep the peace on his street. As soon as I pressed the start button I knew exactly why, as this 125 kW monster with 118 N.m of torque has that unmistakable deep – and now unrestricted – Harley rumble, which I’m sure could start the neighbours’ china rattling in their sideboards…

Having ridden a number of Harley-Davidsons before, I found all the controls, levers and instruments familiar, clear and simple to understand. This motorcycle has low-slung chopper styling with a 34-degree rake, which is a lot more conservative when compared with the Captain America Easy Rider chopper and its preposterous 42 degrees. The Dyna Wide Glide is set upon a tubular steel frame and stands on a steel-laced 21-inch chromed front wheel and 17-inch rear wheel. With its neat, swept back bullhorn handlebars, Harley-Davison had once again achieved a pleasing looking tribute to the original Dyna that was launched back in 1991, which was codenamed the FXDB Sturgis in tribute to that infamous motorcycle event that is still held in South Dakota to this day.

Over the years, the Dyna line was improved and expanded with the Wide Glide eventually getting added to the line-up in 1993. Over the next few years, the whole range enjoyed steady growth in popularity, which eventually peaked with the television show Sons of Anarchy that featured the FXD range of Harley-Davidsons. But as with changing trends in most things, the Dyna range was discontinued at the end of 2018.

So with that history lesson behind us, let me now focus on just how it was to ride the Dyna Wide Glide. In true old Joey’s style, we headed out to ‘Harties’ (Hartbeespoort) on a similar route to the one we had ridden a few days before with the Ducatis. Being a Sunday, the traffic was light so I could relax, sit back and enjoy the ride, sitting slightly laid back with arms extended in front and feet way forward on the pegs. The motorcycle is fun to ride and comfortable on a short trip, although I did find myself sliding around on the seat when accelerating hard and through some corners. As it was a breakfast run, before long we both arrived at a wonderful spot, the Aviators Brewers & Tavern, where I could just gather my thoughts.

As an aside, Aviators Brewers & Tavern serve a rather hearty breakfast with good coffee. Judging by the number of other motorcycles and classic cars in the parking lot, Aviators is super popular with the local petrol heads, so well worth a visit. The Dyna, with its red metallic paint and custom flame paint job set on all that chrome, added to the impromptu car and bike show.

After a good meal it was on to the homeward leg of our journey. I think Mark decided he was not going to spare the horses as the pace he set was brisk and rather exciting at times. Sitting atop the Dyna, there is tons of grunt and you can readily get the speedometer close to the hooligan mark, but handling is still that of a chopper and you always have to keep that at the back of your mind. Bringing the Wide Glide to a stop is well taken care of with a 300 mm front and 290mm rear disc brakes – both with four-pot calipers – that were impressive and more than adequate in braking the 315 kg motorcycle and rider with ease.

There is just something raw about a chopper-styled Harley-Davison, never mind a fully customised bike that in some ways has been lost in today’s lifestyle and image conscious world. I had a great time riding the Dyna and hanging out with a friend who loves bikes as much as I do.  Thank you again, Mark, for a great experience.