Arnold Becomes A Legal Motorcyclist!

A spokeswoman for the California governor, Margita Thompson, said Mr Arnold Schwarzenegger passed both a written and a riding test and got the required permit on Monday, nearly six months after he crashed one of his Harleys into an S.U.V. pulling out of a driveway while riding near his Los Angeles home with his 12-year-old son in a sidecar.

But Ms. Thompson said Mr. Schwarzenegger, who broke six ribs in an accident years earlier, had not ridden since the January crash. She said he had been too busy governing but had finally taken time this week to make himself a legal motorcyclist.

I am reminded of India’s fascination with Harley-Davidson. Here is an interesting report in Clutch and Chrome.

“It’s been announced that Harley Davidson is considering bringing the American Legend to India. We take a quick look at India’s motorcycle appetite, the hurdles and the surprising history it already shares with the American motorcycle manufacturer.

“Having a solid 62% of the American motorcycle market and establishing a worldwide presence as far reaching as China should be enough, but now it seems it’s India’s turn to get seduced by Harley Davidson’s charm…

“But the love affair between India and Harley Davidson isn’t new. There were many old Harleys on the roads of New Delhi in the shape of motorized rickshaws called phat-phatis, named after the sound they used to make. In fact, during World War II Harley-Davidsons came into India by the thousands…

“No matter what part of the world, when young enthusiasm is mixed with the passion of riding, creativity isn’t far behind. There are famous stories in India about an enterprising young man, Wazir Chand Kohli, who brought the famous war surplus American motorcycle to New Delhi, converting them into three-wheelers, so the bikes could transport four to six people with ease.
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“These machines were hybrids: half were made with the Springer at the front end and half as a three-wheel motorcycle. The side-valve engines were removed and replaced with diesel. First appearing on the streets as long ago as the late 1940s, these machines could be seen on the New Delhi roads as recently as three years ago. It took the state government of India to outlaw them in the name of controlling pollution to remove the motorcycles from the streets.”