A Lifetime Experience with Harley-Davidson the Jordan Ride 2011
“A brand that lives in the souls of many. Whether they ride it, they wear it, they experience it, they collect it, they live its lifestyle… Yes, a brand nominated as one of the world’s top 100 lovemarks.”
It was my pleasure to accept the invitation given to me by Harley-Davidson MENA, to join the crew on the “Jordan Ride 2011″. I was to be introduced to the Harley-Davidson world and the new 2012 models (V-Rod 10th Anniversary Edition, Dyna Switchback Bagger and Road Glide Custom). In this review my goal is to have you re-live with me, through words, photos and a streaming video, the moments that made this an out of this world experience.
Touch down, I landed in the beautiful country of Jordan. I arrived at my hotel room and to my surprise found a nice Harley-Davidson towel placed upon my bed with a lovely greeting, “You’ve got nothing to lose. Everything to gain”. A wonderfully insightful message. My evening continued smoothly as I enjoyed exploring the city just before calling it a night. I slept dreaming of what was waiting for me the next morning. Despite barely sleeping for few hours, I woke up full of energy at 6AM, left the room and found another message on the door, “Life’s too short to let dreams sit idle”. Well isn’t that the truth. I had my breakfast therefore was all set and ready to leave for what I was sure to be a lifetime experience. I was transferred by a mini-van from the hotel to the Harley-Davidson Amman dealership show room in Naour. At that moment my heart was pumping and the adrenaline began to rise up.
9:00AM sharp we have arrived! This is the point where it all truly started. First a tour of the lovely fresh showroom with friendly morning hospitality from our Jordanian friends. Coffee was served to wake us up, which I can honestly say I didn’t need due to the full power around me felt from the bikes, such as the V-Rod. Following the tour was a brief presentation given by Elsa Abi Nader (H-D MENA Marketing Manager) regarding the new bikes and our rides. Then our man of the day Claude Abry (H-D Amman Dealership Managing Partner) supplied us with a sneak preview about the ride map.
9:45AM, time to choose my helmet! This time around there were no seat belts to fasten just simply get on my bike, ride and let the show begin. Hearing the fabulous engine sounds of the DYNA and V-Rod starting up made me quiver on inside, made my heart smile, and made my eyes wide open to my camera viewfinder in order to capture every single moment. I simply could not allow myself to miss a thing as I knew I would need the data in order to re-live the memories post ride.
10:00AM It’s time to rock’n'roll. We departed from the dealership and headed on a scenic tour from Naour to the Dead Sea, this ride left me speechless. Cruising with the Dead Sea on my right side, and myself flying on a bike. I have dreamed of this since I was young. I always thought for myself Harley Davidson would stop at t-shirt or a simple key chain, but not anymore. We traveled up from under sea level towards Panorama. I couldn’t stop snapping photos of the lovely scenery, blue skies, the Dead Sea and curvy mountain ranges. around each bend my soul felt the grip of the bike. We reached Panorama for our first break, the sun was shinning, blue skies were clear with the Dead Sea below us. These aspects together created a truly out of this world panoramic view. I continued to be impressed by the scenery heading up towards Mukawir, then through Rib and Dhiban heading to Wadi Mujib for an amazing view, pit stop and coffee at Wadi Mujib. An old Texan looking man hosted us, mingled with us, and refreshed us with his humor and great spirit.
Before continuing our extraordinary ride towards Kerak we enjoyed lunch at the lovely Kerak hotel and restaurant near the Castle. Served was delicious traditional food with tasteful “Ouzy” as a main course. Something special about this lunch was that we all felt as if we were one big family or friends who have known each other for a long time. Personally, I only knew 1 person before the ride but during that lunch I felt that I had known them all before, that feeling really caught my attention. At that moment I could start feeling more than an engine sound, or a key chain design, but a spirit that ruled over the place and the group. Jokes and lovely chatter had us all sharing great experiences. Our man Claude couldn’t make it less than that with his lovely humor, smile, stories and his authentic H-D character.
After lunch we headed out to pay a visit to the old castle of Kerak, in order to learn more about this ancient city and the touristic site, which also had an incredible view. I suggest you check out the iPhone photos posted on my blog for additional views from this location. Time to head back to Amman on the winding road up coast of the Dead Sea and the Jordan Valley.
Now I could tell we just started another experience. Going upwards on a bike is nice and amazing, but going downwards with sharp curves is much more fun and exciting! I was now watching the scenery from the way down, until we became again closer to the Dead Sea. It was just before sunset when another delightful view stuck in my mind. Seeing the bikers ahead winding left then right, smiling, giving hands signs, and attempting to sing while enjoying their ride. Love was in the air and happy moments were ruling.
Touching down on the Dead Sea again this time at sunset, there was a 100% reflection of the sky in the water. That was something I have never seen in my life before. Here I could only imagine and wonder if that really was Jerusalem on the other side behind the mountains, or was I even still on earth? I went into a trip, enjoyed the moments, and now I am no longer speechless like I was at the beginning of the journey but on the contrary, I felt like an eagle flying high in the sky watching the world below. Before landing (or flying lower to the ground) into the Jordan Valley at around 160km/hour, along with my camera lens trying to capture the heavenly moments frame by frame. Trust me this feeling is indescribable, no words can add up and no pens can transcribe it. The feeling is simply the magic of the Dead Sea from Jordan’s side. This trip lasted for no more than 5 minutes, but for me it felt like a lifetime of an amazing feeling that I didn’t want to end.
BEAUTY TO GRAB THE EYE. POWER TO GRIP THE SOUL
Unfortunately, to my dismay we had to return to point 0f H-D Amman dealership. The city was now dark with only street lights to guide us. It was time to enjoy the ride in the evening on the city roads. I didn’t feel less than safe. I spent a full day with an amazing man named Malek, who drove his bike perfectly throughout the entire day. He left me with the fun and exciting feelings of the experience with no discomfort. Malek has the spirit of a real H-D rider, safety while riding, and the real power of a Harley-Davidson bike that beats any normal car on the streets.
6:35PM Reached the dealership, all 7 bikes parked safe and everyone was happy. The entire showroom team was waiting for us, this time with a nice cup of tea for everyone, serving as a refreshment after nearly 9 hours of riding under the sun.
The Jordan Ride ended here but the H-D experience never stops. Back to the hotel room to find a 3rd message, “Beauty to grab the eye. Power to Grip the Soul.” This messaged flashed my memory back to the minutes where I felt like an eagle flying in the sky over the Dead Sea, heading high speed into the Jordan Valley. What a brand! They communicate what you truly feel through H-D experiences. I discovered a gift that was much needed after the long ride. A bathrobe, which is more similar to a Harley-Davidson motorcycle than you think. It’s luxurious, durable and always a custom fit. Now a shower and a quick rest before we head to our dinner at Cantaloupe gastro pub (short review here), located at one of the rooftops on Rainbow Street. From this location you could see old Amman. It’s an outdoor spot with breezy fresh air. This is where we celebrated a day of a lifetime with a lovely dinner, delicious white and red wine, more story sharing, living like a family, and above all living the real and full Harley-Davidson experience.
I started my day off with an adrenaline rush that lasted and is still going strong, then went into speechless mode, then tripped to be an eagle soaring to capture the unbelievable scenery, and now I am here thanking Harley-Davidson for this opportunity that really added something new to my life. I now understand why H-D is one of the world’s top 100 love marks. You meet new people that become real friends and more. I am now officially in search for training classes to ride a bike so that I can soon purchase my first H-D.
A special note: A special thanks to everyone who came together to make this ride happen. I will name a few, Malek for having me on board with him all day and for giving me the freedom and support to take photos. Fouad for organizing this amazing road map, a full day ride. And for the support in video shooting, the credit goes to him for the on-board video rushes. Joe for recommending BeirutNightLife.com and PingDubai.com, as well as his company and real support on the ride from Paz Marketing. Elsa the creative mind behind this entire experience, for making sure we were all satisfied and living the H-D experience at its best. And finally Claude Abry, a person you can not but respect, for his love of his work, addiction to H-D on all levels, and how he chose Jordan to be his country. His passion was one of the things that made this day last in my memory. Of course now I am contemplating going back to Jordan in November for the H.O.G. MENA 2011 Rally. It’s time to learn how to ride a H-D, and soon own one.
Enjoy the 400+ photos below. I hope you experience what you have missed or better yet re-live it one more time through our lens! Also enjoy watching the video (coming soon) that recaps it all.
Finally, Harley-Davidson you made my day count.
“Life might be too short. The days may end fast. But Harley-Davidson is a culture/lifestyle with an unforgettable Experience that last till the end of Days.”
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Posted by Jean G.
on Monday, November 7th, 2011. Filed under Featured, Highlights, Photo Gallery, Video.
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[...] next time as I didn’t have much to see or know about Jordan.For full Harley-Davidson Jordan Ride, click here.From what I saw in 36 hours, I was definitely impressed. Stay tuned for more reviews then from the [...]
im sure this was one experience that no picture nor pen could describe, even tho ur description was infatuating … H D was always a dream for some, and even for me … hopefully soon enough it will be a reality … thank you for that lovely post !
You must have had a great ride, I want to ride with you guys the next time
Jean G, please contact me on my email address
nothing short of an over whelming experience!
This article made want to buy a bike
Lovely experience I presume
I will try to make it for the november gathering