Harley revs up business bonanza for Killarney

THEY might look fearsome in their leather jackets, dark glasses, big boots and shining helmets, but these are no ordinary bikers and not even 31st cousins to the dreaded Hell’s Angels.

“When you’ve had everything, you get a Harley,” they say. Just remember the present U2 gave to Gay Byrne on his retirement.

And so it is with a great many of the 4,500 Harley Davidson owners who are riding into Killarney for a major European rally this weekend.

Harley is synonymous with top-of-the-range and up to 70% of the owners are professional people, including doctors and bank managers, according to one of the chief conference organisers, Bernard O’Reilly.

“They’re certainly not in keeping with the image that people have of what happens when large groups of motorcyclists get together. They’re actually very gentle folk, with many couples among them,” he said.

Mature is another word that could be used to describe the grey-locked and sometimes portly aficionados who have taken over the tourist mecca and are being warmly welcomed by the locals. Prices for the bikes range from around €18,000-€75,000.

The Lavery family have travelled in force from Monaghan town, with bar owner John and his wife, Eithne, making the nine-hour journey to Killarney in their striking, yellow boom trike.

Son Paul and his girlfriend Cathy McCarney came in a blue and gold V Max, with another son Peter and his wife Linda completing the family group.

“Each owner likes to customise and personalise his Harley and I’ve added on bits and pieces since I bought mine in Limerick three years ago,” Paul said.

“Harley is a passion, a culture and lifestyle all of its own and there’s tremendous friendship amongst owners.”

The easy riders are giving Killarney a bonanza weekend, reported shops, restaurants, hotels and pubs.

Attended by owners from as far away as South Africa, the European Harley rally is being held in Ireland for the first time, with the car park at Gleneagle Hotel being converted into a tented village headquarters.

“This is the biggest of this kind that we’ve hosted and it gives an opportunity to show what Killarney can do,” said the hotel’s managing director, Patrick O’Donoghue.

All kinds of merchandise is on sale from T-shirts, to hats, to patches, to badges, to leather wear. There’s even a showroom with gleaming new bikes, some of which are so precious that you’re not allowed sit on them.

The sound of music competes with the revving engines with Suzi Quatro and Dervish being among the performers from noon until 3am the following morning.

Tomorrow, several thousand bikes will take part in a spectacular parade through Killarney starting at 11am.