All roads lead to Senigallia – Evert Richter, Netherlands
As H.O.G.® members across Europe and beyond prepared to make their way to the 30th European H.O.G. Rally, The Enthusiast® met a few of them
Although Evert Richter’s journey with Harley-Davidson began just four years ago, he has certainly made up for lost time. The 65-year-old police officer, based in Roermond in the Netherlands – right on the border with Germany – was a long-term Goldwing rider, but made the switch after walking into the Dutch Hills H-D® dealership in Kerkrade, opposite his training centre, on a whim one day. “By that time, I had a couple of friends who were riding Harley-Davidson® motorcycles”, Evert explains. Walking through the store, his attention was caught by a 2018 Electra Glide®.
“I thought, that looks a little bit like a Goldwing!” says Evert. “It was a charming motorcycle.” After chatting with the salesman and a close friend who was a Harley® owner, he returned a couple of days later for a test ride and that was it: he traded in his Goldwing for the Electra Glide and quickly took to H-D life, racking up kilometres and becoming a member of the local Limburg Chapter, the oldest in the Netherlands.
However, before long there was to be another significant dealership discovery. Visiting Central Harley-Davidson in Den Bosch with his best friend Heiko, Evert found himself wandering across the shopfloor once more and came across a 2018 CVO™ Street Glide® displayed high up on a plinth. What struck him immediately was its visual impact. “I worked in the fashion industry for ten years, and I’m somebody who wants colour,” he says. Many of the Harleys he had previously come across, including his own Electra Glide, were either black or another dark shade, but this Street Glide was Vulcan Orange with Black Denim accents. It proved irresistible, and after another test ride Evert traded in the Electra Glide. Now, he says, “I’m totally happy with my motorcycle.”
Not one to rest on his laurels, Evert soon took the opportunity to become more involved with life in the Harley Owners Group®. He became a life member and also became Charity Officer for the chapter, organising a fundraising ride for Ronald McDonald House Charities in nearby Maastricht. Then, this January at the chapter AGM, the current director announced that he was stepping down. “I thought, I like this club and I have some experience in being on a board from the International Police Association, so I said why not?” Evert explains. Duly elected, he now has lots of ideas to take the chapter forward. One of his main goals is to boost the chapter’s performance in the Ride365 Chapter Challenge by encouraging all the chapter’s 130-plus members to sign up and log their mileage. He is proud of the chapter’s riding achievements and wants to celebrate the members. “Our oldest member is 80 years old, and he goes like hell – that’s my goal, if I can!” he says.
Evert is also keen to make connections with other chapters, both within the Benelux region and further afield. Being located so close to Germany, he hopes to soon attend a chapter meeting in nearby North Rhine-Westphalia. Then, in mid-August, a group from the chapter will be travelling to the UK to meet up with the Hogsback Chapter, attending their Cirencester Rally. Evert is hoping to fit in a visit to at least one UK dealership during the visit so that he can add to his growing collection of H-D® t-shirts – he has around 20-30 acquired from all over Europe. Another burgeoning collection is his range of H-D playing cards, which he finds to be a great ice-breaker at events, where he can show off a magic trick or two.
The playing cards may well be packed in Evert’s luggage for his next long-distance ride, when he’ll be making his way to Senigallia with a group from his chapter. With a convoy of 19 Harleys, they’ll set off on the 29th of May and will begin by crossing the border into Germany, spending their first night in Allgäu. From there, the group will cross the border once again and ride through Austria and into Italy, where they’ll stay in Arabba. The group is planning to stay a few nights in Arabba, with trips out each day to explore the local area, including the Dolomites – a place that Evert visited once before and is eager to return to again. After that, there will be a stop in Bolzano, where Evert hopes to arrange a meet-up with the local chapter to make some more international connections – and of course, pick up a new t-shirt for his collection. Then, accompanied by two members of the chapter, he will take on one final stretch of around 500km to reach his final destination of Senigallia and the 2024 European H.O.G.® Rally.
This will be the third H-D event that Evert has attended, after taking in European Bike Week® once before back in 2009 and attending the European 120th Anniversary Festival in Budapest last year. There, he was amused to bump into a saleswoman from the Harley-Davidson Zagreb dealership at their merchandise stand, after having met her a couple of years earlier on a visit to the Croatian capital. For Evert, it’s this tight-knit community that sets Harley-Davidson and the Harley Owners Group® apart. “On the road, when you see another motorcycle you wave, but with Harley it’s different – the mentality, the way people think. It’s like a big family,” he says.
So, what lies ahead in Evert’s riding future? He’s already scouring the H.O.G. event calendar for the rest of the summer, to see if he can squeeze in any more events around the European H.O.G. Rally and the UK visit – perhaps something nearby in Germany, or in Switzerland. In the meantime, he’ll continue to enjoy the ride-outs organised by the chapter’s 30-strong team of Road Captains, wherever the destination may be. “As long as I come back without any scratches on my bike and without a broken leg, I like all rides!” he laughs. At the end of the day, as he sums it up, “it’s just having fun riding with people who love to ride a motorcycle.”
The Enthusiast also followed the journeys of Angela and Uli Konietzko from Germany, Evert Richter from The Netherlands, Bruno Picchianti and Sylvie Schmit from France, Emiliano Izquierdo del Barco from Spain, Valentina Giachino from Italy, and Knut-Bjarne Klaussen from Norway.
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